“A unified fighting force”: Activation Ceremony marks important step in establishing Spectrum Warfare Group

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. — Chances are, the technology we use daily utilizes frequencies on the electromagnetic spectrum. Air Force technology is no exception, and two new detachments specializing in this field were activated at Robins Air Force Base this week.

On Wednesday, Oct. 25, military and community leaders, families, and personnel from Robins and Eglin Air Force Bases gathered for a ceremony activating Detachment 1 for the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing and Detachment 1 for the 87th Electronic Warfare Squadron, commanded by Lt. Col. C. Ryan Cox.

Commanding the 350th SWW is Col. Joshua Koslov, stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

The 350th SWW is the Air Force’s newest wing, expected to support 2300 personnel across ten units at three locations across the nation.

During his speech, Koslov briefly explained the 350th SWW’s mission, including rapid reprogramming, target waveform development and ensuring system readiness. Koslov also shared his excitement to bring this mission to Middle Georgia.

“The group we’re building here today at Robins Air Force Base in Middle Georgia has the potential to be the most important of our wing’s three missions. The reason for that is, that in order to fight the conflicts of the future, we’re going to have to know how well we can execute within the contested spectrum and the electronic warfare world,” Koslov said. “And the way we’re going to do that is rigorous assessment, which is a mission set that while we do today, it’s not on the level we need to in the 21st century. And so I’m really excited to bring that mission to Middle Georgia. There’s a steep history here of why I think that we’re gonna have a lot of success here.”

Speaking on the wing’s importance, bolstering electromagnetic spectrum capability is key, and is the key to victory in peace and wartime efforts, adding that the wing is focused and determined to win.

“As the Air Force has begun to reinvest in its Air Force electromagnetic spectrum capability, it will continue to increase the lethality of all of our warfighters. And while war is, the world’s, a dangerous place; we all know that current events dictates that and while war is not inevitable, the best way to avoid war is being able to overmatch our opponents with so much capability that they don’t even want to try. And that is what the 950th Spectrum Warfare Group is going to bring to us today,” Koslov said.

The 350th SWW and 87th EWS will grow into The 950th Spectrum Warfare Group set to be established in early 2024, as Koslov explained. The 350th SWW provides electromagnetic combat capability to over 70 platforms across the Air Force, and the 950th SWG will be pivotal to expanding Air Force’s overall capabilities.

“We’re not just one wing. We’re every wing in the United States Air Force. The need for our capability drives a dedicated spotlight ensuring our weapon systems achieve Commander’s intent, when it matters most in combat, as a unified fighting force” Koslov said.

Robins will play a large part in this, with Koslov mentioning Robins Air Force Base as the heart of the Air Force’s center for electronic warfare assessment; the Air Force plans to bring the best and brightest to the cause.

“Our mission necessitates a diverse array of skill sets encompassing engineers, electronic warfare officers, software programmers, intelligence professionals, tacticians, mission planners and aircraft operators and maintainers. And we’re gonna bring all that to Georgia, Middle Georgia, and hopefully attract more more folks to this great community as we go forward together. Together with the 950th, we’ll become the leading force in [electronic warfare] readiness for the joint force and defining readiness and capability across the [electronic warfare] spectrum.”

Introducing Cox, the detachment commander, to the crowd, Koslov said his experience, reliability, conscientiousness and intelligence makes him the ideal candidate to begin building communities and providing solid leadership. Before the ceremonial Unfurling of the Guidons and Assumption of Command, Koslov gave Cox some words of advice.

“Don’t get distracted by the chaff. Stay focused on the mission, stay focused on the people. And the rest of it will take care of itself. I’m extremely proud of you and you are the right person at the right time for this job,” Koslov said.

Cox spoke next, explaining the significance electromagnetic technology plays in daily lives, summarizing the impact with media after the ceremony.

“Think of it as wireless communications. If there’s something that you are using, if you don’t have to get up and manually touch or a wire is not connected to it, then that is something that operates on the electromagnetic spectrum,” Cox said.

When aircraft was developed over the years, they were developed with their individual roles in mind, according to Cox. As he explained, The 950th will also ensure cohesion among a vast array of weapons systems.

“If you’ve ever seen like a middle school orchestra, where some of those players in the orchestra have never played together, it takes a lot of work to make sure that that all the different instruments will work together, when you bring them together. And that’s exactly what the 950th is doing. They’re bringing everyone together to make sure that all the capabilities are doing what we want,” Cox said.

As he explained during his speech, a key component is also disabling enemy technology.

“Some of these aircraft are more than 60 years old and they would be useless if the spectrum is denied. They would all be useless. The silver lining to that story though, is that is the exact same story that our adversaries have with their system,” Cox said. “In this wing, we work to sharpen the tools to take away the spectrum. A day without spectrum is a bad day and that’s precisely what we intend on giving our enemies. But the only way we can make sure that it will work and then it’ll all work together, when it really counts, is going to be through the hard work that the 950th Spectrum Warfare Group is going to do.”

Cox has officially been in command since Aug. 10, and electronic warfare has been his calling from the start. Reflecting on his time so far, he said being a leader is exciting and awesome.

“I’ve been an electronic warfare officer for my entire career, since 2005, and you’ve always kind of asked questions of ‘Where is that intelligent design? Who is actually the person who’s bringing it all together?’ Because we had so many priorities over the past 15 years though, some of those folks, they kind of got reassigned to do something else,” Cox said. “So when we start to refocus on some of the near peer countries that are out there, there was a need to say, ‘We got to up our game and we got to have somebody who brings all these capabilities together to bring that one unified force.’ So being the person who gets to build that is an awesome responsibility.”

Originally set for a 2027 setup date, the timeline for the warfare group has been accelerated to begin operations in the summer of 2024.

HHJ News