Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Dan Heaton | U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Hailey Chisum, a network operations specialist with...... read more read more
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The 45 Citizen-Airmen of the Michigan Air National Guard’s 127th Communications Squadron played a unique dual role during a recent series of combat readiness inspections and exercises at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
The “Comms” Airmen were working to both defend and secure the base’s connectivity and also to control “injects” that cut the power, phone service, internet and other connections on the base, testing the 127th Wing’s ability to generate combat power under contested and challenged conditions.
Case in point was U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Hailey Chisum, a network operations specialist with the squadron. Typically, her job is to ensure that the wing’s command post, its central hub for secure communications with the National Command Authority, has redundant connections to the outside world. During the Sept. 10-14 exercise period, she flipped switches in a control room that prevented landline phones from operating on the base. The lack of phone communication was one of multiple challenges the wing had to deal with during the inspection period, which included an Energy Resilience Readiness Exercise (ERRE).
“It was a little different being the one to turn something off, but I think it helps the wing figure out different ways to still get the mission done,” Chisum said.
As part of the ERRE, which ran for more than 72 consecutive hours, the base endured power outages and network interruptions, sometimes while the wing’s Airmen were wearing protective chemical warfare gear.
“When the wing is called on to launch aircraft, we can’t give excuses, we have to offer solutions,” said Tech. Sgt. Lauren McGregor, the plans and programs noncommissioned officer in charge for the squadron.
Among those serving up the solutions was Senior Airman Matthew Kott, a network operations specialist tasked during the ERRE to ensure the wing’s computer networks were operational.
“We start with the hardware, asking if there is a different cable we can connect to or a different server. Then we look at the software,” he said. “It’s an investigation to see where the problem is and then how can we reconfigure to fix the problem and allow operations to continue. A lot of times, our work is in the background, but it provides the connection to let the wing commander send and receive information.”
While the Citizen-Airmen in the Communications Squadron receive in-depth technical education from the Air Force, most spend about six months at a formal technical school shortly after they join. The local squadron also benefits from the civilian skill set many of its Airmen bring to the table.
“Most of our current members also work somewhere in the information technology sector in their civilian career,” said Tech. Sgt. Andrew Mapley, the squadron’s cyber security supervisor. ”From Airman 1st Class to Master Sergeant, most of our drill status Guardsmen have extensive experience and certifications, which only helps raise the overall ability and knowledge base of the squadron. This inspection and exercise tested our abilities and validated our ability to support the wing’s mission to be able to generate combat air power.”
| Date Taken: | 09.13.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2025 15:23 |
| Story ID: | 548090 |
| Location: | SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 11 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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