JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson's 673d Air Base Wing Mission Defense Team is the first in the Air Force to reach initial operational capability on a fifth-generation platform. The MDT, one of 19 Prime Cyber MDTs in the Air Force, is dedicated to protecting the F-22 Raptor enterprise, JBER's critical infrastructure, and conducting mission analysis on crucial cyber terrain.
The 11th Air Force Commander, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. David Nahom, marked the milestone with a tour of the MDT's area, learning firsthand about the 673d Air Base Wing and JBER's role in homeland defense, and presented a declaration plaque with U.S. Army Col. Dean H. Denter, 673d ABW vice commander.
The 673d ABW's MDT was formed in early 2018 and chartered to detect, protect, and respond to cyber threats impacting the F-22 and JBER. Air Force Air Combat Command has refined the MDT construct over the last three years, and in 2020, provided the criteria for initial operational capability. As part of achieving this baseline of capability, 60 percent of assigned MDT personnel must complete three-month initial skills training as well as the six-week Cyber Protect and Defend course at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas.
Airmen and resources for the mission-defense team are part of the 673d Communications Squadron. As the lead MDT for F-22 Raptor program, the 673d CS ensures the security of F-22 cyber systems for JBER aircraft, and for communicating threats and vulnerabilities to all other F-22 units Air Force-wide.
In addition to the F-22 defense, MDT also defends JBER's critical infrastructure. This terrain is known as Community of Interest Network Enclave version 2 or COINEv2, developed by the Air Force Civil Engineering Center as a tool to monitor and protect JBER's critical industrial control systems. The MDT has sensors on JBER's portion of the COINEv2 terrain, allowing for real-time monitoring and protection of these vital assets.
As part of the initial operational capability efforts, 673d CS Airmen completed operational mission mapping of JBER’s key terrain – developing baseline readings of network traffic and employing defensive sensors and measures to block known threats.
The team’s focus now is reaching full operational capability and developing tactics, techniques, and procedures to defend deployable Agile Combat Employment missions.