BLOG | Sep 9, 2025

DAFITC FOMO? 3 Takeaways from the Air Force’s Biggest Cyber Conference

At DAFITC 2025, Forward Networks drew attention with a field-ready booth and tactical charm, but the real conversation centered on operational readiness in cybersecurity.

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Charlie Elliott Sr. Digital Marketing Manager

Who should read this post?

Cybersecurity operators supporting USAF missions
Defense technologists managing hybrid or edge deployments
IT leaders seeking visibility across multi-cloud networks

What is covered in this content?

Three key insights from DAFITC 2025 conversations
Network readiness requirements tied to federal directives
Hybrid cloud realities and complexity management
The role of automation and digital twins in scaling cyber operations

At DAFITC 2025, Forward Networks drew attention with a field-ready booth and tactical charm, but the real conversation centered on operational readiness in cybersecurity. This post highlights three major themes from the event that reflect the evolving needs of Air Force cyber operators, and how digital twin technology is helping address them.

The Foundation of Cyber Readiness

At DAFITC, nearly every session and booth conversation circled back to a common thread: cyber operations cannot function without visibility. Air Force cybersecurity teams are under pressure to comply with Binding Operational Directives (BODs), which demand rapid response to evolving threats and vulnerabilities.

Yet visibility is often the missing piece.

These federal mandates require knowledge of what’s on the network, where it is, and whether it’s secure. Without real-time insights into device configurations, policy adherence, and traffic flow, teams are left scrambling. That’s where Forward Enterprise, with its network digital twin, becomes a force multiplier, offering clarity, auditability, and control from the core to the edge.

Complexity in Hybrid Cloud Environments

If “hybrid cloud” were a drinking game at DAFITC, no one would have made it past lunch. But buzzword fatigue aside, the struggle is real.

Air Force IT leaders are facing operational chaos across multiple cloud providers, on-prem infrastructure, and tactical edge environments. These are not theoretical challenges. We are talking about maintaining posture from the Pentagon to forward deployments in tents.

Traditional network management tools are ill-equipped for this level of complexity. What is needed is a real-time, vendor-agnostic model of the entire hybrid environment, from GovCloud to base-level infrastructure.

That is what a network digital twin delivers. It reduces risk, restores order, and enables cyber teams to act faster with better intelligence.

Closing the Skills Gap with Automation

There are simply not enough experienced network engineers to match the growing complexity of Air Force environments.

But this is not just a resourcing problem; it is a cognitive one. When engineers spend 80 percent of their time deciphering the current state of the network, there is no time left for strategic decision-making.

That is where Forward Enterprise comes in. With an accurate digital twin of the entire network, operators can shift from reactive to proactive. They can automate the mundane, reduce human error, and accelerate mission-readiness.

Automation does not mean full replacement of human judgment. It means giving your best people the tools to act faster, smarter, and with confidence.

Field Demo at the Forward Contingency Operating Base

Forward Networks’ DAFITC booth wasn’t just clever branding. It was designed to replicate the reality of operating in the field. Live demos on a 55-gallon barrel showed mission-driven operators how a digital twin makes outdated diagrams and guesswork obsolete.

Visitors immediately understood how Forward Enterprise bridges visibility gaps and simplifies network analysis, especially in defense environments where speed and certainty are essential.

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