The 177th Information Warfare Aggressor Squadron is a unit of the

184th Intelligence Wing The 184th Wing (184 WG) is a unit of the Kansas Air National Guard, stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Wichita, Kansas. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Sixteenth Air Force. The 127th Command and Con ...

of the

Kansas Air National Guard The Kansas Air National Guard (KS ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Kansas, United States of America. It is, along with the Kansas Army National Guard, an element of the Kansas National Guard. As state militia units, the units in the K ...

stationed at

McConnell Air Force Base McConnell Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located four miles (6 km) southeast of the central business district of Wichita, a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States., effective 2007-12-20 The airbase was named in ...

, Wichita, Kansas. The 177th is a non-flying squadron which trains in

cyber warfare Cyberwarfare is the use of cyber attacks against an enemy state, causing comparable harm to actual warfare and/or disrupting vital computer systems. Some intended outcomes could be espionage, sabotage, propaganda, manipulation or economic wa ...

Overview

The mission of the squadron is to attack American military networks, to discover vulnerabilities before a real enemy does. The Information Warfare Aggressor role is similar to the "tiger teams" commercial firms hire (and the air force pioneered) to test the defenses of corporate networks. The two aggressor squadrons have increased the quality and quantity of attacks that can be launched against U.S. systems, to see how well the defenses hold up. Members of the squadron then analyze the results of their attack. Finally, the aggressor hackers tell the sysadmins and other concerned personnel of the target unit what they did wrong, and why.

History

On 1 February 1984, the 177th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron was established with the unit flying

McDonnell F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

s as a formal training unit. It conducted its first student training class the same year. The squadron converted to the

General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successf ...

in 1990 and the F-16CC and F-16Din 1992. It was inactivated on 1 August 1994 when the F-16s were withdrawn from McConnell and its parent group became a bomber unit flying

B-1B Lancer The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It is commonly called the "Bone" (from "B-One"). It is one of three strategic bombers serving in the U.S. Air Force fleet along with ...

Lineage

* Constituted as the 177th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron and allotted to the National Guard on 1 February 1984 : Activated and extended federal recognition on 8 February 1984 : Redesignated 177th Fighter Squadron on 16 March 1992 : Inactivated on 1 August 1994 * Redesignated: 177th Information Warfare Aggressor Squadron and activated on 30 August 2002

Assignments

* 184th Tactical Fighter Group (later 184th Fighter Group), 1 February 1984 – 1 August 1994 * 184th Regional Support Group, 30 August 2006 – 2018 * 184th Cyber Operations Group, 2018 - Present

Stations

, Kansas, 1 February 1984 – 1 August 1994 * McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, 1 August 2002 – present

Aircraft

* McDonnell F-4D Phantom II, 1984–1990 * Block 1/5 F-16A and F-16B Fighting Falcon, 1990–1992 * Block 25 F-16C and F-16D Fighting Falcon, 1992–1994

References

* {{US Air Force navbox Squadrons of the United States Air National Guard Information Aggressor 0177 Military units and formations in Kansas Military units and formations established in 1984 1984 establishments in Kansas