US Air Force finding best cyber talent to use as defense: Weapons and Warfare

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

HELLO AND WELCOME TO THIS EDITION OF WEAPONS AND WARFARE. ON TAP FOR YOU IN THIS EPISODE, WE TAKE A LOOK AT HOW RUSSIA AND CHINA MOTIVATED THE AIR FORCE TO BRING BACK THE RANK OF WARRANT OFFICER. THEN WE’RE TURNING OUR EYES TO THE SKIES TO SEE THE AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY’S DRONE INTERCEPTOR, WHICH HAPPENS TO BE A DRONE ITSELF. PLUS WE HAVE THE LATEST COMMS CHECK AND AN ALL-NEW RYAN’S WRAP, BUT FIRST, LET’S GET INTO SOME HEADLINES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED.

MORE THAN TWO YEARS AFTER THEIR ILLEGAL GROUND INVASION, RUSSIAN PILOTS ARE FINDING THE SKIES OVER UKRAINE AS UNFRIENDLY AS EVER. SO MUCH SO THERE HAS BEEN A SUBSTANTIAL DECREASE IN THEIR FLIGHT ACTIVITY. THAT’S ACCORDING TO A RECENT ASSESSMENT BY THE INSTITUTE OF WAR. THE UKRAINIAN MILITARY SAYS FROM FEBRUARY 17th TO THE 29th THEY TOOK OUT 13 RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT. 

ADD THAT TO THE 18 THEY CLAIM THEY DESTROYED FROM THE START OF THE YEAR TO FEBRUARY 17th, IF THOSE NUMBERS ARE ACCURATE, THAT’S THE LOSS OF MORE THAN A BILLION DOLLARS IN FIGHTER BOMBERS, FIGHTERS, AND AN AIRBORNE EARLY WARNING AND CONTROL AIRCRAFT. 

TO THE MIDDLE EAST NOW WHERE, DESPITE REPEATED CONGRESSIONAL FAILURES TO COME TO AN AGREEMENT ON A NEW BUDGET, U.S. TROOPS CONTINUE TO DO WHAT THEY CAN TO HELP EASE THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA. RECENTLY AMERICAN AIRMEN AND SOLDIERS TEAMED UP TO HELP DELIVER NEARLY 37,000 MEALS TO THOSE IN NEED.  THE EFFORT WAS ORGANIZED BY THE U.S. AND JORDAN. 60 BUNDLES OF FOOD WERE LOADED ONTO AN AIR FORCE C-130 AND THEN DROPPED INTO GAZA PROVIDING NEEDED HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE. MORE THAN 1.7 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DISPLACED SINCE THE ISRAELI OFFENSIVE BEGAN. 

AND THE CHINESE MILITARY CONTINUING TO INCREASE TENSIONS IN THE PACIFIC AND IT WAS ALL CAUGHT ON CAMERA AS CHINESE AND PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD VESSELS COLLIDED IN THE DISPUTED SOUTH CHINA SEA.

PHILIPPINE OFFICIALS SAY THE CHINESE COAST GUARD AND ACCOMPANYING VESSELS BLOCKED THE PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD OFF THE DISPUTED SECOND THOMAS SHOAL AND EXECUTED MANEUVERS THAT CAUSED TWO MINOR COLLISIONS. A SUPPLY BOAT, CREWED BY FILIPINO NAVY PERSONNEL, WAS LATER HIT BY WATER CANNON BLASTS.

[Commander Alberto Carlos, Western Command, Armed Forces of the Philippines]

“I was in the bridge with the crew with the RoRe team when they hit us and it’s really high pressured water, they used water cannons and it resulted in damages, it was powerful it shattered the windshield of the ship and caused some injuries to our personnel.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

CHINA ALSO CLAIMS THE SHOAL LYING OFF THE WESTERN PHILIPPINES AND HAS SURROUNDED THE ATOLL WITH COAST GUARD, NAVY AND OTHER SHIPS TO PRESS ITS CLAIMS AND PREVENT FILIPINO FORCES FROM DELIVERING CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS TO FORTIFY A SURVEILLANCE POST IN A DECADES-LONG STANDOFF.

