Photo By Tech. Sgt. Seth Bleuer | Lt. Col. Thomas Pries, incoming commander of the Washington Air National Guard's 262nd...... read more read more
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash.—Lt. Col. Thomas Pries took command of the 262nd Cyberspace Operations Squadron, an elite Air National Guard cyber unit based here, during a change of command ceremony at the 262nd auditorium on May 5. He takes over from Lt. Col. Rob Siau, who took command of the 262nd in 2014 and will move on to a new role as Cyber Division Chief for the 252nd Cyberspace Operations Group, the parent organization of the 262nd.
With 31 years of military service, Pries previously served as Director of Operations for the 262nd as well as the J-36 Cyber Missions Planner for the Washington Military Department.
Pries described the 262nd command position as his “dream job.” He said that he will work hard to maintain training and readiness for the members of his squadron, and he pledged to forge ahead in a constantly evolving field of national defense. “We will be unafraid to embrace risk as a component and necessary precursor of growth,” he said.
Col. Kenneth Borchers, commander of the 252nd Cyberspace Operations Group, praised Siau for his leadership of the pioneering cyberspace unit over the past few years. “People come up to me and they want to talk to me about what you’ve done,” Borchers told members of the 262nd. The squadron was the first Air National Guard unit to take on a cyber protection team mission and the first in the Air Force to author a proof-of-concept for a cyber assessment of an industrial control system. “Somebody would throw us a problem, and we’d solve it,” said Borchers, “but how do we operationalize it across the Air Force? Under Lt. Col. Siau’s command we did it.”
“We’ve grown together,” Pries said of his longtime working relationship with Siau. “There is nobody in the cyber enterprise who has more of a heart than Lt. Col. Rob Siau….The man’s knowledge is unmatched, and he has been a great teacher to me.”
Pries presented a plaque in Siau’s honor that will be displayed in the squadron’s operation’s center, which will be known as “Siau’s SOC.”
In his remarks at the change of command ceremony, Siau read from his speech when he took command of the 262nd in the fall of 2014: “We have and will evolve at the pace of cyber,” he said. Siau talked about the pride he took in his Airmen, who won 96 federal awards and performed duties in locations around the world during his time as commander. The 262nd led all of the squadrons in its wing, the 194th Wing, in the number of Airmen who responded to recent wildfires. “You supported not only your nation but your state,” said Siau.
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.13.2018 16:36 |
| Story ID: | 280825 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 543 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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