OTIS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mass. – The Massachusetts National Guard’s 102nd Intelligence Wing conducted a combat readiness inspection called Patriots Resolve June 3-6 to evaluate the wing’s readiness, response and recovery capabilities.
Air Combat Command inspectors and 102nd Intelligence Wing inspection team members embedded across the installation to execute the exercise, assessing Airmen on their assigned mission-essential tasks in a heavily contested and degraded operating environment.
“Planning an exercise of this magnitude requires months of rigorous coordination, synchronizing objectives across all groups and developing a realistic Master Scenario Events List,” said Lt. Col. Evan Lagasse, 102nd Intelligence Wing inspector general. “The Inspector General team's role is to serve as the objective eyes and ears of the wing commander. We do not just look for failures. We validate capabilities, identify friction points in contested environments and ensure our Airmen can execute their mission-essential tasks under stress.”
The simulated training environment placed the wing in a complex, fast-moving global landscape featuring heightened geopolitical tensions and direct aggression against the continental United States and overseas military installations. Exercise scenarios spanned multiple combatant commands, challenging Airmen with events ranging from missile and drone attacks to multidomain homeland threats, including cyberattacks against critical infrastructure and unmanned aircraft system, or UAS, incursions over sensitive sites.
“If we continue to think of the homeland as a sanctuary with little to no threat from our potential adversaries, we are setting ourselves up to be sorely disappointed,” said Col. Andrew St. Jean, 102nd Intelligence Wing commander. “If we want to prepare ourselves for modern conflict, we must break ourselves of the notion that just because we are home, we are safe.”
Throughout the four-day evaluation, wing Airmen conducted 24-hour operations and faced a barrage of challenging exercise injects designed to disrupt daily operations. Simulated challenges included power failures, restricted base movement, insider threats and communication breakdowns.
“I expected people to meet challenges head-on,” St. Jean said. “I expected people to embrace the concept of ‘mission command’ and take disciplined initiative to assume appropriate risks at the appropriate levels to get the job done. In that regard, I think our folks knocked it out of the park.”
The inspection validated a wide array of wing capabilities, including counter-UAS procedures, anti-terrorism force protection, law and order procedures, continuity of operations and cyberspace infrastructure damage assessment and repair.
The exercise also included participation from several civilian and state agencies, such as the Massachusetts State Police, Joint Base Cape Cod Fire Department and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, reinforcing the wing’s ability to coordinate with off-base partners during a simulated crisis.
“Seamless integration with our interagency and community partners is not optional – it is a critical requirement for installation defense and emergency response,” Lagasse said. “This exercise proved that our mutual aid agreements are solid and that interoperability is vital to mitigating complex threats. We fight the way we train, and we must train alongside the local partners we will rely on during a real-world crisis”
For Lagasse, the exercise affirmed the wing’s combat readiness.
“It tells me that this wing is lethal, ready and capable of projecting power at any moment’s notice,” Lagasse said. “While no unit is perfect, and we identified specific areas to refine, the baseline combat readiness demonstrated during Patriots Resolve assures me that if the nation calls tomorrow, our Airmen will successfully execute the mission and bring the fight to the adversary.”
The exercise showcased the skill and readiness of the unit’s drill-status Guardsmen, or DSG, many of whom balance military service with civilian careers. Despite those competing demands, they came together to train and execute the mission effectively, demonstrating the commitment and professionalism that enable the Air National Guard to respond whenever called upon.
“I am routinely amazed by our drill-status Guardsmen,” St. Jean said. “At a time when so few people serve, our DSGs are willing to put their other commitments on the back burner to train to ensure they are ready when the nation calls. It is a testament to their pride, professionalism and patriotism.”