252nd Cyberspace Operations Group
A Washington Air National Guard group responsible for cyberspace operations, cyber intelligence, and expeditionary communications support.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The 252nd Cyberspace Operations Group is a unit of the Washington Air National Guard assigned to the 194th Wing. Its principal base is at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, with associated squadrons and detachments at Camp Murray and Fairchild Air Force Base. Unlike a commercial brand, it is a military organization whose identity reflects a long succession of communications, information-systems, intelligence, and cyberspace missions. The group traces its lineage to the 252nd Communications Group, activated at Geiger Field in Spokane on 1 April 1953. During the Cold War it operated through several communications-focused configurations, including the 252nd Communications Group (Mobile), the 252nd Mobile Communications Group, and later the 252nd Combat Communications Group. These designations reflected the changing requirements of military communications: fixed installations, mobile communications packages, engineering and installation capabilities, radio relay, and deployable support for tactical forces. In March 1962, the organization moved from Geiger Field to the Four Lakes Communications Station, a former Nike missile site near Cheney, Washington. It relocated again in June 1971, moving to Paine Air National Guard Base in Everett. The group was redesignated the 252nd Combat Communications Group in 1976, the 252nd Combat Information Systems Group in 1985, and again the 252nd Combat Communications Group in 1986. These changes marked the transition from traditional communications formations toward increasingly integrated information and command-and-control capabilities. The unit’s modern identity emerged around 2015, when it became the 252nd Cyberspace Operations Group. Its current mission is to provide trained and qualified cyberspace and intelligence personnel to combatant commanders, while ensuring that subordinate squadrons remain trained, evaluated, and ready for operational employment. The group supports cyberspace operations, cyber intelligence, expeditionary communications, mission planning, and command-element activities. Its forces may support Air Combat Command, the former Air Force Space Command mission set, the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Agency, United States Cyber Command, and other federal or state partners. The group also represents the citizen-airman component of domestic and contingency capabilities. Its personnel can support domestic cyber operations, provide cyber-intelligence assistance to federal and state law-enforcement agencies, and contribute planning and command functions during worldwide contingencies. The organization therefore combines an Air National Guard readiness model with missions that span military operations, homeland support, cyber defense, intelligence, and expeditionary communications. The group’s subordinate structure has changed repeatedly as missions and force-design priorities evolved. Units associated with its lineage include the 143rd, 242nd, 256th, and 262nd squadrons, along with communications construction, engineering and installation, radio-relay, information-operations, intelligence, and cyberspace formations. The group has also had geographically separated elements at Fairchild Air Force Base. Its lineage includes service under successive Air Force communications and information commands, Tactical Air Command, Air Combat Command, Air Force Space Command, and Air Combat Command again after 2018. The 252nd Cyberspace Operations Group remains an active Washington Air National Guard organization. Its historical continuity is expressed through lineage, subordinate-unit heritage, and operational decorations rather than through commercial products or consumer-facing services.
