Originally proposed by the Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne on November 2, 2006, Air Force Cyber command (AFCYBER) was held in provisional status for two years until late 2008 when plans were put on hold for the October 2008 opening of AFCYBER due to readiness issues. However, that hold is over. On Wednesday, August 19, 2009, AFCYBER was established with a “Numbered Air Force for cyber operations.” Upon the dedication and announcement that a form of AFCYBER would go forward, San Antonio Mayer Julian Castro said that “what Silicon Valley is to software… San Antonio is to cyber.”
Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas is the location for this new body. With AFCYBER dead, a downgraded version of the original proposal is going online, over 400 staffers (including infrastructure and security personnel) will be transferred to Lackland to support this new effort, pending an environmental impact report that was released on August 19, 2009. The new version of the previously suggested AFCYBER will be part of the 24th Air Force.
The primary goal of AFCYBER is to protect the United States Air Force from computer disruptions and from all forms of hacking and cyber disruption in contemporary computer networks. Although Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has noted that he is considering forming a centralized Cyber Command based at Fort Meade, Maryland that will serve all branches of the military in their defense against cyber attacks, no public progress has been made in making this a reality.