The

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

's 688th Cyberspace Wing is a cyberspace operations unit located at

Joint Base San Antonio Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) is a United States military facility located in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 502d Air Base Wing, Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The win ...

(Lackland), Texas. The

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

delivers information operations and engineering infrastructure for air, space, and cyberspace military operations. It supports national, joint and Air Force operations.

Component units

Unless otherwise indicated, units are based at

Kelly Field Annex Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. In ...

, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, and subordinate units are located at the same location as their commanding group. Wing Staff * 688th Operations Support Squadron

5th Combat Communications Group The 5th Combat Communications Group is a specialized unit of the United States Air Force. The 5th Mob (referred to as such by its former designation as the 5th Mobile Communications Group) is currently based at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Ro ...

(

Robins AFB Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, south-southeast of Macon and approximately south-southeast ...

, Georgia) * 5th Combat Communications Support Squadron * 51st Combat Communications Squadron * 52d Combat Communications Squadron

26th Cyberspace Operations Group The United States Air Force's 26th Cyberspace Operations Group is a network operations unit located at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. The group was commanded by Colonel Sean Kern in June 2018. In 2016 an Air Force cyberspace network defense sy ...

26th Network Operations Squadron The 26th Network Operations Squadron (26 NOS), United States Air Force, is a network operations unit located at Gunter Annex, in Montgomery, AL. History The squadron was established as the 1987th Communications Squadron on June 1, 1966, at Nakho ...

(

Gunter Annex Gunter Annex is a United States Air Force installation located in the North-northeast suburbs of Montgomery, Alabama. The base is named after former Montgomery mayor William Adams Gunter. Until 1992 it was known as Gunter Air Force Base or Gu ...

Maxwell AFB Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. O ...

, Alabama) *

33d Network Warfare Squadron The United States Air Force (USAF)'s 33rd Cyberspace Operations Squadron is a network warfare unit located at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. The squadron was established as the 70th Reconnaissance Squadron during World War II and saw combat in t ...

* 68th Network Warfare Squadron 38th Cyberspace Engineering Installation Group * 38th Contracting Squadron ( Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas) * 38th Engineering Squadron * 38th Operations Support Squadron * 85th Engineering Installation Squadron (

Keesler AFB Keesler Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi, a city along the Gulf Coast in Harrison County, Mississippi, Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. The base is named in honor of aviator 2nd ...

, Mississippi)

690th Cyberspace Operations Group The 690th Cyberspace Operations Group, at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is a United States Air Force group operating the Cyber Security and Control System weapon system. The group was established 1 April 1991 as the 6900 Communications-Computer ...

* 83d Network Operations Squadron (

Joint Base Langley-Eustis A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

, Virginia) * 561st Network Operations Squadron (

Peterson AFB Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a U.S. Space Force Base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home to the Nor ...

, Colorado) * 690th Cyberspace Operations Squadron ( Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii) * 690th Intelligence Support Squadron * 690th Network Support Squadron * 691st Cyberspace Operations Squadron (

Ramstein AB Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also ...

, Germany) * 692d Cyberspace Operations Squadron (

Eglin AFB Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The 9 ...

, Florida)

History

In July 1953,

United States Air Force Security Service Initially established as the Air Force (USAF) Security Group in June, 1948, the USAF Security Service (USAFSS) was activated as a major command on Oct 20, 1948 (For redesignations, see Successor units.) The USAFSS was a secretive branch of the ...

organized the 6901st and 6902d Special Communications Centers at

Brooks Air Force Base Brooks Air Force Base was a United States Air Force facility located in San Antonio, Texas, southeast of Downtown San Antonio. In 2002, Brooks Air Force Base was renamed Brooks City-Base when the property was conveyed to the Brooks Developmen ...

, Texas. One month later, these two organizations were replaced by the Air Force Special Communications Center, located on the other side of

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, Texas at

Kelly Air Force Base Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. In ...

