Space Force wants Colorado ANG’s mission: Weapons and Warfare

Jul 23, 2025 at 09:19 AM CDT

This week, host Ryan Robertson explores the work of the 137th Space Warning Squadron and the 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron. — Image credit: SSFT Erik Gallion, U.S. Air National Guard via DVIDS

This recording was made using enhanced software.

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This week on Weapons and Warfare, join host Ryan Robertson as he goes on location in Greeley, Colorado, to explore the fascinating work of the 137th Space Warning Squadron and the 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron. These two units are carrying out unique missions for the Air Force and the Colorado Air National Guard, playing crucial roles in national defense.

Plus, we’ll discuss the potential changes on the horizon for these missions — what’s prompting the moves and what it could mean for the future of these vital units.

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Ryan Robertson is the anchor of the Straight Arrow News video podcast Weapons and Warfare. He wore many hats in his career — from photographer to news director — and firmly believes honest journalism will save our Republic.

Tags: Colorado, military, Military Defense, U.S. Space Force

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

HELLO AND WELCOME TO ANOTHER EDITION OF WEAPONS AND WARFARE FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS. I’M YOUR HOST, RYAN ROBERTSON, AND THIS WEEK WE ARE COMING TO YOU FROM THE GREELEY AIR NATIONAL GUARD STATION IN GREELEY, COLORADO, HOME TO THE 233rd SPACE GROUP AND ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE MISSIONS IN THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

ON A MILD SUMMER MORNING IN NORTHERN COLORADO THESE NATIONAL GUARD AIRMEN, AND THEIR EQUIPMENT, ARE HITTING THE ROAD FOR THE START OF A MULTI-WEEK EXERCISE. IN MANY WAYS IT LOOKS LIKE ANY OTHER UNIT HEADED TO THEIR TRAINING GROUNDS.

BUT IT’S NOT.

THIS IS, AT LEAST IN PART, THE 233RD SPACE GROUP. THEY PROVIDE IMMEDIATE, WORLDWIDE MISSILE WARNING, SPACE LAUNCH AND DETECTION IN THE EVENT OF AN ATTACK AGAINST THE UNITED STATES. THEY ARE ONE OF ONE IN THE DOD–THE ONLY UNIT OF ITS KIND.

[TSgt Raymond Ballard, 137th Space Warning Squadron]

“I know the job needs to get done, and we’re the only ones that could do it, so I feel a purpose in doing it, and that’s what kind of drives me to make sure to show up here every day and get ready.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THE MISSION OF THE 233RD CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE DAYS OF THE COLD WAR. AS THE SOVIET UNION AND U.S. BEGAN ARMING THEMSELVES WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS, LEADERSHIP WITHIN AIR FORCE SPACE COMMAND REALIZED THEY NEEDED MISSILE WARNING SYSTEMS THAT COULD WORK OUTSIDE OF THEIR DAY TO DAY FACILITIES. SOMETHING THAT DIDN’T DEPEND ON FIXED STRUCTURES. SOMETHING THAT COULD HEAD FOR THE HILLS AND KEEP AMERICANS SAFE.

ENTER THE MOBILE GROUND SYSTEM.

DESIGNED TO WORK WITH EARLY WARNING SATELLITES, THE MGS WAS TASKED WITH MAKING SURE NORAD HAD THE INFORMATION IT NEEDED IN CASE OF CONFLICT.

OVER THE YEARS THE UNIT OPERATED UNDER A VARIETY OF NAMES; THE 1025TH SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SQUADRON. THE 4TH SPACE WARNING SQUADRON. AND THE 137TH SPACE WARNING SQUADRON

THEN, IN 2013, WHEN THE, THE 137TH WAS REALIGNED, THE 233D SPACE GROUP, WHICH INCLUDES THREE SQUADRONS AND ONE FLIGHT, WAS CREATED.

