The Vermont Air National Guard just formally activated the 229th Information Operations Squadron at the National Guard Armory on the Norwich University campus, reports the Associated Press (article via Burlington Free Press). The squadron’s mission is to help the active duty 39th IOS at Hurlburt Field, Fla., train Air Force personnel to fight wars in cyberspace. Vermont airmen have been engaged in this effort, which they pursue via the Internet, for two years or so, piggybacking on a 1998 program started by the Vermont Army National Guard. “Within about, I would say, two, two and one-half years, the Air Force told us they couldn’t operate without us,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie, Vermont Adjutant General. The Air Force also has just activated a provisional headquarters for its new Cyber Command.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