. The center became the Air Force Electronic Warfare Center in July 1975. Air Force successes in exploiting enemy information systems during

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

led to the realization that the strategies and tactics of command and control warfare could be expanded to the entire information spectrum and be implemented as

information warfare Information warfare (IW) (as different from cyber warfare that attacks computers, software, and command control systems) is a concept involving the battlespace use and management of information and communication technology (ICT) in pursuit of a ...

. In response, the center was redesignated the Air Force Information Warfare Center on 10 September 1993, combining technical skill sets from the existing center with the Air Force Cryptologic Support Center's Securities Directorate and intelligence capabilities from the former

Air Force Intelligence Command Twenty-Fifth Air Force (25 AF), also known as Air Force Intelligence, was a numbered air force (NAF) within the United States Air Force (USAF), and served as the Air Force's premier military intelligence organization. 25 AF was established on ...

. In May 2007, after 54 years of being aligned with

and its successors, the center became part of

Air Combat Command Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the primary provider of air combat forces for the Air Force, and i ...

and was reassigned to

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

. This assignment did not last long, for in August 2009 the center was redesignated the 688th Information Operations Wing and was assigned to

Twenty-Fourth Air Force Twenty-Fourth Air Force / Air Forces Cyber (AFCYBER) was a Numbered Air Force within the United States Air Force. The Air Force consolidated its cyberspace combat and support forces into 24 AF. 24 AF was the Air Force component of U.S. Cyber Com ...

Air Force Space Command The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

. The Air Force Information Operations Center became the 688th Cyberspace Wing on 18 August 2009 as planned by the initial

Air Force Cyber Command Air Force Cyber Command (Provisional) (AFCYBER (P)) was a proposed United States Air Force Major Command that existed only in provisional status. On 6 October 2008, the Air Force announced that the command would not be brought into permanent activ ...

plan of 2007 and 2008.Intelligence Online

accessed January 2009 Today the wing has a staff of nearly 1,400 civil and military personnel, and based in the same location as

United States Strategic Command United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deterr ...

Joint Information Operations Warfare Center The Joint Information Operations Warfare Center (JIOWC) was created by the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) sometime around 2004 or 2005 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, with the intent of coordinating and executing U.S. information operation ...

. It is currently commanded by Colonel James Hewitt and is subordinate to

Sixteenth Air Force The Sixteenth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber) (16 AF) is a United States Air Force (USAF) organization responsible for information warfare, which encompasses intelligence gathering and analysis, surveillance, reconnaissance, cyber warfare and ele ...

Lineage

* Designated on 24 July 1953 as the Air Force Special Communications Center : Organized on 1 August 1953 * Redesignated Air Force Electronic Warfare Center on 1 July 1975 * Redesignated Air Force Information Warfare Center on 10 September 1993 * Redesignated Air Force Information Operations Center on 1 October 2006 * Redesignated 688th Information Operations Wing on 18 August 2009 * Redesignated 688th Cyberspace Wing on 13 September 2013

Assignments

(later

Electronic Security Command Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

, Air Force Intelligence Command, Air Intelligence Agency), 1 August 1953 * Eighth Air Force, 1 May 2007 * Twenty-Fourth Air Force, 18 August 2009 *

, 11 October 2019 – present

Components

* 38th Engineering Installation Group (later 38th Cyberspace Engineering Group, 38th Cyberspace Engineering and Installation Group): 3 February 2000 – present * 318th Information Operations Group (later 318th Cyberspace Operations Group): 1 August 2000 – present

Stations

(later Kelly Annex,

Lackland Air Force Base Lackland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located in Bexar County, Texas. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and an enclave of the city of Sa ...

. Joint Base San Antionio), 1 August 1953 – present

Awards

List of commanders

Notes

References

External links

688th Cyberspace Wing website
{{US Air Force navbox Military units and formations in Texas 0688 Military units and formations established in 2013