Photo By Matthew McGovern | U.S. Air Force Col. Edward Rivera (second from left), 616th Operations Center,...... read more read more
Colonel Edward Rivera, 616th Operations Center, director of operations, welcomed Philippine Army Col. Windell Rebong, Command and Control Communications and Cyber Systems, deputy assistant chief, and five associates, here, July 18, for a subject-matter-expert exchange amid rising cyberattacks.
The exchange centered around maturing information warfare by strengthening interdependencies between several domains: electronic warfare, information operations and warfare, and cyber operations.
“Building a partnership is based on mutual trust, mutual understanding, familiarity and shared understanding of the threats in the environment,” said Rivera. “It’s about how we can support each other to counter those threats, defend ourselves from those threats, and in a time of crisis understand, as partners, how we’re going to work together to mitigate those kinds of threats.”
The exchange follows the April 2024 signing of the Counter Ransomware Initiative, unifying the Philippines with the U.S. and nearly 50 countries in developing cooperative cyber resilience and supports design policy ideas to combat ransomware.
“When we have international cooperations we get to share what we see, which perhaps the other party will not see and so we have a more wholistic perspective of the situation around us,” said Rebong.
Discussions included data sharing across these domains and how, “something as simple as making machines talk to each other, sharing data, across a tactical picture at the tactical edge between two U.S. elements forward, can eventually aggregate into a larger understanding and a shared picture across all the services from both allies and partners together,” said Rivera.
The effort to defend against threats in cyberspace and improve mutual cyber defense, traces back to May 2023 when the U.S. and the Philippines signed key bilateral defense guidelines.
The guidelines help “modernize alliance cooperation for a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Rolling, 16th Air Force International Affairs deputy director, who participated in the exchange. “These are important developments as the U.S. and our partners and allies are experiencing an increase in cyber threats from malign actors and will help us to collectively address the issue.”
During the exchange, the Philippine Army and 16th Air Force personnel noted how their respective cyber policy aligns and shared mutual lessons learned.
Philippine Army Maj. Jonaire Benis, Command and Control Communications and Cyber Systems, stressed the importance of continuous future engagements with the U.S. and the “huge advantage face-to face visits have over virtual conversations as we are able to witness [16th Air Force] capabilities and interact and exchange knowledge effectively while getting to know the U.S. gestures and culture.”
Sixteenth Air Force International Affairs, in coordination with Pacific Air Forces, are exploring additional combined exercises and cyber defense operations to deepen military-to-military cooperation and enhance future readiness between the two nations.
“This exchange was a warm, engaging and open discussion from both sides and included military, civilian, officer and enlisted of different ranks, all bringing forward their experiences in the form of vibrant discussions,” said Rebong. “It’s an honor and a privilege for a Philippine Army officer to visit a U.S. Air Force facility. [The 16th Air Force] has an expertise that all Philippine branches of service will benefit from.”
The Philippines is the United States’ oldest treaty ally in the Indo-Pacific, and our close historical ties extend more than a century.
Sixteenth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber), headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, focuses on information warfare in the modern age and ensures that our Air Force and Nation are fast, resilient, and fully integrated in competition, crisis, and conflict by incorporating Information Warfare at operational and tactical levels, capitalizing on the value of information by leading the charge for uniquely-21st century challenges in the highly dynamic, seamless, and global information domain.
| Date Taken: | 07.18.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.18.2024 14:38 |
| Story ID: | 483444 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO , TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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