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IN FEBRUARY THE AIR AND SPACE FORCES ANNOUNCED TWO DOZEN SERVICE-WIDE CHANGES AT THE AFA WARFARE SYMPOSIUM, SOMETHING WE REPORTED ON IN PREVIOUS EPISODES OF ‘WEAPONS AND WARFARE’. ONE OF THOSE CHANGES WE HAVEN’T EXPLORED IS THE AIR FORCE’S DECISION TO BRING BACK THE WARRANT OFFICER RANKS. THE DECISION IS MOTIVATED BY RUSSIA, CHINA AND THE EVER-GROWING BATTLESPACE BEHIND KEYBOARDS AND COMPUTER SCREENS.

THE RANK OF WARRANT OFFICER CAN BE TRACED BACK TO MEDIEVAL ENGLAND, EVENTUALLY FINDING ITS WAY INTO THE ROYAL NAVY IN THE 1500s. IT WAS A WAY TO RECOGNIZE SOLDIERS OR SAILORS WITH EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE AND SENIORITY, MEANING IT WAS EARNED BY WARRANT RATHER THAN  COMMISSION. PLACING THE RECIPIENT BETWEEN THE COMMISSIONED OFFICER RANKS, AND THE NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER RANKS. THE PRACTICE WOULD FIND ITS WAY INTO THE AMERICAN MILITARY AS WELL, WHERE IT STILL EXISTS TODAY, EXCEPT FOR THE AIR FORCE, WHICH PHASED OUT THE RANK IN THE LATE 1950s WITH THE LAST ACTIVE DUTY WARRANT OFFICER RETIRING IN 1980. 44 YEARS LATER, WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN. 

[Gen David Alvin, Chief of Staff, USAF]

“We’re gonna engage in developing a warrant officer program specifically for cyber and IT professionals to be able to ensure that we have that technical talent now and into the future.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR AIR FORCE LEADERSHIP IT’S ABOUT ATTRACTING PEOPLE WITH SPECIALIZED SKILLS WHO WANT TO SERVE, BUT PREVIOUSLY HADN’T CONSIDERED DOING SO.

[Gen David Alvin, Chief of Staff, USAF]

“There’s something specific about this career field, why it’s attractive and it’s a nice match for a warrant officer program. The pace of change of the cyber world, the coding world, software world, it is so rapidly advancing. We need those Airmen to be on the cutting edge and stay on the cutting edge, so we’re gonna pursue that, all those in the area of developing our people.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TO PUT IT SIMPLY, WHAT USED TO BE “AN ARMS RACE”, IS NOW A CYBER-SPRINT. AN ALL-OUT EFFORT TO STAY AT THE FRONT EDGE OF A BATTLESPACE THAT WILL BE PLAYED OUT IN A SERIES OF ZEROES AND ONES.

[Frank Kendall, Sec. of the Air Force] 

“Both China and Russia are actively developing and fielding more advanced capabilities designed to defeat U.S. power projection The need for modernization against capable, well-resourced strategic adversaries never stops.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IT’S A THREAT THAT OCCUPIES THE THOUGHTS OF AMERICANS IN UNIFORM AND OUT. AFTER A NATIONWIDE OUTAGE OF AT&T’S SERVICES FLORIDA SENATOR MARCO RUBIO POSTED;

“I don’t know the cause of the AT&T outage But I do know it will be 100 times worse when China launches a cyber attack on America on the eve of a Taiwan invasion And it won’t be just cell service they hit, it will be your power, your water and your bank.”

FOR THOSE RESPONSIBLE, THE EFFORT TO MAKE SURE THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN NEVER STOPS. AND AS THE THREATS FROM COUNTRIES WITH VAST RESOURCES CONTINUE TO GROW, SO TO IS THE WAY THE AIR FORCE SEES ITS OWN FUTURE.

