Dyess AFB's 7 CS infrastructure team completes base network upgrade

U.S. Air Force Airmen with the 7th Communications Squadron infrastructure section pose for a team photo at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, June 26, 2024. The team was recognized for their completion of a base-wide network improvement, spanning over nine months. The team overcame the challenge of the manpower and workload involved with maintaining normal base operations while simultaneously replacing and improving network hardware. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jade M. Caldwell)

Dyess AFB's 7 CS infrastructure team completes base network upgrade

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Isabella Romo, left, and Airman 1st Class Cameron Ganaway, 7th Communication Squadron cyber defense operations technicians, look over equipment at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, June 26, 2024. The 7th CS dedicated over six months to planning and three months implementing a base-wide network improvement. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jade M. Caldwell)

Dyess AFB's 7 CS infrastructure team completes base network upgrade

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Isabella Romo, left, and Airman 1st Class Cameron Ganaway, 7th Communications Squadron cyber defense operations technicians, look over equipment at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, June 26, 2024. In a nine-month process, the 7th CS enhanced base readiness by replacing obsolete network hardware, resulting in increased communication speed and the ability to handle modern threats. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jade M. Caldwell)

Dyess AFB's 7 CS infrastructure team completes base network upgrade

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Cameron Ganaway, 7th Communications Squadron cyber defense operations technician, looks over equipment at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, June 26, 2024. The 7th CS completed a base-wide network improvement, ensuring base personnel can execute the mission without the concern of poor speed, connectivity, or security issues. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jade M. Caldwell)

Dyess AFB's 7 CS infrastructure team completes base network upgrade

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Isabella Romo, 7th Communications Squadron cyber defense operations technician, looks over equipment at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, June 26, 2024. The 7th CS completed a network improvement that improved speed, bolstered defenses, and strengthened connection across the base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jade M. Caldwell)

Dyess AFB's 7 CS infrastructure team completes base network upgrade

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Ivan Jackson, 7th Communications Squadron cyber transport systems section chief, holds a replaced network switch at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, June 26, 2024. The 7th CS configured and installed roughly 400 pieces of network equipment to improve base cyber security and remove outdated technology. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jade M. Caldwell)

Dyess AFB's 7 CS infrastructure team completes base network upgrade

Published July 2, 2024
By Airman 1st Class Jade M. Caldwell
7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Isabella Romo, left, and Airman 1st Class Cameron Ganaway, 7th Communication Squadron cyber defense operations technicians, look over equipment at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, June 26, 2024. The 7th CS dedicated over six months to planning and three months implementing a base-wide network improvement. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jade M. Caldwell)

The 7^th Communications Squadron infrastructure team completed a base-wide network improvement at Dyess Air Force Base, May 24, 2024.

During the planning phase, the infrastructure team worked with Air Force Global Strike Command for over three months to procure almost 400 network switches for Dyess. Additionally, the team had to survey the physical network capabilities of the base to ensure they could install the new system.

“Planning was about six to seven months,” said Senior Airman Jacob Chisolm, 7th CS cyber defense operations technician. “It was really a lot of coordination between us and all the units on base, building a schedule and making sure we weren’t over tasking our Airmen to get this upgrade rolling. Then the actual execution took about two or three months, give or take. There were some outliers, some units couldn’t swing it that day, so we had to be flexible.”

Once the plan was made, the installation process was initially difficult for the team. The workload of replacing all the switches led to the team restructuring their plan around what they could manage each day. Splitting up into three teams of two technicians, each team could work together to change out six switches per day. This way the workload was evenly split up and newer technicians could train alongside more experienced ones.

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Cameron Ganaway, 7th Communications Squadron cyber defense operations technician, looks over equipment at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, June 26, 2024. The 7th CS completed a base-wide network improvement, ensuring base personnel can execute the mission without the concern of poor speed, connectivity, or security issues. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jade M. Caldwell)

A key to organizing this large-scale upgrade was the 38^th Engineering Squadron from Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, who used their cyber planning expertise to advise Dyess on the planning and execution of the upgrade.

“They helped us with our topographies, learned how our network is laid out with the equipment, and looked for errors in our template,” said Staff Sgt. Kory Talbert, 7th CS network infrastructure NCO in charge. “There’s about 400 to 500 lines of code inputted on every network switch, and they helped read each line to make sure it was going to run correctly and smoothly.”

The network infrastructure is vital for all information transmission, whether through phones, printers, or tactical lanes. This upgrade enhanced this network and ensured its security against adversaries. With all the work put in to complete this project, the 7^th CS eliminated 7,000 network vulnerabilities.

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Isabella Romo, 7th Communications Squadron cyber defense operations technician, looks over equipment at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, June 26, 2024. The 7th CS completed a network improvement that improved speed, bolstered defenses, and strengthened connection across the base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jade M. Caldwell)

“With the mission that goes on here at Dyess, it allows secure transmission for mission planning to not be stopped,” said Talbert. “So, we’re not running the risk of missions being interrupted by being able to secure the network.”

Not only have the upgrades improved confidence in the systems and security on base, but this overhaul set a precedent for other bases to follow. Now the infrastructure team can use the skills they learned and proved to help assist other bases in need of similar improvements.

“We’ve set a standard here at Dyess for the rest of AFGSC to be able to handle an upgrade,” said Talbert. “Our expertise is going to be able to be utilized across the major command so that way as the AFGSC mission continues, we can continue to stay ahead especially with how important the striker mission is.”