38th CEG moves to Space Command Published Aug. 27, 2009 By Howdy Stout Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The 38th Engineering Installation Group made history Aug. 21 when it became the 38th Cyberspace Engineering Group, part of the newly-activated 24th Air Force charged with handling the Air Force's cyberspace efforts. The redesignation and realignment ceremony came hard on the heels of the 24th AF's stand-up ceremony earlier in the week. The 38th will now fall under the command of the 688th Information Operations Wing, 24th Air Force, as part of Air Force Space Command. The 38th will be responsible for planning, engineering and installing cyberspace-capable computer and communications systems at Air Force installations worldwide. "Today really ends a momentous week in Air Force history," said Col. Christopher D. Cotts, commander of the 38th. "We are fulfilling the chief's and secretary's vision to conduct operations through cyberspace." Last year, Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz overturned plans to create a new Cyberspace Command, instead standing up a new numbered Air Force inside Space Command to handle the Air Force's cyber efforts. It marks the first time that the Air Force's space and cyberspace operations fall under a single command. First created in the late 1940s to install equipment as part of the Ground Electronics Engineering Installations Agency, the 38th has evolved over time to meet the growing computer and communications equipment needs of Air Force installations. As an award-winning designer and installer of information and communications systems, it is perhaps natural that the 38th is now part of the new numbered Air Force. Colonel Cotts said the reorganization and redesignation of the unit is not just about creating efficiency, "it's really about effectiveness - military effectiveness." The reorganization will allow the 38th to collaborate with units as diverse as combat communications and intelligence agencies to conduct effective cyberspace operations. "We're going to collaborate like never before," he said. What won't change, Colonel Cotts said, is the 38th's focus on fulfilling its mission, of setting the "gold standard" for service, and taking care of its people. "The same as before, but different," he said. "And better." Colonel Cotts said the 38th, which often deploys its own people to support its work worldwide, will perform its duties as if lives depend on it. "Because they do," he said. Richard Lombardi, executive director of the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., said the 38th already has an outstanding reputation for creating and supporting network facilities throughout the Air Force. Until the realignment, the 38th reported to the Electronic Systems Center. "Outstanding," Mr. Lombardi said during the ceremony. "That's what we think of you folks." Mr. Lombardi said the 38th has always been ready to supply communication and information infrastructure, "anytime and anywhere." Now, he added, "it's important for us to do this (cyberspace) mission for our warfighters." Col. Robert J. Skinner, commander of the 688th Information Operations Wing, which will oversee the 38th, said cyberspace is more than just a mission; it is a place. As a place, he said, it must be built and dominated like any potential battleground. "Cyber is something that ... is still being built and will be built in the future," he said. "There's no unit I would rather have build that dominance, that place, than the individuals sitting here." As part of the nation's cyber efforts, Colonel Skinner said the units in the new 24th Air Force will be moving at "the speed of need." "It's going to be a very big ride and a very fast ride," he said. Colonel Cotts is confident the 38th will carry out its mission. "We will not falter and we will not fail."