LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Team Lackland earned high praise from Air Education and Training Command following the Enhanced Compliance Validation network inspection by the Defense Information Systems Agency April 13-17.
Inspectors were on base for five days examining Non-classified Internet Protocol Routing and Secure Internet Protocol Routing networks.
"Lackland passed with flying colors," Gen. Stephen Lorenz, AETC commander, explained in an e-mail to base commanders about the inspection. "The number of Category 1 vulnerabilities for both NIPRnet and SIPRnet were 31 and 44, respectively. It is extremely rare to see the number of CAT 1s that low."
More than half of the CAT 1s, which are the highest risk of network attack, cited were corrected on site and the rest have been addressed with plans of action, according to General Lorenz.
"The entire Lackland team have really led the way in changing the Air Force paradigm of network security," he continued. "(Personnel from) Brig. Gen. Len Patrick (37th Training Wing commander) on down took this effort as a commander's issue and took no prisoners. It was truly an environment of 'comply or be disconnected'."
General Lorenz cited the team successes of Lt. Col. Jacqueline Jones, commander, 690th Information Systems Squadron, and Lt. Col. Lisa Hummler, commander, 37th Communications Squadron, for their efforts with both networks.
Maj. Gen. David Senty, commander, Air Force Network Operations, also had high regard for Lackland.
"This is awesome - a case study on the impact of your no-blink leadership focus and communication of your intent - and the resulting commitment from your staff and commanders," General Senty said in an e-mail to base leadership. "I've heard from my staff that this is the best ECV result we've seen."
The ECV is a technical inspection, assessing information assurance and compliance with Department of Defense policies in securing the Air Force network.
The team looks at how information arrives and departs Lackland, and application, server and physical security since the network is constantly under attack.
"Across Lackland, there are commanders supporting ECV, network compliance and network security in general," said Colonel Hummler. "What they found when they came here was unrivaled support of network security. The team didn't find anything that we really didn't already know about it, which is as it should be."
Colonel Hummler added Tech. Sgt. Gregory Murdock and the 37th CS Tiger Team, and Tech. Sgt. Troy Milburn and the 690th ISS ECV superstars played key roles in the successful evaluation.
Capt. Robert Taylor, operations flight commander, echoed Colonel Hummler's statements.
"We had a tremendous amount of support from General Lorenz on down," Captain Taylor said, "whether it was buying new equipment, or (the policy of) 'comply or be disconnected'. We didn't get too much pushback from the commanders of those units (that needed to comply) because we had the backing of General Lorenz, General Patrick and General Senty.
"We weren't surprised by anything that they (the inspection team) presented to us," said Captain Taylor. "We were prepared to answer those questions even before they left town."