MICHIGAN Michigan Airmen practice combat turns in Latvia By Tech. Sgt. Chelsea FitzPatrick 127th Wing Public Affairs | JUNE 21, 2023 LIELVāRDE AIR BASE, Latvia - Over four days, approximately 30 Mich- igan Air National Guard Airmen traveled from Michigan to Germany and then Latvia, practicing deploying for future fights.
MASSACHUSETTS
Simulating a deployment to a contingency location, the 127th Wing’s Agile Combat Employment team practiced receiving, turning and launching A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft in ways similar to being close to the front line of combat. “When we travel to a contingency location, we want to get closer to the front lines so we can establish a base in order to get aircraft to and from the fight that much quicker,” said Senior Master Sgt. Adam Dittenber, 127th Maintenance Group’s ACE team lead. Conducting this training in Latvia gives the Airmen the flexibility to test different plans of action with a state partner’s support and infrastructure. The Michigan National Guard and Latvia have been partners in the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program since it began in 1993.
Massachusetts Guard cyber team helps town check Security By Sgt. 1st Class Steven Eaton Massachusetts National Guard Public Affairs | AUG. 16, 2023 TEWKSBURY, Mass. – Four Massachusetts National Guard members worked with the Town of Tewksbury to identify weaknesses in their cybersecurity and suggest improvements. Two Soldiers and two Airmen conducted the assessments as part of the Department of Defense Innovative Readiness Training pro- gram. The program enables military units to use federally funded training time on approved community projects. Historically, IRT has provided physical infrastructure improvements by engineer units throughout Massachusetts. Guardsmen train on their military occupational specialty skills in a real-world environ- ment, using their knowledge to help local communities. The cybersecurity team, led by Lt. Col. Chris Elgee, a cyber officer with the Massachusetts National Guard Joint Force Headquarters, spent two weeks reviewing the town’s cybersecurity plan, probing for weaknesses, and identifying proactive measures. “The town is doing great,” said Elgee. “There’s a big opportunity for more to be done. No one is ever at the end of their cybersecurity journey; there’s always further to go.”
“We recommend at some point in the next year, exercising that cy- bersecurity incident response,” said Elgee. “Setting up some kind of tabletop exercise to do two things: to make sure it fits for the town and for your requirements but also to make sure the key players know they have a role in it. If the next big cyber thing happens in Tewksbury, the directors in different sectors know what their job is.”
journeyman assigned to the 127th Logistics Readiness Squadron. “If we needed to, at a moment’s notice, we could integrate seam- lessly with them, and that’s the whole goal of this.” During the training, the fuels troops oversaw “hot pit” refueling, a critical ICT task that keeps aircraft ready to immediately execute a mission. While the aircraft is running, POL pulls fuel trucks up to the plane and the acting crew chief refuels the A-10. In a combat situation, the ACE team would get quick notice of a location to travel to and establish their landing site. This would initiate POL to coordinate fuel delivery, Airmen to pack their bags and gear and for the ammunition team to order munitions-build- ing supplies. “The way this goes is we get our tasker to find out where we are going, we put in the order and make sure all the munitions get delivered,” said Tech. Sgt. James Tennimon, ammunition specialist, 127th Maintenance Squadron. Ammunition collects their tool listing, materials and munitions and heads to the site. When the ACE team arrives, bomb-building begins. When complete, the team transfers the bombs to the jet.
The training was also a test to see if the Guard could run this pro- gram in communities across Massachusetts.
“Their setup is similar to ours. We can integrate with them seamless- ly,” Dittenber said of the Latvian military and Lielvarde Air Base.
“We overstaffed this mission to do a proof of concept. [We asked] How can the Mass Guard plug in on state active duty or the IRT program and really help the Commonwealth,” said Lt. Col Timothy Hunt, a cybersecurity officer with the Massachusetts National Guard.
The ACE team includes select members from core 127th Mainte- nance Group fields, such as crew chiefs, avionics, sheet metal, elec- tro-environmental, engines, ammunition and weapons. Members train to conduct their mission while the aircraft engines are running, or hot. These quick turnaround windows, referred to as integrated combat turns, can also include rapid crew swaps when the aircraft lands. The aircrews travel lightly, enabling them to travel in and out of landing sites in just about any geographic area. “Our team is very low maintenance. We bring everything we need that can fit in two Chinooks, come out here and operate and can do this for a few days if need be,” Dittenber said. The ACE team is supported by non-maintenance fields such as petroleum, oil and lubricants (known as fuels), medical, intelligence, aircrew flight equipment and the fire department.
Hunt’s goal is to bring the Guard’s skills to Massachusetts cities and towns.
“We want to identify places where we bring unique skills such as operational technology assessments for critical infrastructure. That’s something we focus on during our Cyber Yankee exercise and a lot of our Soldiers and Airmen have that niche capability,” he said. People attending a briefing about the IRT program included representatives of the Massachusetts Cyber Center, the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, selectmen from the Town of Tewksbury, and Secretary Jason Snyder, Massachusetts Technology Services and Security. “This is wonderful. It’s great work,” said Snyder. “There’s so much knowledge gained and so much planning for the future. It really does benefit the Commonwealth tremendously.”
“Weapons troops and other qualified individuals will pick them up, load them onto the aircraft and then, off she goes,”Tennimon said.
“Getting as much practice as possible and working with foreign mil- itaries is really important,” said Senior Airman Scott St Arnaud, a POL
The National Guard team praised the town’s efforts and suggested an additional exercise to test and improve cybersecurity.
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