History
The organization was established as the 252nd Communications Group and activated at Geiger Field, Spokane, Washington, on 1 April 1953. Its early role centered on military communications and related construction capabilities. During the following decades, the group’s designations and subordinate units changed as the Air Force moved from fixed communications infrastructure toward mobile, tactical, and information-based systems. On 1 October 1960, it became the 252nd Communications Group (Mobile). In March 1962, the group moved from Geiger Field to the Four Lakes Communications Station near Cheney, Washington, a site previously associated with the Nike missile defense network. The organization was redesignated the 252nd Mobile Communications Group in March 1968. Its lineage during this period included radio-relay and mobile communications squadrons, reflecting the need to establish and sustain communications in dispersed or deployed environments. The group closed operations at Four Lakes in June 1971 and transferred to Paine Air National Guard Base in Everett. It was redesignated the 252nd Combat Communications Group on 1 April 1976. In 1985 it briefly became the 252nd Combat Information Systems Group, then returned to the combat communications designation in October 1986. These changes reflected the expanding importance of information systems, network infrastructure, engineering, and deployable command-and-control support. The group’s higher-command relationships also evolved. It served under Air Force communications organizations during much of the Cold War and later under Tactical Air Command. After the creation and expansion of Air Combat Command, it transferred to that command in 1992. It became associated with the 194th Regional Support Wing, later the 194th Wing, in 2006. The group subsequently operated within the Air Force Space Command structure from 2009 to 2018 before returning to Air Combat Command. The organization’s stationing changed again in the modern era. Its contemporary presence includes Camp Murray and Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the Tacoma area, while geographically separated elements and subordinate units have operated at Fairchild Air Force Base. The move toward cyberspace operations was formalized around April 2015, when the group was redesignated the 252nd Cyberspace Operations Group. Under its current designation, the group provides cyberspace and intelligence professionals to combatant commanders. It oversees training and evaluation so that subordinate squadrons can support cyber operations, intelligence missions, and expeditionary communications. Its responsibilities include operational support to Air Combat Command, cyberspace-related missions associated with the Air Force, intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance support, and United States Cyber Command requirements. The group can also provide citizen airmen for domestic cyber operations, assist federal and state law-enforcement agencies with cyber intelligence, and furnish mission-planning and command elements for worldwide contingencies. The group’s lineage is carried by a changing collection of subordinate formations. The 143rd and 262nd organizations are among the units whose designations evolved from communications squadrons into cyberspace operations formations. The 242nd and 256th lineages likewise connect the present group to earlier combat communications and information-systems missions. Other associated units performed communications construction, engineering and installation, radio relay, mobile communications, information operations, intelligence, and network warfare functions. The organization has received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.
- 2015
Cyberspace operations redesignation
[1]Around April, the organization adopted the 252nd Cyberspace Operations Group designation.
- 2006
Assignment to the 194th Wing lineage
[1]The group entered its continuing assignment relationship with the 194th Regional Support Wing, later the 194th Wing, on 30 August.
- 1986
Combat communications designation restored
[1]The group returned to the 252nd Combat Communications Group designation on 1 October.
- 1985
Combat information systems designation
[1]The organization became the 252nd Combat Information Systems Group on 1 July.
- 1976
Combat communications designation
[1]The unit was redesignated the 252nd Combat Communications Group on 1 April.
- 1971
Move to Paine Air National Guard Base
[1]Operations at Four Lakes ended and the group relocated to Paine Air National Guard Base in Everett.
- 1968
Mobile communications reorganization
[1]The group became the 252nd Mobile Communications Group on 16 March.
- 1962
Relocation to Four Lakes
[1]The organization moved from Geiger Field to Four Lakes Communications Station near Cheney, Washington.
- 1960
Mobile designation adopted
[1]The group was redesignated the 252nd Communications Group (Mobile) on 1 October.
- 1953
Group activated
[1]The 252nd Communications Group was activated at Geiger Field in Spokane, Washington, on 1 April.
Products and positioning
A military cyberspace and intelligence organization positioned to deliver trained Air National Guard personnel, operational oversight, expeditionary communications, and cyber mission support to combatant commanders and government partners.
Military capability
Cyberspace operations
The group organizes and oversees trained cyberspace personnel and subordinate squadrons that support operational cyber missions. The capability is delivered as military force support rather than as a commercial product, and may be employed for combatant-command requirements, domestic missions, and contingency operations.
Intelligence capability
Cyber intelligence support
The organization provides cyber-intelligence professionals and support to military commanders and, where authorized, federal or state law-enforcement partners. Its intelligence role is integrated with cyberspace operations and the broader Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission.
Military communications · 1953
Expeditionary communications
The group retains the communications heritage of its predecessor formations by supporting deployable communications and information-system requirements. Historically this included mobile communications, radio relay, engineering and installation, and combat communications functions; contemporary responsibilities connect those capabilities with cyberspace and contingency command support.
Brand decisions
2015
Transition to a cyberspace operations organizationStrategyBackground
The group’s lineage had moved through communications, mobile communications, combat communications, and combat information systems as military information requirements changed.
Action taken
Around April 2015, the organization was redesignated the 252nd Cyberspace Operations Group and assumed a more explicit cyberspace and intelligence orientation.
Aftermath
The group continued supporting cyberspace operations, cyber intelligence, expeditionary communications, training oversight, and contingency mission planning within the Washington Air National Guard.
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