Distinctive Functions of the United States Air Force in the Cyberspace Domain

Cyberspace is a domain shared by all military services and is critical to integrating forces in the joint warfight. As the subunified command develops under USSTRATCOM, the services must assess their particular potential and capabilities within the cyberspace domain. This paper seeks to define the Air Force niche within cyberspace. It proposes a perspective that the distinctive capabilities of the Air Force within its physical domains inherently make it the service to appropriate lead in three distinctive functions operational reachback to a fixed base, parallel attack, and preparation of the battlespace. A research review built upon the concepts of operating in cyberspace and the tenets of air and space power drive the results.