Scott AFB cybersecurity troops due to arrive Dec. 1, bringing nearly 300 jobs
The transformation of this sprawling air base outside Mascoutah into a major cyber-security hub moves into its next phase on Dec. 1, when two newly minted squadrons under the auspices of the Air Force Space Command are scheduled to be activated.
The 835th Cyberspace Operations Squadron and the 837th Cyberspace Squadron are both set to launch on that day at Scott Air Force Base. A day earlier, the 688th Cyberspace Operations Group is scheduled to be activated, according to an emailed statement from 1st Lt. Samantha Degnan, a spokeswoman for the Space Command, headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.
The new squadrons and ops group will bring a total of about 200 active duty troops, along with 59 civilian staff and 20 contract support personnel, according to an email from Degnan.
The Air Force has already budgeted $16 million to upgrade and expand existing buildings at Scott to house the new cyber-security units.
The new squadrons at Scott will answer to the 688th Cyberspace Wing, which is headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio, Lackland AFB, Texas. The wing is subordinate to the 24th Air Force, which is also based at Joint Base San Antonio.
The importance of cyber-security to the Pentagon, as well as the rest of the federal government, could hardly be overstated, or appear in a more timely way.
The U.S. Congress is preparing to hold investigations into a pair of cyberattacks against the federal Office of Human Personnel Managment — the federal government’s human resources department — that compromised 21.5 million records. Many of these records were highly detailed job applications containing confidential personal information belonging to current and former federal employees, including millions of U.S. current and former military personnel.
The OPM’s revelations forced the resignation of Director Katherine Archuleta on Friday, just one day after the agency published its report. U.S. intelligence sources are blaming the attacks on the Chinese government, which has already denied any role.
Closer to home, contractors for the U.S. Transportation Command, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, were the targets of at least 20 successful hacks. The targets included airline, IT and shipping companies between June 2013 and May 2014.
Transcom knew of only two of the attacks, according to a Sept. 17 Senate Armed Services Committee report.The Chinese were also implicated in all the attacks.
Gen. Paul Selva, Transcom’s commander, has since ordered the command to contractually require its vendors to report data breaches, according to the website Defense Systems.
Contact reporter Mike Fitzgerald at mfitzgerald@bnd.com or 618-239-2533.
This story was originally published July 13, 2015 at 3:08 PM with the headline "Scott AFB cybersecurity troops due to arrive Dec. 1, bringing nearly 300 jobs."