137th SPACE WARNING SQUADRON
138th ELECTROMAGNETIC WARFARE SQUADRON
233rd SPACE COMMUNICATIONS SQUADRON
233rd SECURITY FORCES SQUADRON
233rd LOGISTICS READINESS FLIGHT

FROM THAT GROUP, THE 137th SPACE WARNING SQUADRON, AND THE 138th ELECTROMAGNETIC WARFARE SQUADRON ARE TASKED WITH A PAIR OF VERY UNIQUE MISSION SETS.

FOR THE 137th THAT MEANS MONITORING POTENTIAL ADVERSARIES FOR MISSILE THREATS AND PROVIDING IMMEDIATE WARNINGS IN THE EVENT OF A LAUNCH. BUT THEY HAVE TO KNOW WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING FOR BEFORE THEY HIT THE ROAD. THAT’S WHERE THEIR INTELL UNIT STEPS IN.

[MSgt Jacob Larimore, 233rd Space Group]

“Unlike the operators, we don’t deploy with the trucks, right? So everything that we do from an intelligence function is the training centric for the operators, and then in terms of a deployment, we’re providing all of those pre conflict indicators to the space operators so they can know what the political environment, the strategic environment, and what the threat environment looks like before they go out the door. Once they’re out the door, we kind of lose contact with them at that point, so our job is to make sure that they are prepared and ready before they leave.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

AS THE AIR FORCE’S ONE AND ONLY MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS GROUND SYSTEM THAT CAN GATHER EARLY WARNING DATA FROM THE DEFENSE SUPPORT PROGRAM SATELLITES ORBITING THE EARTH, THE IMPORTANCE OF STAYING AHEAD OF POTENTIAL THREATS IS NOT LOST ON THE MEN AND WOMEN TASKED WITH CARRYING OUT THE JOB.

[SMSgt Paul Yeager, 137th Space Warning Squadron]

“We’re responsible for mobile ballistic missile warning and new det detection. We provide that information to the nuclear command, control and communications, you know, group entity, I guess, is what it would be the it’s basically of everybody who would plan and execute a nuclear conflict and continue that after, like the initial strike, so we would provide all of that information after that.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

“You’re training people for the end of the world,”

[SMSgt Paul Yeager, 137th Space Warning Squadron]

“Yeah, yeah, it’s. Kind of a dark job, you know, in a lot of aspects, and we would be the ones having to show up for work on a bad day. So yeah, it’s sometimes sobering to think about, you know, when you’re have a family at home and stuff like that, and you’re going to have to roll out on a pretty horrible, a horrible day.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FORTUNANTELY IT’S A DAY THAT’S NEVER MATERIALIZED, STILL THE NEED FOR THE MISSION PERSISTS. AND FOR PEOPLE LIKE SENOR MASTER SERGEANT PAUL YEAGER, AND TECH SERGEANT RAYMOND BALLARD THAT MEANS HAVING A SERIOUS CONVERSATION WITH FAMILY.

[TSgt Raymond Ballard, 137th Space Warning Squadron]

“That conversation was pretty tough, and I don’t think anybody here knows what to expect when that does happen, and it’s just something that my family is very supportive, and we pre plan, okay, what some are things that we can do, and are we going to be able to communicate to each other? Possibly not. So it’s just having support group for even my family when I go out. That’s how I try to relieve that stress is making sure they’re okay as well before I go out.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR MASTER SERGEANT JACOB LARAMORE HAVING SOME PERSPECTIVE IS PART OF THE MISSION.

[MSgt Jacob Larimore, 233rd Space Group]

“The way I look at it, it’s a job that needs to be done. Nobody else is doing it. It’s going to provide decision makers, you know, the information they need to execute, you know, a global nuclear conflict. And you know, our information that we’re passing them is absolutely essential in that equation. So I think it’s a sense of purpose from, you know, nobody else is doing it. We’re the only ones that can do it. And you know, without us, these our decision makers aren’t getting the information they need for the best outcome.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHEN THEY DO HIT THE ROAD, BE IT FOR A REAL WORLD EVENT, OR REGULARLY SCHEDULED TRAINING, IT’S NOT UNCOMMON FOR EACH DEPLOYED INDIVIDUAL TO HAVE MULTIPLE RESPOSIBILITIES.

