Col. Jack Johnson, commander of the 179th Cyber Wing, introduced himself to several community members at the Richland Area Chamber & Economic Development on June 23.
Since the 179th Airlift Wing of the Ohio National Guard base transitioned from C-130s to cyberspace, much new construction has turned hangars into cyberspace facilities.
Mansfield is on the frontlines of modern warfare — but no longer in airplanes. The final C-130H military transport plane flew from Mansfield Lahm Air National Guard Base in July 2022.
The 179th’s redesignation ceremony as the Air National Guard’s first-ever Cyberspace Wing was held in September 2023 while also honoring the 75-year aviation history of the Mansfield air guard.
Thus, a new leader.
The purpose of the meeting was to meet Johnson, who provided an update about activities on base.
Johnson, who grew up in a small town in Oregon, said his father worked at sawmills and his mother was a seamstress. He went to college, then joined the Air Force as a communications and information electrical engineer. Johnson has served in Utah, Illinois, Georgia, Florida and Washington as crew commander, engineering and support flight commander, and the Air National Guard’s Director of Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Cyber Effects Operations, among other positions.
He has also deployed to Djibouti, Iraq and Afghanistan in support of contingency operations. He has received the Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award and the Global War on Terrorism Civilian Service Medal.
Johnson has been in the Air Force since 2000. He is the first commander of the Cyberspace Wing. The base has gone through many changes in recent years, he said during the hour-long conversation with local leaders.
Johnson started the conversation by saying that the base has gone to a non-flying mission. “And we all say, hey, I can’t tell you too much about it.”
He noted 70% of the 179th Airlift Wing members transferred to the Cyberspace wing.
“How we act as virtual wingmen to flying assets, to better assure they are able to get in and get out … There’s probably a whole lot of stuff we can’t talk about here,” Johnson said. “They are really using a lot of high-tech concepts. What I think benefits the community here is we’ve got a lot of highly trained Airmen doing amazing things out there.
“Everything we do today in society resolves a phone, computer, the cloud, something like that. We’re very much at risk if that goes away. Bad folks want to attack us and take that down and take society to its knees; we’re going to be in a world curve,” he said. “The expertise we’re training out there at the wing relates to all that. And even some of the simpler things that we do in life have a very strong technological tie in … It’s at risk. I’m very concerned about the future that some of those things would go away and it’s going to be a very bad day.”
Johnson spoke highly of Col. Darren E. Hamilton, who relinquished his duties as wing commander at the Mansfield base June 5.
“Darren was the right guy to get this wing from C-130s to where it is now,” Johnson said.
Hamilton, a Bellville native, is now a brigadier general and now serves at Joint Force Headquarters in Columbus.
Johnson said he is extremely happy to be in Mansfield and is “excited to be here as long as they keep me here.”
Mansfield Safety Service Director Keith Porch said the Mansfield Fire Department trained at the base with the base fire department, who have responded as mutual aid for the city in northern Richland County.
“For our call volume, it is very much appreciated,” Porch said. “We rely heavily on that fire department.”
“We want to be a partner with and we’ve enjoy working with you,” Porch said.
Johnson said the Cyber Wing security forces at the base need to grow to protect assets, and there is a specific channel to get that done.
“It’s really hard to steal a C-130. It’s not as hard to steal some secrets,” he said.
Johnson said he would like to see more housing locally for Cyber Wing members.
Contact Lou Whitmire at 419-521-7223. She can be reached on X at @lwhitmir
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Local leaders meet new commander of 179th Cyberspace Wing
Reporting by Lou Whitmire, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Lou Whitmire, Mansfield News Journal | USA TODAY Network
