Guest Speaker Discusses Accelerating Change in Information Warfare
The chapter held its first in-person luncheon of 2021 at the Randolph Air Force Base Parr Club. Brig. Gen. Robert Lyman, USAF, assistant deputy chief of staff for Cyber Effects Operation, Air Force A-2/6, was the guest speaker. As the Cyberspace Operations and Support Career Field functional manager, Gen. Lyman is responsible for the development of 36,000 officers and enlisted personnel. He balances costs and risks for Air Force Cyber Effects programs. Additionally, Gen. Lyman is responsible for integrating the U.S. Air Force's air, space and cyberspace effects operations capabilities into the joint fight by informing policy, synchronizing relevant efforts and advocating for resources to provide secure, reliable and timely information to joint warfighters.
Gen. Lyman provided some of the recent highlights of the A-2/6. A few major changes include a new chief of staff and a new secretary of defense along with the standup of the U.S. Space Force. "Increasing sophistication, force multipliers with our partners and allies and integrating deterrents are some of the common themes being echoed at the Pentagon," the general stated. "The A-2/6 is focused on accelerating change in information warfare for information advantage." There are multiple spectrums that encompass information advantage, which include four pillars consisting of cyber; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; information operations; and electromagnetic spectrum.
With the addition of the Air Force principle cyber advisor's new role along with Joint All-Domain Command and Control, the A-2/6 is taking a leadership role to support the need of a rapidly capable and mobile force. This will allow for an agile-ready force as well as to bolster a digital infrastructure roadmap to keep the competitive advantage against adversaries. The general closed the brief by reinforcing that talent management is one of the most important factors for the Air Force. Through this talent management, the importance of digital literacy has become a major focus for the Air Force to include, for example, how a cyber operations specialist on a broad spectrum can support across the force to help create more partnerships, especially in acquisition or data analytics.
Gen. Lyman provided some of the recent highlights of the A-2/6. A few major changes include a new chief of staff and a new secretary of defense along with the standup of the U.S. Space Force. "Increasing sophistication, force multipliers with our partners and allies and integrating deterrents are some of the common themes being echoed at the Pentagon," the general stated. "The A-2/6 is focused on accelerating change in information warfare for information advantage." There are multiple spectrums that encompass information advantage, which include four pillars consisting of cyber; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; information operations; and electromagnetic spectrum.
With the addition of the Air Force principle cyber advisor's new role along with Joint All-Domain Command and Control, the A-2/6 is taking a leadership role to support the need of a rapidly capable and mobile force. This will allow for an agile-ready force as well as to bolster a digital infrastructure roadmap to keep the competitive advantage against adversaries. The general closed the brief by reinforcing that talent management is one of the most important factors for the Air Force. Through this talent management, the importance of digital literacy has become a major focus for the Air Force to include, for example, how a cyber operations specialist on a broad spectrum can support across the force to help create more partnerships, especially in acquisition or data analytics.