Tag Archive for: guard

Stay or go? Fence, Guard pose Capitol security questions – WAVY.com

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Nobody, it seems, wants to keep the security fence around the U.S. Capitol anymore — except the police who fought off the horrific attackon Jan. 6.

Lawmakers call the razor-topped fencing “ghastly,” too militarized and, with the armed National Guard troops still stationed at the Capitolsince a pro-Trump mob laid siege, not at all representative of the world’s leading icon of democracy.

“All you have to do is to see the fencing around the Capitol to be shocked,” Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said in an interview Friday.

How to protect lawmakers, while keeping the bucolic Capitol grounds open to visitors has emerged as one of the more daunting, wrenching questions from deadly riot. Not since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has security been so elevated, and the next steps so uncertain, for the Capitol complex.

Five people died after the mob stormed the building trying to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election over Republican Donald Trump. The former president was impeachedby the House, and acquitted by the Senate, for inciting the insurrection.

The U.S. Capitol Police has asked for the fencing and the National Guard to remain, for now.

Police officers are working grueling round-the-clock overtime shifts after being overrun that day, engaging at times in hand-to-hand combat with rioters outfitted in combat gear and armed with bats, poles and other weaponry. One woman was shot and killed by police and an officer died later, among scores of police injured in what officials have said appeared to be a planned and coordinated assault.

With warningsof another attack in early March by pro-Trump militants and threats on lawmakers that have nearly doubled since the start of 2021, the police, the Pentagon and lawmakers themselves are wrestling with how best to secure what has been a sprawling campus mostly open to visiting tourists and neighborhood dog walkers alike.

“The attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th forever changed how we look at the ‘People’s House,’” acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said in written testimony before Congress in February.

She said that even before the…

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National Guard task force that supports Cyber Command changes over

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WASHINGTON — The Army recently announced a new tranche of National Guard units to staff a critical and ongoing task force for U.S. Cyber Command.

Members of the 123rd Cyber Protection Battalion — made up of guardsmen from Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia and Wisconsin – relieved the 15-month deployment of the 124th Cyber Protection Battalion for Task Force Echo, an Army announcement said.

The task force was described at its outset in 2017 as the largest mobilization of reserve forces in cyberspace, and to date over 600 National Guardsmen have been assigned to it. Now in its fifth iteration, soldiers will begin a 12-month deployment based at Fort Meade in Maryland.

Few details are publicly known about the task force, other than it supports full spectrum cyber operations. While under the control of Army Cyber Command’s 780th Military Intelligence Brigade, which conducts offensive cyber operations for Cyber Command, the task force has supported Cyber Command’s Cyber National Mission Force, which conducts offensive cyber operations under the guise of defense to protect the nation from malicious cyber actors. Sources have indicated that it has also supported Joint Task Force-Ares, which seeks to limit the Islamic State group’s abilities in the digital world.

While not “trigger pullers,” sources have also indicated the task force provides infrastructure support.

The task force has been described as beneficial to all organizations involved.

“I was impressed by the soldiers of Tasks Force Echo IV. They brought their real-world experience managing networks to the Army and made our organization better,” Col. Matthew Lennox, commander of the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade, said at an awards ceremony for the outgoing battalion. “Their knowledge and experience enabled teams within the Cyber National Mission Force and the different service Joint Force Headquarters to accomplish their mission. The Task Force Echo soldiers were integral members of the brigade team.”

The Army in recent years has begun to incorporate the National Guard and Reserve forces into all aspects of its cyber mission.

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2020 a historic year for Pennsylvania National Guard | Article

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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – 2020 was a year like no other in recent history for the Pennsylvania National Guard.Throughout the year, Soldiers and Airmen of the Pennsylvania National Guard responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest and natural disasters in our homeland and deployed around the world, in addition to conducting their usual readiness training."This year has been nothing short of historic,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Schindler, Pennsylvania’s acting adjutant general. “Our Pa. National Guard responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, modified our training and operations in order to safely support civil unrest missions, mobilized the 28th Aviation Brigade, deployed two Air Wings overseas and back, sustained un-interrupted combat operations from Horsham and successfully conducted a Division War Fighter Exercise.”In 2020, nearly 1,800 Pa. Guard members deployed in support of ongoing contingency and force protection operations in Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar, Poland, Germany and Kosovo.The PNG also supported domestic operations, deploying approximately 5,900 personnel in Pennsylvania and nationally to assist local authorities with COVID-19 pandemic response, civil unrest and natural disasters. During the 2020 primary and general elections, the PNG supported local and state agencies with the protection and monitoring of cyber networks.Fort Indiantown Gap continued to play a major role in supporting National Guard activities as the PNG’s headquarters. FTIG played host to more than 118,000 active duty, Reserve and National Guard service members in 2020, remaining among the busiest National Guard training centers in the nation.“With the support of our employers, the Soldiers and Airmen of the Pennsylvania National Guard stepped up and got the job done,” said Schindler. “I am extremely proud of our men, women, and their families for their sacrifice and service to our commonwealth and country.”COVID-19 ResponsePennsylvania National Guard members have been involved in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic continually since mid-March. To date, approximately 1,500 PNG members were on duty for a total of over 58,000 man-days as they took part in a variety of…

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DVIDS – News – Michigan National Guard goes All-In on All-Domain training

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LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan National Guard unveiled the National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) at Camp Grayling in July and the Kelly Johnson Joint All-Domain Innovation Center (KJJADIC) at Selfridge Air National Guard Base (SANGB) in Sept., signaling a major shift in how it trains – and how it offers training for other entities across the Department of Defense –to prepare for the battlefield of the future. The new focus on All-Domain operations, which includes sea, land, air, space, and cyber, aligns the Michigan National Guard with the DoD’s modernization priorities, making them a key stakeholder in the future of All-Domain Operations.

The Michigan National Guard is increasing its capabilities in these areas for future missions and resources. “Within the National Guard, readiness levels determine the force structure and mission sets assigned to each state,” said Army Maj. Gen. Paul D. Rogers, Adjutant General and Director of Michigan’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “Michigan’s unique geography, airspace, ranges, and growing connection to the defense industry make it an ideal environment for All-Domain training and operations, and we are developing those capabilities in order to undertake those missions.”

In 2019, there were more than 6,000 participants from 20 states and seven participating NATO countries at Northern Strike, the Michigan National Guard’s annual joint, reserve component readiness exercise held in Northern Michigan. Michigan’s unique geography is shaped by rolling hills, Great Lakes shorelines and large forests. With a climate and geography similar to central Europe, it offers four-season training opportunities that include littoral operations.

A 17,000-square-mile special use airspace, which extends over a portion of Lake Huron, blankets the NADWC, which is supported by three Michigan Air National Guard installations: the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, and SANGB, where the new KJADIC is located. These air bases provide air-to-air maneuver…

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