{"id":116126,"date":"2024-02-13T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=116126"},"modified":"2024-02-14T20:25:21","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T20:25:21","slug":"guard-vice-chief-emphasizes-cyber-readiness-during-maine-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=116126","title":{"rendered":"Guard Vice Chief Emphasizes Cyber Readiness During Maine Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville listens as Capt. Josh Hunsinger briefs on daily operations, missions, and the proud heritage of the Communications Squadron, Bangor Air National Guard Base, Maine, Feb. 3, 2024. Sasseville toured the Wing and met with the MAINEiacs as part of a multiday event.
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BANGOR, Maine – The National Guard\u2019s motto is \u201cAlways Ready, Always There,\u201d and for one group of Maine National Guardsmen, being \u201cthere\u201d is a loose term with no specific battlefield or location in mind. Being ready is a constant for the small collection of specialized Soldiers and Airmen who operate in an infinite area of responsibility known as cyberspace.<\/p>\n

Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville, vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, received a firsthand look at how vast the cyber battlefield is during a visit to National Guard cyber facilities in Bangor Feb. 1-3. The visit showcased the Maine Guard\u2019s role in cyber readiness, cyber defense, and support to civil authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people are quite concerned about cyber defense \u2026 and they should be,\u201d Sasseville said. \u201cFrom a warfighting perspective, we\u2019re opening new domains \u2014and cyber is an area that needs to be shored up and defended.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the combat reserve of the Army and the Air Force, the National Guard has defensive cyber operations elements in every U.S. state, territory and the District of Columbia. The Guard also has advanced cyber units in more than 35 states that stand ready to support combatant commands overseas and can be among the first called when a state or locality is attacked on the cyber front. Sometimes, the calls for help come from outside the United States.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Montenegro was the victim of a ransomware cyber attack that affected multiple ministries and governmental factions. The result was debilitating for the Balkan nation\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

As it turned out, Montenegro had a partner with the capability to quickly assist \u2014 the Maine National Guard. Montenegro officials contacted the Maine Guard for assistance shortly after the attack. Within two weeks, 20 cyber defenders from Maine were in Podgorica, Montenegro, to advise, assist and help recover critical governmental systems and processes.<\/p>\n

The significant and rapid support \u2014 later highlighted in the 2023 National Cybersecurity Strategy \u2014 was made possible by an established relationship between Maine and Montenegro as part of the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program. Montenegro gained its independence from Serbia in June 2006 and became a partner in the SPP with the Maine Guard less than six months later.<\/p>\n

Despite the successful Montenegro response, Sasseville used the 2021 ransomware attack on America\u2019s largest fuel pipeline as an example of the need for increased cyber capacity at the state level. According to Sasseville, protecting the nation\u2019s critical infrastructure often equates to defending a lot of capacity atop a \u201cmountain of local and state infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStates will be responsible for fending off attacks because that\u2019s where it all sits,\u201d Sasseville said. \u201cWho are governors going to go to? They\u2019re going to whoever knows cyber.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vice chief is tracking several lanes to bolster the National Guard\u2019s cyber capacity, including restructuring or aligning functions cyber assets are paired with, how to bridging the cyber talent gap, and improving cooperation between states when domestic cyber challenges call for a multistate response.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no different than using radios for events or high-water vehicles for events. Cyber has to be treated the same way and we need to develop that capacity,\u201d Sasseville said.<\/p>\n

During his visit to Maine, the vice chief also met with Soldiers training for a potential deployment and with company-grade officers from the 101st Air Refueling Wing in Bangor. He discussed recruiting challenges, artificial intelligence, and defending the nation on multiple fronts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really significant for all of us, but especially our younger Airmen,\u201d said Air Force Col. Byron Newell, commander of the 101st Air Refueling Wing. \u201cHe\u2019s here because he sees the value of what we do every day to help support not only the state of Maine but the United States and all of our partnerships around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The visit left an impression on Sasseville, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t be more proud of watching the Maine Guard grow,\u201d Sasseville said. \u201cThey\u2019re doing fantastic work, and I\u2019m encouraged by every Soldier and Airman I\u2019ve met.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard X<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville listens as Capt. Josh Hunsinger briefs on daily operations, missions, and the proud heritage of the Communications Squadron, Bangor Air National Guard Base, Maine, Feb. 3, 2024. Sasseville toured the Wing and met with the MAINEiacs as part of a multiday event. (Photo Credit: Master Sgt. Andrew Sinclair) VIEW ORIGINAL BANGOR, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116128,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=116126"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116129,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116126\/revisions\/116129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/116128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=116126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=116126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=116126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}