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General returns for Scope Warrior

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kimberly Moore
  • 81st Training Wing Public Affairs
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Lt. Gen. William (Bill) Lord, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force chief of warfighting integration and chief information officer, is back at Keesler Air Force Base to co-host Scope Warrior, an annual strategic planning conference for senior Air Force communications leaders.

Lord was the 81st Training Wing commander April 2004 through November 2005, during the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and said he was glad to be back at the base.

"The base looks great," he said. "I do miss the coast; it's always good to come back and see the operational Air Force at work."
And it's the operational Air Force's future the general and 114 others are here to discuss.

Lord said this year's conference is different than the 25 years that preceded it. For the first time, 100 communications squadron commanders from around the Air Force will also participate.

The plan is to discuss transformations, training, budget and manpower within the cyberspace career field.

Cyberspace is a new word and not everyone understands exactly what it means.

The general explained, "Think about the things you do on a computer or a mobile phone today. Effectively, that's what we call cyber; it's the transfer of information."

That information needs to be both accessible and protected. Lord said that means we have to be able to establish a domain, operate it, maintain it and defend it. In certain occasions, the Air Force must be able to exploit and attack from within. Everything that's done with electronics touches some aspect of cyber.

"We're most concerned about the defense of the work on the network -- not just about having the network up and operational, but protecting the things we do on it," he said.

For some, understanding the ins and outs of cyberspace comes naturally.

Lord said, "I find there is a generational gap between digital immigrants and digital natives. I would hate to have to compete with the young men and women who come through training today; they are brilliant and much more technologically savvy than I ever was."

Perhaps that's true, but this digital immigrant is now two stars heavier than he was when he departed from Keesler in 2005. He offered a few words of advice about being a good leader.

"You have to be innovative, you have to have courage and you have to be able to communicate," he said. "The key is leadership qualities first; the ability to lead young men and women not only in a business sense but in a combat sense as well."

The 81st Training Wing is comprised of three groups: the 81st Medical Group, 81st Mission Support Group and the 81st Training Group. The 81TRG is the largest electronics training group in the world. On any given day, more than 5,000 students attend classes in one of over 600 courses. The 81TRG annually provides training to more than 38,000 officers, airmen and civilian employees of the Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, other DOD agencies and DOD contractors, as well as allied nations.

The first undergraduate cyberspace training course officers graduated at Keesler, Dec. 7, 2010. Although Keesler has trained officers and enlisted members in communications, computer technology, air traffic control and electronics for decades, technical training has transitioned to support the Air Force's new roles in cyberspace operations.