[CMSAF Joanne Bass, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force]

“So it gets back to how do we maintain our competitive advantage?}

“What I would offer is it gets back to today’s. Airmen and Guardians want different pathways to serve, and we are in a organization that we’ve got to keep some of our technical expertise, deep technical expertise, and that’s all we need them to focus on.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHILE IT’S NOT IMMEDIATELY CLEAR WHEN THIS REINTRODUCTION WILL HAPPEN, WHAT IS CLEAR IS THE AIR FORCE’S MOTIVATION BEHIND THE MOVE. 

[Frank Kendall, Sec. of the Air Force]

“We want to retain people, particularly enlisted who might go out into the commercial world now instead of staying in the Air Force. So we’re gonna give them a little more pay a little more status, and let them do what they want to do. So hopefully that’ll be helpful for retention.”

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TIME NOW FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK, AND IT’S ANOTHER INNOVATION FROM THE FOLKS AT THE AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

MEET THE PALADIN MULTI-MISSION UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM, ESSENTIALLY A DRONE INTERCEPTOR.

WHILE THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF DRONES, WITH ALL KINDS OF MISSIONS, THE PALADIN IS STILL PRETTY UNIQUE. IT’S LIKE DALTON FROM THE 80s CLASSIC ‘ROAD HOUSE, EXCEPT THE PALADIN IS THE BOUNCER OF DRONES. 

{SOT FROM ROAD HOUSE}

“I want you to be nice until it’s time to not be nice.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

 THIS HEX-ROTOR WATCHDOG IS WHAT THE AIR FORCE WANTS TO MAKE SURE THEIR MANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS DON’T RUN INTO ANY UNEXPECTED BOGEYS. ESPECIALLY IN AREAS WITH LARGE POPULATIONS LIVING AROUND THE BASE. THINK NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE IN LAS VEGAS—OR LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE IN VIRGINIA. 

[Brendon Poland, Counter UAS Technical Dir., AFRL] 

“We’re not going after anything big. And generally, everything’s either commercial or it’s how assembled by hobbyists, you know, operating, you know, in the national airspace.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

DESCRIBED AS A FULLY AUTONOMOUS WINGMAN, THE PALADIN COMES EQUIPPED WITH A UAS DETECTOR AND A LOUDSPEAKER FOR INCIDENTS WHERE A VERBAL WARNING WILL WORK. BUT IT ALSO PACKS A PUNCH IF NEEDED. ARMED WITH A BENELLI M-4 SHOTGUN, THE OPERATOR HAS A DISTINCT ADVANTAGE OVER STUBBORN INTRUDERS. 

[Brendon Poland, Counter UAS Technical Dir., AFRL] 

“It’s a net round, that’s very safe. And so employed in the air, it only has an effective range of about 20 meters.”

“The system isn’t just going to go out and shoot down a drone and it falls wherever. The system will go out, follow an aircraft identify what it is, we’ll try to mitigate it in other ways. Get over an area where there’s no people below it. And then if we have to engage we can engage in those safe areas where if it drops to the ground, it’s not going to hurt anybody.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

AS FOR WHEN THE PALADIN WILL BE PUT TO WORK ON AIR FORCE BASES AROUND THE U.S., AFRL SAYS IT’S IN LATE-STAGE DEVELOPMENT AND WILL BE GOING THROUGH AN OPERATIONAL ASSESSMENT DURING FISCAL YEAR 2025. AFTER THAT, PLANS FOR DELIVERY AND IMPLEMENTATION WILL BE MADE.

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TIME NOW FOR OUR COMMS CHECK, WHERE WE SEE WHAT YOU THE VIEWERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE STORIES WE ARE COVERING. 

FIRST UP, WE’RE GOING TO THE YOUTUBE WHERE MIGUEL COMAS CHECKED OUT OUR STORY ON THE AIR AND SPACE FORCES UNVEILING OF 24 SERVICE-WIDE PRIORITY CHANGES FOR BOTH BRANCHES AT THIS YEAR’S AFA WAR SYMPOSIUM. 

