Colorado National Guard electromagnetic warfare squadron celebrates new facility

BUCKLEY SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. – The Colorado National Guard’s 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of its new facility at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado, at 9 a.m., Aug. 5, 2023.

The ceremony represents the next step in Colorado Air National Guard Space operations and is the result of a multi-year effort by hundreds of individuals who have contributed to the occasion. This will be the permanent home of the 138th EWS and will be the foundation for unit, or according to their motto, “ghostrider,” operations for many years to come.

“This ribbon-cutting ceremony, demonstrated by our squadron’s military construction project as ready for beneficial occupancy, symbolizes a major step toward the 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron achieving full-operational capability,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Andrew Gold, commander, 138th EWS said. “This is a momentous event for our squadron, the 233rd Space Group, and the 140th Wing. This day would not be possible without the incredible dedication and support of the 140th Civil Engineering Squadron, 140th Wing Contracting Office, our National Guard Bureau partners, and numerous other individuals and agencies who helped see this project through to success.”

The new facility provides 138th Airmen with a state-of-the-art building that will simultaneously increase readiness and modernization through more efficient training so they can focus on accomplishing their real-world mission. This will be a centralized location to train and prepare Colorado Guard members for their critical federal and state missions. From a strategic perspective, the 138th will be able to train more Guard members in a more efficient manner than currently exists.

Air National Guard Space EW squadrons have consistently deployed to the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command theaters since 2018. The units typically deploy to Space EW Counter Communications Systems already in theater.

The 138th Space Control Squadron stood up in May 2019 and has rapidly improved the training environment to create the most realistic wartime scenarios possible, preparing space professionals for future wartime missions.

These Airmen remain unaligned with their natural Active Component mission partner, the U.S. Space Force.  The establishment of a Space National Guard would preserve the combat readiness of our ANG space units and leverage this capacity and resident space expertise to support our National Defense Strategy.

ANG space units defend our nation on behalf of U.S. Space Command and combatant commanders across various mission areas: missile warning; space domain awareness; satellite command and control; military satellite communications; space electromagnetic warfare operations; space test and training; analysis of space intelligence.