“852! Welcome home. Welcome back,” said Brig. Gen. Kenneth Borchers, Washington Air National Guard commander.
The 262nd Cyber Operations Squadron concluded its mobilization as the 852nd Cyber Protection Team with a demobilization ceremony at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., Oct. 3, 2025.
The 44-person team, comprised of Air National Guardsmen from Washington, California, Kansas and Texas, devoted the mobilization to fortifying critical systems within the Indo-Pacific region. The team executed nine separate missions in six separate locations including Alaska, Virginia, Hawaii, Guam, the Azores and the United Kingdom.
“As any other CPT does, our primary objective and mission is to hunt, clear, harden and assess whatever specified terrain that we're on,” said Maj. Benjamin Kolar, 852nd CPT operations officer. “We typically get tasked for systems that are very critical to a specific theater.”
During this mobilization, the 852nd CPT fortified three systems: critical infrastructure in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, expeditionary communications and command and control in the INDOPACOM, and C2 for the U.S. Strategic Command.
“Some of our most critical assets have a cyber component to them so that they are operational,” said Kolar. “The work that we do ensures the safety and security, confidentiality, integrity and availability of those assets.”
The mobilization was divided into two phases: a predeployment site survey focused on identifying vulnerabilities and threats facing each system, and a subsequent deployment for implementation of security measures and monitoring for malicious cyber activity.
To maximize effectiveness, the 852nd CPT deployed teams in carefully constructed elements, each designed to include a specific mix of skills and experience. These elements typically included intelligence specialists, network technicians, network analysts, host analysts and an element lead. Team composition also prioritized a balance of junior and senior operators to facilitate mentorship and development.
“It led to some really great success,” said Maj. Ammon Tenney, 852nd CPT team lead. “It enabled us to leverage the unique talents and capabilities that each individual brought, and I think it was a key factor in a lot of the successes that we experienced.”
The impact of the 852nd CPT expanded beyond its immediate objectives. Teams fostered strong partnerships with military personnel, civilian contractors and various government entities throughout the Indo-Pacific.
“We integrated with so many other key partners within the INDOPACOM area that allowed us to share the good work that we did, but it also laid the framework and foundation for us and other teams in the INDOPACOM to continue this good work,” said Kolar. “Inevitably, over the next couple of years, there's going to be a lot more teams that go out there, and the work that we did really laid the foundation.”
Borchers emphasized the broader strategic importance of the team's work.
“One of the things we did learn in the course of this last [mobilization], is that cyber is undeniably in the very middle of everything we need to do as a department, everything!"
Borchers further noted that their efforts aligned with the National Defense Strategy's priorities of defending the homeland, deterring strategic attacks and deterring aggression.
“We're in a period of competition right now, global competition with a peer adversary, and some of the work [the 852nd CPT] did for ensuring we had command and control capability out there in the Pacific Theater was absolutely critical to that effort. If you look at what the interim National Defense Strategy says, the three things we need to be focused on, the [cyber defense measures the 852nd CPT] did were right in the middle of every one of those things, that's incredible!”
The successful mobilization of the 852nd CPT underscores the vital role the Air National Guard plays in defending the Nation’s digital frontier and maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Taking all these folks from industry and the full-timers and incorporating them into an element where they can just let loose on some of this Nation's most strategic assets to do good work, they all knocked it out of the park!” said Kolar.