WASHINGTON — The chief scientist of the Air Force outlined the service’s future on cyberspace and airmen’s role during the Air Force Association’s monthly breakfast in Arlington, Va., Tuesday, July 17.

Dr. Mark Maybury said Cyber Vision 2025 is the Air Force’s vision for assuring cyberspace advantage, and like all Air Force missions, airmen are the key.

“These airmen are the high performers… we want to be able to predict who is going to be in the top ten of that environment so we can attract them and develop and retain them,” Maybury said.

According to Maybury, selecting highly qualified airmen to provide recommendations to the vision and future will assure the cyber advantage across all of our missions.

“Without the right talent we are not going to be able to do anything,” he said.

The doctor said cyber capability fuels the entire Air Force mission, and therefore must be protected.

“We have not found a mission today that is not dependent on cyber,” Maybury said.” If that dependency relies on commercial capability and increasingly that commercial capability is being offshore, that is a huge vulnerability potential for us.”

According to Maybury, some of the cyber challenges are growing cyberspace threats, increased dependency and vulnerabilities, and resource constraints.

“Resources, not only money, which is important but also human talent, will be limited,” Maybury said. “We will have to make some careful choices with what we do.”

The Air Force Association's breakfast program is a monthly series that provides a venue for senior Air Force and Department of Defense leaders to communicate directly with the public and the press.

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