Commentary by Capt. Martha Nigrelle

It takes a lot to reach the top in any career field, and that was no different for Texas Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer William Langford.

After 37 years of service, Langford was promoted to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 5, the highest rank in the Warrant Officer Corps, in a ceremony at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas, Dec. 5, 2015.

“There are only 300 CW5’s in the Army National Guard and most of them are in Aviation,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Earnest Metcalf, Command Chief Warrant Officer, noting the significance of the achievement.

“A non aviation warrant officer making CW5 is kind of monumental,” said Maj. Robert Cederstrom, Joint Forces Headquarters Detachment commander

There are 350,000 soldiers currently serving in the Army National Guard making chief warrant officer 5’s, .08% of the force, and the majority of those slots are reserved for pilots.

“Warrant Officers are technical advisors to all of the commands,” said Metcalf. “We’re systems folks, we operate Army systems.”

Langford, a personnel warrant officer, is no stranger to the Army administrative systems.

As the chief warrant officer and executive officer for the Joint Force Headquarters, Langford’s main focus is on the readiness of the more than 400 soldiers assigned to the unit said Metcalf. Ensuring the readiness of the force is necessary

A job many in the unit know Langford is persistent on.

“Everyone knows Mr. Langford,” said Cederstrom. “The majority of the force has felt the presence of Mr. Langford or his emails.”

For the newly pinned Chief Warrant Officer 5, the promotion was significant.

“This is very humbling,” said Langford. “I’m very honored.”

As much as he was honored, Langford said it wasn’t about him – everything he did was about the soldiers.

“All I’m trying to do is help you.”

Texas Guardsmen Mentor High School Competitors to First Place

Story by: Maj. Ray McCulloch

Posted On: February 3, 2016

CEDAR PARK, Texas - Texas Guardsmen from the 71st Theater Information Operations Group mentored students from Leander High School as they competed in the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot VIII competition, November 14-15, 2016 and December 4-6, 2016, at Corvalent’s office complex in Cedar Park, Texas. The Vista Ridge Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets vied against other United States and Department of Defense Education Activity high school students from around the globe for placement in the Platinum tier, which puts them on track to compete at the national level. The Vista Ridge team competed on multiple platforms – 1) Cisco, 2) a Windows Server, 3) a Windows workstation and 4) a Linux system.

Cyber Patriot is a national youth cyber education program. CyberPatriot was conceived by the AFA and works to inspire high school students towards careers in cyber security or other science, technology, engineering, or mathematics disciplines.

According to the CyberPatriot website, “At the center of CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition. High school and middle school students work in teams and play the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. Teams are given a set of virtual images that represent operating systems and are tasked with finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the images and hardening the system while maintaining critical services.”

“This opportunity is in a very technical field, and it requires [Information Technology] mentors,” said retired Cmdr. Rick Hamblet, the Vista Ridge Navy JROTC senior naval science instructor.

Only four of his 130 cadets were able to compete in the competition.

To help prepare these students, Maj. Tim Amerson, Sgt. 1st Class James Medlock and Sgt. 1st Class Jon Wachter, all of the 102nd Information Operations Battalion, 71st Tactical Information Operations Group volunteered to help.

Amerson serves as the Web Operations Security Team Chief in the 102nd Information Operations Battalion.

“We are the Technical Mentors for the Vista Ridge HS Naval [JROTC],” said Amerson. “We volunteer our own time teaching students how to be Cyber Network Defenders.”

Using their military experience, they helped prepare the cadets for this challenging competition.

In addition to the military members of the 102nd Information Operations Battalion., Ed Trevis, President and CEO of Corvalent, wanted to help. Corvalent produces ruggedized industrial computers. Corvalent partnered with Cdr. Hamblet and Vista Ridge for the CyberPatriot competition. Corvalent provided the location, computers, and network for the VR team.

“We at Corvalent wanted to make sure we invested in the future of our military and leaders,” said Ed. “They are the reason we are able to do what we do here.”

On November 14th, during Round 1 of the competition, the four juniors on the team had six hours to find as many security loopholes, breaches, or backdoors as possible in order to secure their computer images. With a max score of 200, the team garnered 190 points. On Dec. 6th, during Round 2, they had to repeat their success on three images, and complete a quiz. This time the team earned an unofficial score of 272, and 33 points - the maximum amount - for the Cisco quiz. Their combined scores placed them in first place for all Texas Navy JROTC teams, seventh in the nation among all Navy JROTC teams, and sixteenth out of 820 teams nationally.

"I can say we couldn't be more grateful. I feel like so far the National Guard and their participation in the program has been instrumental to how far we have gotten. So we really appreciate it,” said Mason Buettner, student team lead for Vista Ridge Navy JROTC’s CyberPatriot team.

147th Reconnaissance Wing hosts ANG Command Chief

Story by: Tech. Sgt. Shawn McCowan
147 Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs

Posted On: February 2nd, 2016

ELLINGTON FIELD, Texas - In one of his final visits of his career, the Air National Guard Command Chief spent two days with members of the 147th Reconnaissance Wing at Ellington Field January 30-31.

Chief Master Sgt. James W. Hotaling made it a priority during his visit to speak with 147th Reconnaissance Wing's junior enlisted Airmen during an enlisted all call. Airmen were given the opportunity to interact with Chief Hotaling and ask him any questions they had about the Air Force and the Air National Guard. Hotaling discussed his key focus areas that include the renewing of the commitment to the profession of arms, the health of the force, and recognizing and embracing the accomplishments of Airmen.

During the all call, Airmen candidly presented issues important to them. Hotaling expressed the importance of making sure Airmen are part of any solution they hope to see.

"I see two kinds of people when there is an issue at hand, victims and victors. I want you to have a victor mentality when tackling your challenges," said Hotaling.

Chief Hotaling also spoke on renewing he commitment to the profession of arms, focus on performance and training, and education requirements. His presentation of the profession of arms included  mentorship and supervision as well as the deliberate development of Airmen.

Other topics included the health of the force, resiliency, and the four pillars of an Airman's life, which included mental, physical, social, and spiritual aspects. As part of the health of the force, Hotaling discussed the importance of sexual assault prevention and response.

Hotaling also took time to recognize Airmen accomplishments during the all call, telling the audience that recognizing Airmen both informally and formally is important.

Hotaling said he was very impressed with the wing, both as a whole and its individuals.

"I have visited all 90 Air National Guard units, and I can tell you that the 147th is a great wing. Morale is high here, and there is a real sense of camaraderie."

As Hotaling prepares for retirement, he hopes all Airmen focus on their "here and now," doing their best work where they are.

"If each of us do our very best today, while planning for tomorrow, the future will take care of itself. I really believe that."