Leadership: The Clear and Powerful Choice

Author: Ann Gallaher

September 2008

USAF Cyber Command – WPAFB and the State of Ohio

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is known throughout the Department of Defense, in industry, and in the world as the Birthplace, Home and Future of Aerospace. Indeed, much of the progress in modern military airpower was born here. Just as the Wright brothers learned to fly on what is now Patterson Field, the Air Force gained its teeth through the hard and exhaustive work of scientists, engineers, pilots, navigators and program managers who developed and led the creation of aircraft such as the F-117, the F-22, F-16, the F-15, the C-17, and the B-2. We are ready to change the world again through cyber power that is born here.

Synergies
On 16 May 2008, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations released a letter to the Governor of Ohio with a request for information. Wright-Patterson and the Dayton Region is one of 18 in the country under consideration as a permanent location for Headquarters Air Force Cyber Command and its supporting organizations. The synergies of Cyber Command with existing Wright-Patterson missions are multiplied in an operational sense with the co-location of Air Force Research Laboratory and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. In addition, the presence of an existing major command headquarters offers significant efficiencies that are vital to the USAF in such restrictive budgetary times.

IT Corridor
The Dayton Region and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are well suited within a center of IT excellence. The Base is in proximity to world-class research facilities including the Air Force Research Laboratory, The Ohio State University, the University of Dayton, Wright State University, University of Cincinnati, and the Air Force Institute of Technology – and the AF’s own graduate Cyber Technology program! Because the Base has long been involved in developing computerized logistics and business systems, the Dayton Region has an extensive contractor base with globally significant IT expertise.

Infrastructure and Threat
Ohio ranks 5th in the nation in the Broadband Index based on the “State Broadband Index, An Analysis of State Policies Impacting Broadband Deployment and Demand,” published by TechNet.

As a Midwest region, Ohio threat status is fundamentally lower than associated coastal locations such as New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and other locations where threat potential is correspondingly elevated. Additionally, access to or from the base to major transportation nodes, including roads, airports, or railroads, does not depend on a tunnel or bridge over water system, thereby reducing significantly the vulnerabilities also associated with major East Coast or Mississippi River locations and bases. The Dayton Region sits at the intersection of I-70 and I-75, giving it access to the mostly heavily traveled intersections in the United States.

The reduced threat and vulnerability of the Dayton Region is also made more attractive by redundant and stable power and secure and available office space, with over 1 million square feet ready for occupancy in any eventuality, either temporary or permanent.

Ohio has the existing facilities, skilled workforce, infrastructure, and experience to serve our Air Force in this new and exciting mission. Ohio has a proud tradition of developing and deploying cutting edge technology in our Nation’s defense. The innovative people of this region and the Base literally changed the nature of airpower. Cyber power will also change warfare as we know it, and the world. We want to be a part of it! The Dayton Region is extremely well suited for this mission and you will not find a more supportive Air Force state and community. We welcome the opportunity to continue our record of service in the exciting challenges of cyberspace.

An excerpt from the Ohio Response to the permanent location of Cyber Command Headquarters to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.  Technology First was a contributor to the preparation of this response.