MIGUEL WRITES: “24 priorities means no priorities”

{RYAN’S RESPONSE}

 

UP NEXT, WE’RE HEADING TO TIK TOK WHERE AL, AKA ‘FREE TRAIN RIDES TO SIBERIA’, WEIGHED IN ON OUR STORY ABOUT NEWLY DISCOVERED LEAKED DOCUMENTS FROM RUSSIA DETAILING WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO “LOSE” IN COMBAT TO USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS. 

AL WRITES “Only one country has every (sic) used a nukes and it wasn’t Russia”

{RYAN’S RESPONSE}

THAT’S IT FOR COMMS CHECK. REMEMBER WE DO CHECK EACH POST FOR YOUR COMMENTS, AND YOU CAN ALWAYS EMAIL US AT WEAPONSANDWARFARE@SAN.COM!

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ALRIGHT FOLKS, IT’S TIME TO WRAP THINGS UP. AND TO END THE SHOW THIS WEEK I WANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT MARINE CORPORAL JACOB COGSWELL. 

THE MACHINE GUNNER FROM NEW YORK STATE IS DEPLOYED TO JAPAN RIGHT NOW…WHERE HE RECEIVED THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS COMMENDATION MEDAL…NOT FOR ACTIONS IN UNIFORM…BUT FOR WHAT HE DID BEFORE DEPLOYING. 

LAST YEAR, THE CORPORAL WAS ON A BOATING TRIP WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND AND HER PARENTS–WHEN THEY CAME ACROSS SOME TEENAGERS JUMPING FROM A BRIDGE INTO THE WATER.

WELL, ONE OF THOSE TEENS WAS STRUGGLING TO KEEP THEIR HEAD ABOVE WATER…SO, WITHOUT HESITATION, CORPORAL COGSWELL JUMPED IN, GRABBED THE KID, AND THEN SPENT THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES FIGHTING A STRONG CURRENT TO GET THEM BOTH OUT OF THE WATER AND INTO THE BOAT. 

THE FATHER OF COGSWELL’S GIRLFRIEND–WHO WAS DRIVING THE BOAT–TOLD THE CORPORALS COMMANDING OFFICERS ABOUT THE ORDEAL–WITHOUT COGSWELL KNOWING. IN JANUARY, THE MARINE CORPS AWARDED COGSWELL WITH THE MEDAL DURING A CEREMONY IN OKINAWA. 

YOU HEAR IT SAID ONCE A MARINE ALWAYS A MARINE, AND THAT’S TRUE–

BUT CORPORAL COGSWELL IS ALSO PROVING THE BEST MARINES ARE NEVER NOT MARINES. AND BY THAT, I MEAN WHEREVER THEY ARE, WHATEVER THEY’RE DOING, HEROES FIND A WAY TO HELP.

COGSWELL SAYS  HE DIDN’T SAVE THE KID FOR PUBLICITY OR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT–HE JUST WANTED TO HELP THAT KID. AND IT’S A GOOD LESSON…ONE WE’RE TAUGHT AS KIDS…BUT SEEM TO FORGET. 

WE SHOULD SEEK TO HELP, NOT FOR PERSONAL GAIN, BUT FOR THE COLLECTIVE GOOD.  SO SEMPER FI, CORPORAL COGSWELL…AND COME HOME SAFELY. OUR COUNTRY NEEDS MORE FOLKS LIKE YOU. 

AND THAT’S GOING TO DO IT FOR US THIS WEEK HERE AT WEAPONS AND WARFARE. AS A REMINDER, IF YOU WANT TO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH US ON ANY OF THE STORIES WE COVER, YOU CAN DO SO MY LEAVING A COMMENT ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS…AND YOU CAN ALWAYS EMAIL US AT WEAPONS AND WARFARE AT SAN.COM.

FOR SENIOR PRODUCER BRETT BAKER….VIDEO EDITOR BRIAN SPENCER AND GRAPHICS DESIGNER DAKOTA PITEO…. I’M RYAN ROBERTSON WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, SIGNING OFF.