The Department of Defense is in the final phase of a major expansion of its cyber security mission in San Antonio.
The Air Force plans to place 1,100 new team members at Joint Base San Antonio and other locations around the city.
The San Antonio congressional delegation announced Wednesday an expansion of the existing cyber security mission headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, bringing in more than 400 new team members at that site alone.
The Cyber Mission Force Expansion required a dramatic increase in the 2014 military appropriations bill over 2013. Congressman Pete Gallego said it provides for new personnel to meet the needs of a high-tech environment, despite the sequester.
"They're supplementing," Gallego said. "So we're not really pulling people out from other places. What we're doing is, despite the sequester, we're adding positions there in San Antonio because there's a new focus. Because of the changes in technology, we've got to be ready for cyber warfare."
Gallego said increasing the cyber presence here also further positions San Antonio as one of the country’s pre-eminent military cities, strengthening its hand in case of any future rounds of BRAC.
The expansion will add 64 new leadership positions and more than 600 positions serving the National Security Agency mission in various locations around the city.
