AFNIC receives new commander

by Warren Neary
AFNIC

7/15/2015 - SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Col. John J. Dunks assumed command of the Air Force Network Integration Center from Col. Amy V. Arwood, July 1 in a ceremony officiated by Gen. John E. Hyten, Commander of Air Force Space Command.

Dunks joins AFNIC from Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, where he served as the Mission Support Group Commander for the 36th Wing. He has served in a variety of cyberspace mission areas ranging from the tactical to operational and staff level ranging from major command to joint operations. Additionally, he has held command assignments at the flight, squadron and group level during his 24 years of service.

During the change of command ceremony, Hyten highlighted the long and distinguished history of AFNIC. Additionally, he praised AFNIC's enterprise engineering and integration expertise along with the center's ability to adapt to the constant change that is required to support not only the Air Force, but joint operations and the nation in a rapidly evolving cyber environment.
"When somebody queues their keypad to open a communications link on the other side of the planet, they don't ask how it performed in the validation environment here, they just assume that it did," Hyten said. "When somebody uploads data to an F-35 someplace around the world to connect to the latest targeting software in the helmet, they just assume the software is secure, and they can safely drop the ordinance they've been asked to drop without worry. When the Air Force considers placing a new cyber capability into operation, nobody wonders if it's going to be interoperable with what we do. You make it right every time. You are the best in the world at this."

After the symbolic passing of the guidon, Dunks addressed the men and women of AFNIC, "It's an honor and a privilege for me to be here today, so I thank you for the opportunity and for placing your trust and confidence in me," he said. "I promise I will give you everything I have. I will be fair and I will be equitable, mission focused and always take care of the Airmen. I will do my utmost to serve this organization and the Air Force well as we move forward."

AFNIC, a direct reporting unit to Air Force Space Command, serves as the Air Force cyberspace technical center of excellence for enterprise engineering and integration. In collaboration with Headquarters Air Force Space Command, 24th Air Force and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, AFNIC supports the nation's warfighter by providing data-driven, decision-quality information and technical expertise required to design, develop and deploy air, space and cyberspace systems and capabilities into/onto the Air Force network and shape the AF provisioned portion of the Joint Information Environment.