Scott Air Force Base, Ill. -- The 960th Cyberspace Operations Group’s Detachment 2 was activated as the 42nd Cyberspace Operations Group during a ceremony at the Ludwig Heritage Hall Atrium at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., Sept. 12.
Col. Anthony M. Perkins, 960th CyOG commander presided over the ceremony, where Lt. Col. Samuel McGlynn assumed command of the squadron.
“Lt. Col. McGlynn is the person to command and take this squadron to full combat mission readiness,” Perkins said. “As you review his bio, you will read a storied career with several deployments to the area of responsibility – not supporting from afar, but supporting while he, himself, was in harm’s way. He’s an officer with exemplary service on active duty, in the National Guard, and now the Reserve component. With his diverse background from finance to space to expeditionary/combat communications – Lt. Col. McGlynn is the best choice to lead the 42nd COS now.”
The "now" of the moment in terms of cyber was a key component of Lt. Col. McGlynn's remarks, as he reflected on the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
“Yesterday, fifteen years ago, 9/11 happened, and our nation was caught off guard by an act of terrorism almost impossible to imagine," McGlynn said. "However, while the terrorist threat remains, including new threats from the likes of ISIL in Syria and Iraq, every year since 2013 the Director of National Intelligence has identified the cyber threat as the single greatest threat to the national security of the United States."
He went on to reference the recent cyber attacks on the Office of Personnel Management, Sony Entertainment, Target, and Home Depot, as well as those on point-of-sale devices in hotels and restaurants that occur daily.
"Further, overseas attacks against critical infrastructure like power grids and the financial sector demonstrate that it no longer takes a million-dollar weapon system to cause critical damage to one’s enemy...and this trend is only increasing with ever more sophisticated attacks," McGlynn said.
He continued, saying our Nation recognizes the threat and has resolved to deliver an operational capability to protect critical infrastructure and ensure key missions are hardened and actively defended against exploitation and cyber attack and adding that the cyber protection teams, as part of the U.S. Cyber Command mission forces, are one key component of this response.
"Today, we can now say that the men and women of the Reserve have joined that effort," McGlynn said. "Since the founding of the Air Force, Citizen Airmen have been indispensable mission partners of every major operation. Now, in partnership with Guardians of the 835th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, 42nd COS members will execute operations as part of the only composite active and Reserve cyber protection teams."
McGlynn shared that there's much work to do, given the need to recruit, hire, and train new members for the demanding standards of the unit. However, he said, as the full-time, active component personnel participates in ongoing operations and trains traditional reservists to be ready when needed, TRs will be there to support recurring exercises, volunteer for extended tours of duty and maintain mobilization readiness when a national crisis arises.
In closing, McGlynn said he's honored to serve at the helm of this squadron.
"Today is a special day, as we reactivate the 42nd and carry on the legacy of a unit that was first activated almost 67 years ago, just after the founding of the Air Force," he said. "I am honored to serve the Airmen of the 42nd COS -- all of whom were hand-selected. I could not be more proud to serve with each of you."
The 42nd COS derives its lineage from the 42nd Combat Communications Squadron, which was activated at Mitchell Air Force Base, New York, just after World War II. The unit has been inactivated, reconstituted and redesignated, reactivated and deactivated a number of times since it stood up Nov. 17, 1949. The lineage is passed as the 42nd COS is activated today.
The squadron is charged with providing combat mission ready cyber operators to our Nation's cyber mission forces. Citizen Airmen assigned to the unit conduct operations as part of total force active component and Reserve cyber protection teams to ensure critical mission enclaves are defended against exploitation and attack. They execute operations using the Cyberspace Vulnerability Assessment/Hunter weapon system to ensure Air Force and combatant command objectives are met.