Global Cyberspace Integration Center

The Air Force Command and Control Integration Center (AFC2IC) is an Air Combat Command (ACC)

Air Combat Command

Air Combat Command is a major command of the United States Air Force. ACC is one of ten major commands , reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force ....

Direct Reporting Unit (DRU) responsible for innovating, designing, developing, integrating, and sustaining command and control

Command and Control (military)

Command and control, or C2, in a military organization can be defined as the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commanding officer over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission...

(C2) solutions. The headquarters is a tenant unit of Langley Air Force Base, with several outlying support locations.

History

The center was initially established as the Air and Space Command and Control Agency (ASC2A) on 1 August 1997. The agency included the two major field units that became the Air Force C2 Battlelab and the Air Force C2 Training and Innovation Group.
Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) was added to the agency's mission and it was re-designated the Aerospace Command and Control Agency (AC2A) on 15 September 1998.
A few months later, on 1 January 1999, the AC2A again expanded its mission, taking on responsibilities such as unmanned aerial platforms, and was officially re-designated the Aerospace Command and Control & Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center (AC2ISRC). The Center eventually gained the Air Force Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Battlelab
UAV Battlelab
The UAV Battlelab is a U.S. Air Force flight test and development facility specifically dedicated to developing unmanned aerial vehicles. One of six original Air Force battlelabs established in 1997, this battlelab falls directly under the Air Warfare Center and recently moved to Creech Air Force...

, and fifteen operating locations intended to network the C2 mission.
In 2002, the Center underwent its most profound change organizationally since its creation. On 15 March 2002 the Center was re-designated the Air Force Command and Control & Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center (AFC2ISRC) and realigned as a field operating agency under the Deputy Chief of Staff for Warfighting Integration (AF/XI).
On 2 April 2007, the AFC2ISRC was re-designated the Air Force Global Cyberspace Integration Center (AF GCIC) signifying an Air Force cultural shift to the cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...

domain while still maintaining its responsibilities for C2 integration.
Most recently, on June 16, 2010, the center was realigned under ACC and named the Air Force C2 Integration Center (AFC2IC).

The Tactical Air Forces Interoperability Group (TAFIG) was a predecessor organization under Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 being headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia...

. It was focused primarily on tactical interoperability and was a leader in the improvement and integration of tactical data links and message text formats
USMTF
United States Message Text Format is a Military Standard collection of information exchanges, currently defined in W3C XML Schema, which seeks to improve the interoperability of Joint military systems. The US national version is coordinated with NATO for coalition interoperability. The standard...

, a responsibility AFC2IC carries on today.

Air and Space Operations Center

The Aerospace Operation Center

Air Operations Center

An Air and Space Operations Center is a type of command center used by the United States Air Force. It is the senior agency of the Air Force component commander to provide command and control of air and space operations....

(AOC) (later Air and Space Operations Center) has been a central mission for the center. Tremendous efforts led the AOC to be declared a weapon system on 8 September 2000. The first Combined Aerospace Operations Center-Experimental (CAOC-X) was built at Langley Air Force Base. The next CAOC built stood up over the following year at Prince Sultan Air Base

Prince Sultan Air Base

Prince Sultan Air Base is an air base located at Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia.There was formerly a large United States presence there during Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. The U.S. presence was predominantly that of multiple U.S. Air Force flying units, augmented by a...

, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, and became the "premier C2 weapon system in the world."

Leading the AOC innovation effort through large-scale experiments that rapidly delivered capabilities onto the battlefield, the Center's efforts collectively marked a seven-year period of modernizing, standardization, and seamless integration.

Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment

Starting out in 1998 as the Air Force's [single service] Expeditionary Force eXperiment (EFX 98), this experimentation and testing venue allowed innovators and formal acquisition programs to try out new equipment, tactics, procedures in a large scale field environment. The equipment tested included C3 systems, vehicles, aircraft, software, radios, etc. focused on enhancing information/ISR collection and exchange, and improving interoperability. The venue quickly grew to include multiple services and nations and was redesignted The Joint Expeditionary Force eXperiment by 1999 (JEFX 99). It was subsequently conducted biannually in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 with particular emphasis on C2 and improving the "Kill Chain". More recently, it was supposed to be downsized to focus on specific areas for improvement in C2 integration and conducted on a smaller scale on a quarterly basis with occassional large scale events.

Tactical Networks Integration

Tactical Data Links and Voice Networks are essential to C2 and situational awareness of forces in the battlespace from the tactical edge to the Joint Task Force. AFC2IC has been leading the way in integrating these networks for the Air Force, other services, and other nations throughout its history including Link 11 and Link 16 improvements; TDL network management, integrators and gateways

Gateway (telecommunications)

In telecommunications, the term gateway has the following meaning:*In a communications network, a network node equipped for interfacing with another network that uses different protocols....

; Joint Tactical Radio System; and emerging developments inairborne networking

Airborne Networking

An Airborne Network is defined to be the infrastructure that provides communication transport services through at least one node that is on a platform capable of flight.-Definition:...

Commanders/Directors

SES Stan Newberry January 2008–present
Brig Gen Mike H. McClendon, July 2007 - January 2008
Maj Gen Kevin J. Kennedy, June 2006 - July 2007
Maj Gen Tommy F. Crawford, July 2003 - June 2006
Maj Gen Robert F. Behler, Aug 2001 - July 2003
Maj Gen John W. Hawley, July 1997 - June 1999