Incorporating a diverse array of space weapon systems in realistic threat-based scenarios, Ohio Air National Guard’s 178th Wing hosted the fifth Vulcan Guard event, working alongside US Space Command and the Brazilian military in the space-focused exercise on 10-11 August.
The 178th Wing is a crucial force in providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, as well as operations support, for both federal and state missions.
To further the National Defense Strategy, which focuses on collaboration with a network of US allies and partners , Vulcan Guard aims to build relationships with United States Space Force units and improves the planning and debrief capabilities of its participants. Ohio hosted Brazilian military personnel and Guardsmen from Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii and New York, in person and remotely.
Intelligence personnel from US military partners integrated with National Guard operations at Springfield-Beckley Air National Guard Base, where the base has hosted four other Vulcan Guard exercises over the last two years.
“We will never go to war alone,” said Maj. Gen. Edward Vaughan, director of space operations for the National Guard Bureau during a visit to the Springfield-Beckley during Vulcan Guard. “We’re going to go to war fully integrated with allies and partners. And so that’s what this exercise allows us to do. When you talk about the space mission, the United States is clearly the leader militarily in some of those capabilities. That’s where we are able to help develop those capabilities on their side appropriately, again, in coordination with Space Force, SPACECOM and others.”
“The Ohio National Guard and other National Guard states have been providing support to space for over 28 years…so that experience is irreplaceable,” said Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr., Ohio adjutant general during the Vulcan Guard exercise. “And the transition from the Air National Guard assets to a Space National Guard would be almost seamless. What they’re doing today, they would continue doing tomorrow regardless of the name tag on their uniform. And that’s important.”
