IAAP inspection ensures COMSEC compliance

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  The 92nd Information Operations Squadron, Detachment 1, Information Assurance Assessment and Assistance Program team arrived at RAF Mildenhall April 30, ready for the base's computer-security-focused assessment.

The inspection, which is already underway, will assess the posture of Team Mildenhall's communications security accounts and also ensure compliance with Air Force standards, said 2nd Lt. Latiria Mayo, 100th Communications Squadron Wing Information Assurance officer in charge.

"The inspection is in two parts," Mayo said. "With the 'assistance' part, the inspectors can do 'find-and-fix-it'-type corrections on the spot. (The second part means) they also have the power to assess, so if they see anything critical, then it becomes a write-up."

The IAAP covers all units from RAF Mildenhall, mission partners and geographically-separated units which have COMSEC accounts and own cryptographic aids or equipment. The inspection is carried out every three years.

"The inspectors are looking for 100 percent accountability of all cryptographic aids including equipment and the accompanying documentation," Mayo said.

"If the sub-account (mission partner) program fails (the inspection) then it doesn't reflect well on the main account (RAF Mildenhall)," she added. "If a certain amount of our sub-accounts fail, then RAF Mildenhall fails as a whole. However, Team Mildenhall has worked extremely hard in preparation for this inspection, and I expect us to do well."

Lt. Col. Gene Mattingly, 100th CS commander, said he's very pleased with the overall Team Mildenhall support in preparing for the IAAP inspection.

"Ordinarily, it would have included COMPUSEC and emissions security portions of information assurance, but with funding constraints, 92nd IOS Det 1 could only send the COMSEC team out," he said.

"Nevertheless, all the effort that went into the preparations is not lost, and goes a long way in protecting our network security. My advice is to stay vigilant - cyber-surety is paramount to mission assurance," said Mattingly.

The inspection is scheduled to run until May 10.

For more information about the IAAP, call the 100th CS COMSEC office at DSN 238-2299.