US Air Force to stand up point defense career field within 2 years, Wilsbach says

Within two years, the U.S. Air Force will stand up a new career field to defend American air bases worldwide.

Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Ken Wilsbach announced Monday at the Air and Space Cyber Conference that the service is advancing two initiatives in the wake of devastating Iranian attacks on U.S. bases across the Middle East in recent months.

“First,” said Wilsbach, “we will establish the point defense weapons system, bringing together kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities to secure our air bases.”

“Second,” he continued, “we established a new career field of point defense airmen. This new career field will be operational in two years.”

Two airmen, Senior Master Sgt. Andrew Lewis and Senior Master Sgt. Brandon Spears, are the first field managers within that career track, Wilsbach added.

While details regarding the new career field are sparse, a June 2026 release notes that these specialized units will include units drawn from multiple career fields operating at select Air Force installations.

The need for base defenses in light of the Iran war has become imperative.

Far from isolated, America’s sprawling — and easy-to-find — Middle East footprint has been repeatedly subjected to assault since the start of the Iran war. In July, three U.S. soldiers were killed when an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack penetrated air defenses around Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Six U.S. soldiers were killed in March when an Iranian drone struck a tactical operations center at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait .

“For 20 years we didn’t have to worry about anything coming out of the sky, and we lost proficiency that I think we had trained in the Cold War era — through the ’80s and ’90s — where we were worried about adversaries who had fixed-wing aircraft and the capability to send long-range precision fires at us,” Lt. Gen. James P. Isenhower, the commanding general of CAC, told reporters during a Pentagon briefing last Thursday. “That wasn’t the case in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Now, with precise, long-range missile and drone assaults blowing “ the hell ” out of bases like Bahrain, with its latest initiatives, the U.S. Air Force is rapidly seeking to contend with the ever-evolving threats from the enemy.

Eve Sampson contributed to this report.

Claire Barrett is an editor and military history correspondent for Military Times. She is also a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.

两年内，美国空军将设立一个新的职业领域，负责保卫全球各地的美国空军基地。

美国空军参谋长肯·威尔斯巴赫将军周一在航空航天网络会议上宣布，鉴于近几个月来伊朗对美国在中东各地的基地发动了毁灭性袭击，空军正在推进两项举措。

“首先，”威尔斯巴赫说，“我们将建立点防御武器系统，将动能和非动能能力结合起来，以确保我们的空军基地安全。”

“第二，”他继续说道，“我们设立了一个新的职业领域——近程防御空军人员。这个新的职业领域将在两年内投入使用。”

威尔斯巴赫补充说，两名空军高级军士长安德鲁·刘易斯和高级军士长布兰登·斯皮尔斯是该职业发展路径上的首批现场经理。

虽然有关新职业领域的细节很少，但 2026 年 6 月发布的一份文件指出，这些专业部队将包括来自多个职业领域的部队，这些部队将在特定的空军基地运作。

鉴于两伊战争，加强基地防御的需求已变得迫在眉睫。

美国在中东的庞大存在远非孤立，自伊朗战争爆发以来，其势力范围不断遭受袭击。今年7月，伊朗弹道导弹和无人机突破约旦穆瓦法克·萨尔蒂空军基地附近的防空系统，造成三名美军士兵死亡。今年3月，伊朗无人机袭击科威特舒艾巴港的一个战术作战中心，造成六名美军士兵丧生。

“20年来，我们不必担心任何来自空中的威胁，但我们却失去了在冷战时期——也就是上世纪八九十年代——所培养的技能。当时，我们担心的是拥有固定翼飞机并具备远程精确打击能力的对手，”美国陆军作战司令部司令詹姆斯·P·艾森豪威尔中将在上周四五角大楼的新闻发布会上告诉记者。“但在阿富汗和伊拉克，情况并非如此。”

如今，凭借精准的远程导弹和无人机袭击，像巴林这样的基地被炸得“不堪入目”，美国空军正通过其最新举措，迅速寻求应对来自敌人的不断演变的威胁。

Eve Sampson对本报道亦有贡献。

克莱尔·巴雷特是《军事时报》的编辑和军事历史记者。她也是一位二战研究员，对温斯顿·丘吉尔爵士和密歇根大学橄榄球队有着无与伦比的热爱。