The current Air Force Cyberspace Task Force is being reorganized as the 8th Air Force, otherwise known as the Air Force Cyberspace Command (AFCYBER). The newly established Internet operations organizations will be combined with some of the older electronic warfare ones. The air force already has several Internet monitoring and Cyber War operations, which contain a lot of high priced civilian contractors (many of them former air force personnel who went looking for more money and opportunities in the civilian world.) The air force found that the rapidly expanding adoption of the Internet not only caused a lot of their Internet specialists to go over to the commercial side, but forced the air force to pay much more money to get some of these hot shots back.
Thousands of existing air force electronic warfare specialists will be assigned, or offered, jobs in AFCYBER. This will include units operating U2 strategic reconnaissance aircraft, EC-135 electronic-eavesdropping aircraft, EC-130E Commando Solo radio/TV broadcasting aircraft, and the EC-130H Compass Call radio-jamming aircraft. Since AFCYBER will have over 20,000 personnel, the air force is recruiting officers and airmen from all over the air force for careers in Cyber War jobs.
This is excellent. Heck, maybe the Air Force could recruit civilian computers for a silicon militia. I'm not sure what value it would have in the real world, but it would certainly be great advertising and possibly a good recruiting tool for the computer owners. The Air Force could combine the silicon militia with an online game that simulates cyber warfare the way the Army uses their online game.
And of course, I still think the Air Force should aim high and embrace actual space as their natural field, and become the Aerospace Force.
Eventually, they could become the Space Force and extend our reach to the solar system.
