Making a Cyber Operator

The Air Force is looking for the best of the best as it fills its newest enlisted cyber career field, said Maj. Gen. Michael Basla, vice commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson AFB, Colo. “It’s going to be very competitive to get in there,” Basla told reporters last week during a teleconference. About 10 percent of the initial cadre’s 220 cyber operators will come from the intelligence community, said Basla. Most of the remaining airmen will come from various communications and intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance backgrounds, he said. After the initial build-up, the schools are expected to graduate another 50 students each year, said Basla. The Air Force launched the 1B4X1 Air Force Specialty Code on Nov. 1 to retrain airmen on computer network operations. The first class will start instruction at Keesler AFB, Miss., in January. (Basla transcript.)