By Jason Fornicola Director of Custom Media Federal News Radio As the Air Force continues to combat cybersecurity threats from all corners of the globe, one of the biggest concerns remains the shortage of science and technology engineers who are often tasked with solving some of the agency’s most complex issues. Recruiting and retaining top talent remains a priority in that effort, according to Dr. Mica Endsley, chief scientist of the Air Force.

“Getting the best and the brightest, of course, is the big issue. As you know, the United States is facing a shortage of science and technology talent. We have been getting a great number of those people from foreign nationals who come to the United States,” Endsley told Federal News Radio’s Agency of the Month radio show.

“Within the defense industry, we need to make sure that we’re also rebuilding, and retaining and recruiting the U.S. personnel who have the capabilities that we need and the clearances that we need to be able to support national defense. So it’s a really important area for us.” Endsley explained the doughnut hole of sorts that currently exists within the Air Force – a shortage of mid-career workers who can step up for those about to retire.

“Our challenge here is that we have as many people that are over 50 and under 35,” Endsley said. “We don’t have a lot of people in that middle group, and a lot of our scientists and engineers are hitting retirement age over the next five or 10 years.” While challenging, Endsley also sees this as a recruiting asset and an opportunity for younger workers. “People coming in and joining the Air Force today either as military personnel or as civilians in the science and technology area are going to have a lot of opportunities to grow and progress much more rapidly than they might have otherwise,” Endsley said.

Assume all systems are “under attack”

When it comes to cyber threats, Endsley is particularly concerned about the Air Force’s embedded systems. “We think all of our cyber systems are essentially under attack,” she said. “We cannot rule out that they’re under attack any more than the rest of our cyber network. So I think it’s something we have to look at very seriously, and I would prioritize defense of our computer systems to be probably among the highest priorities that we have today.” This way of thinking is largely based on the need to be prepared for any possible scenario that could come the Air Force’s way. “Other countries know that we’re very strong in certain areas,” Endsley said.

“So they want to attack us in the ways that will give them the biggest advantage – areas where they don’t have to have invested as much money or as much resources. So they see it as a leveler. We have to turn that around and we have to develop systems that are much more resilient to cyber attack.” Endsley pointed to the vulnerability of today’s technology. “Today’s Internet and computer systems really weren’t designed around resilience to cyber attack,” she said. “That wasn’t really in their initial architectural designs, so some of the research we’re doing is in looking at how we can make our systems far more resilient and robust to cyber attacks. And I think it’s completely rethinking how we build those systems. We probably also need to rethink how we are getting components for our systems. It may not be wise to be buying computer chips and technology from other countries. We may need to rebuild that sort of capability here in the United States in order to maintain a trusted supply network.”

Cost savings through innovation

The Air Force also is focused on how it can be more innovative. “We’re doing a lot to innovate; to reduce costs,” Endsley said. “For example, the Air Force Sustainment Center has been applying leading industry six sigma process improvements to aircraft maintenance, and by doing that they’ve reduced costs by over $750 million in the first year, and they’ve increased their throughput by 15 percent – improving the readiness for operations of our aircraft.” The savings through innovation don’t stop there. “Air Force Research Lab has been focusing on manufacturing improvements for the F-35 program that’s projected to result in a $2.1 billion savings over the life cycle of that program,” according to Endsley. “And we’re currently investing in new engine technology that are providing from 25 percent to 35 percent fuel savings. So we’re doing a lot to focus on innovations that are going to reduce costs and that’s going to let us stretch our S&T dollar that much farther, and I think that’s a really important aspect of what we’re doing today.”

Endsley also discussed the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and importance in so many of the agency’s initiatives. “Our Air Force Scientific Advisory Board is very important to the Air Force,” she said. “The Scientific Advisory Board is made up of experts from across academia, industry and our federally-funded research and development centers, and they all volunteer both their time and their expertise to support the Air Force mission.” Endsley said that mission is highly dependent on staying ahead in science and technology, and access to SAB’s expertise is important. “What they help us do is to focus on what’s the best science and technology that’s out there that the Air Force needs to know about,” Endsley said. “They help us to really understand what the state-of-the-art is in various fields that are important to us; and they help us to really prioritize where investments are needed.” Endsley cited SAB’s study last year on hypersonics technologies (basically “going very, very fast,” according to Endsley), and what state-of-the-art technologies are available to move the Air Force ahead in that field.

“They focused on what we needed to do to improve our defense and our forward operating bases,” Endsley said. “And they did a study that looked at command and control for our nuclear enterprise and what we need to do to modernize that. “So really, a wide variety of areas that they can help us understand better and to make sure we’re not missing anything; that we’re really taking advantage of what’s out there to make the wisest investment decisions that we can.” Ultimately, how does the Air Force’s science and technology effort help to achieve the mission? “As you know, we have a wide-ranging set of missions. In terms of maintaining superiority in the airspace, in terms of our space enterprise, in terms of the nuclear enterprise and in terms of cyber defense,” Endsley said. “So we have a wide range of areas that we have to focus on, and we need to make sure that we’re always at the forefront of technology in those areas.

While we’re certainly, I think, the leading country right now in many of those areas, technology is something that changes very rapidly, as we all know just from what we’ve seen out in the commercial marketplace. It changes even more rapidly in the defense space. We have to make sure that we’re always doing the research and development that’s needed to maintain that edge and to stay ahead of where other countries are going with their development efforts.”

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.