Ohio National Guard unit selected for nation's first cyberspace wing

By Ann Thompson

Published December 19, 2022 at 4:36 AM EST

Several Aircrew members from the 179th Airlift Wing, Mansfield, Ohio, celebrated their final flights June 16th, 2022, at the 179th Airlift Wing, Mansfield, Ohio. The "Fini" flight tradition is one where aircrew members are hosed down with water by their peers, family, and friends upon their completion of their final flight. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Alexis Wade)

An Ohio National Air Base that faced an uncertain future flying C-130s has been selected as the nation's first cyberspace mission unit.

The 179^th Airlift wing in Mansfield is busy transitioning to the new mission by hiring intelligence personnel, cybersecurity experts and operations staff. It's still unclear who their partners will be because this is the first Air National Guard cyberspace wing.

"It will be one of one in the Air Force, and it will be very unique," Ohio's Adjutant General John Harris says. "So not only for preparation for the mission —which is going to be very important, we’re not even sure of all the entities the wing is going to work with yet because this is such leading edge — they really will be the thought leaders in this space."

Harris says cybersecurity is very important. He says think about the things in our information space: social media; weapons systems; GPS navigation; weather satellites; community. All of those could be taken out by an adversary, crippling our military operations.

Major General John Harris, Ohio's Adjutant General, is excited bout the designation of the 179th Airwing.

Harris declined to give specific personnel numbers at the Mansfield base, but he says it's under 1,000. A quarter to a third of the staff will be full-time. The Air National Guard base could also be used to address cyber threats to Ohio.

"The governor has the ability to bring those folks into a state of active-duty status, paid by the state, under the command and control of the governor for any sort of response he sees here," says Harris. That could involve a threat to municipalities or airports.

Cole McKinley is a National Guard member and director of cyber operations for USX Cyber, a cybersecurity firm serving small and mid-sized businesses. He says the designation of the 179^th comes at a good time.

"As we saw with the conflict in Ukraine, one of the main tactics of the invasion was they attacked their cyber infrastructure first," McKinley says. "They took down financial, energy and media outlets, while performing the invasion, and if we’re not prepared, we’re going to see that in future playbooks from future adversaries in the world."

The full transition of the 179th will take place over the next five years.