AF cyberspace badge guidelines released

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Air Force officials have approved the new cyberspace badge and associated wear criteria.

Lt. Gen. William T. Lord, the Air Force’s chief of warfighting integration and chief information officer, said the new badge reflects the importance of cyber operations.
The new badge is authorized in three levels: basic, senior and master. Badge level eligibility criteria are consistent with Air Force Instruction 36-2903, Dress and Personal Appearance of Air Force Personnel.

The guidance for the new badge will be included in the next AFI revision.
Certain officers are “grandfathered” and eligible to wear the new badge. Officers converting from the 33S to the 17D AFSC today are authorized the basic badge. Officers may continue to wear the communications and information badge at the authorized level until Oct. 1, 2011.

Upon completing the Distance Learning Cyberspace Operations Transition Course — the “X- course,” Undergraduate Network Warfare Training or meeting criteria for upgrade, officers who earned the senior or master level communications and information badge are authorized to wear that same level of the cyberspace badge.
Officers from other AFSCs who have completed the X-course and have at least one year of cyberspace experience since Jan. 1, 2006, also are eligible to wear the new badge. The 17D career field manager is coordinating with AF Space Command’s Space and Cyberspace Professional Management Office to identify eligible officers.
Beyond the grandfathering period, standard eligibility criteria will apply and officers will be identified in orders published by the commander of AFSPC, who is responsible for cyberspace force development.

The design element of the badge holds significant meaning. The lightning bolt wings signify the cyberspace domain while the globe signifies the projection of cyber power worldwide. The globe, combined with lightning bolt wings, signifies the AF’s common communications heritage. The bolted wings, centered on the globe, are a design element from the AF seal signifying the striking power through air, space and cyberspace. The orbits signify the space dimension of the cyberspace domain.

The new badge is equal in precedence to the aeronautical and space badges.
Those awarded multiples of the cyberspace, aeronautical and space badges must wear the cyberspace badge above the others while serving in a cyberspace billet.
For the full story on the new badge, check out www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123201885.