Air Force reservists update Congress

  • Published
  • By Col. Bob Thompson
  • Office of Air Force Reserve
WASHINGTON --  Air Force reservists were on Capitol Hill to brief congressional staffers on a new initiative to protect satellite communications. Often taken for granted, information flowing through satellite links is a vital part of everyday civilian life and high-tech military operations.

"Space technology affects nearly everyone's life every day," said Lt. Col. Jake Spears, director of operations for the 9th Space Operations Squadron, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. "We use global positioning satellites to drive our cars, automatic teller machines and credit card transactions, which are all supported in some way by access to satellites."

More than 30 staffers from the House and about 10 staffers from the Senate attended the Air Force Reserve's briefings Sept. 27 and 28 that outlined the efforts to combat would-be adversaries from jamming friendly transmissions.

"Because of this growing threat, the Office of the Secretary of Defense has initiated a joint military test to develop tactics, techniques and procedures to protect our space networks and respond to attacks," said Col. Guy Morley, Reserve Advisor for Air Force Space Command Operations at Peterson AFB, Colo., and the command's lead for the new initiative. "Called Joint Jamming Assessment and Mitigation, this three-year test will shape our military methods to better access and mitigate space threats, helping us sustain global military operations despite efforts to degrade or deny the use of space systems."

As in the civilian world, the military has ever-increasing requirements for space-based systems and leading edge cyberspace capabilities. If access to these satellites and cyber systems is degraded or denied, both civilian life and military operations would be severely disrupted.

"Military operations need space technology in order to coordinate joint efforts," said Colonel Morley. "We have to proactively develop the means to defeat those types of threats to our military and our way of life. Waiting until we face a near-peer threat to react leaves us too far behind the power curve to shape the fight to our advantage. We must establish a standardized baseline to sustain operations in the face of the space threats to ensure our other combat capabilities."

This issue is all the more complicated when more than 80 percent of military communications pass through civilian satellites. With bandwidth at a premium, the U.S. military's demand is answered by a variety of civilian companies interconnected with various nations, the nature of which makes users vulnerable.

"Many of the communication satellites that are prime targets are in geosynchronous orbit at about 22,000 miles from the earth," said Colonel Morley. "This makes them more targetable because they remain in one position relative to the view from earth. That means potential adversaries always know where to direct their systems to achieve their goal."

As the No. 1 chartered joint test for the Defense Department last year, this satellite-defense test was shaped initially by handpicked Air Force reservists and active-duty Airmen with specialized skills across several organizations.

"Every day about 20 percent of Air Force space missions are done by reservists," said Colonel Spears. "Reservists are less costly than full-time active duty troops, and reservists stay in one place longer than their active counterparts. This means that Reserve programs provide the military a cost-effective way to retain valuable expertise and sustain continuity.

"Most of our folks work in the air and space industry in their civilian careers," Colonel Spears said. "They are space and cyber professionals, and they bring their civilian skills to the Air Force as Citizen Airmen. They are truly a national asset."