688th IOW breaks ground on new cyber facility

  • Published
  • By Capt Carrie L. Kessler
  • 688th Information Operations Wing Public Affairs
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The 688th Information Operations Wing expanded its presence in the cyber domain when it broke ground on a new state-of-the-art facility at McChord Dec. 11.

The new building will be home to the 262nd Network Warfare Squadron, a Washington Air National Guard unit supporting the total force initiatives within the 194th Regional Support Wing and the Air Force.

"This is more than just a groundbreaking for a new facility," said Col. William Morrow, 688th IOW vice commander and former 62nd Communications Squadron commander, McChord AFB. "It enables the 262nd NWS experts to deliver groundbreaking cyber capabilities through 24th Air Force and Air Force Space Command to protect our nation."

Headquartered at Lackland AFB, the 688th IOW's mission is to deliver proven information operations and engineering infrastructure capabilities integrated across air, space and cyberspace domains. Augmenting the wing's information operations capability, the mission of the 262nd NWS is to train citizen Airmen to provide network warfare capabilities to secure defense information networks and provide full-spectrum cyberspace options to the State of Washington, AFSPC and 24th AF.

"The 262nd NWS is a cutting-edge unit that will fully utilize this state-of-the-art facility for the benefit of our state and nation," said Maj. Gen. Timothy J. Lowenberg, the Washington National Guard adjutant general and commander.

The new 23,500 square foot facility will serve as a valuable resource for the development of cyber capabilities for training and operations.

"We will utilize a state-of-the-art center within the facility to continue to innovate and change the way the Air Force views the security of our data networks," said Lt. Col. Kelly Hughes, 262 NWS detachment commander. "The center will be equipped with cutting-edge software, hardware and associated connectivity necessary to harness the transformational capabilities provided by the skills and experience of the 262nd NWS Airmen."

According to Colonel Hughes, the new facility was built with environmental good stewardship in mind by using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System™.

"The Washington National Guard took the environment into consideration when designing this building," said Colonel Hughes. "It will have a LEED Silver rating which indicates how environmentally friendly the building is based on efficiency, selection of materials and design."

According to the U.S. Green Building Council Web site, the LEED system encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. LEED is a third party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

The $5.6 million construction project is scheduled to be complete in October 2010.