[SMSgt Paul Yeager, 137th Space Warning Squadron]

“On top of being an operator, I’m a truck driver, so I have to drive the vehicles. On top of doing that, we also provide our own security for the unit, a cook if I need be, you know, you know, making sure everybody’s fed. If anybody needs help, maintaining a vehicle. If somebody needs help fixing something, we’re doing that too. So it’s just kind of, you know, that Air Force ACE concept, you know, we’ve been doing that for, you know, decades and decades. So, you know, everybody’s got a job to do, and it doesn’t matter if it’s not yours, it’s got to get done, because there’s nobody else there to do it for you.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ONE OF THE DRAWBACKS IN TRYING TO TELL THE 137th’’S STORY IS THAT WE WERE PRETTY LIMITED IN WHAT WE CAN SHOW YOU. THEIR ENTIRE WORKING ENVIRONMENTS ARE OFF LIMITS TO US AND OUR CAMERAS. ALL SAFELY HOUSED IN THESE VERY NON-DESCRIPT LOOKING TRAILER UNITS.

BUT IT’S A LITTLE DIFFERENT STORY WHEN IT COMES TO THE 138th ELECTROMAGNETIC WARFARE SQUADRON.

THEY WERE ABLE TO WALK US THROUGH THEIR MISSION AND SET-UP SOME EQUIPMENT THEY TRAIN ON.

[TSgt Hannah Cowan, 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron]

“This is the Badger lab. It consists of six transit cases. How many did we bring with us? Six transit cases. It takes approximately one hour for two to three people to set up. And we’re about to get started on the setup process for the Badger training system.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THE TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF WHAT THE 138th EWS DOES CAN SOUND A BIT… WELL… TECHY.

THEIR OPERATORS WORK WITH THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM TO DENY ENEMY ACCESS WHILE MAKING SURE AMERICAN FORCES CAN USE IT WITHOUT ISSUE, PROVIDING AMERICAN FORCES GLOBAL SPACE ELECTRONIC ATTACK CAPABILITIES.

IN SIMPLER TERMS, THEY USE ELECTRONIC ATTACKS TO JAM ENEMY SYSTEMS, AND PROVIDE ELECTRONIC PROTECTION TO KEEP AMERICAN SYSTEMS SAFE, ALL WHILE OFFERING ELECTRONIC SUPPORT TO SPOT AND ANALYZE WHAT THE ENEMY IS DOING IN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPACE.

[SMSgt Jerimiah Perou, 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron]

“The electromagnetic spectrum or the EMS is, it’s vast. It goes all the way down from the lowest signal set to the highest, where you’ll have commercial satellite within there. You’ll have your cell phones in there. And a lot of the times we throw out these ambiguous words of FM radio, or I’ve got 5G on my cell phone and not realizing that that actually connects to a radio frequency. So we take advantage of that as US citizens, but the world does it in whole and so ultimately, when we’re focused on military operations, what I get pride in knowing is that the military is not only protecting the civilians out there, we’re protecting our assets, the quality of life that we have, and ultimately stopping adversaries from allowing us to have the freedoms we enjoy every day.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IT’S A MISSION THAT REQUIRES REGULAR TRAINING. ENTER THE BADGER AND TECH SERGEANT HANNAH COWAN.

[TSgt Hannah Cowan, 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron]

“So these are the feet to the base of the antenna, and these are going to be the legs right here. That what we see, and we have to make sure that these are all connected. The best way to do this is attach the feet first, and then we’re going to attach them to the base upside down, and then we have to go and flip it.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

AS SENIOR MASTER SERGEANT JERIMIAH PEROU EXPLINS, THE BADGER ALLOWS THE AIRMEN OF THE 138th TO CREATE AN ARRAY OF SIGNALS SO THEY CAN THEN GO HUNTING IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT.

[SMSgt Jerimiah Perou, 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron]

“So this top piece of equipment here is a spectrum analyzer. It allows us to view the spectrum against frequency and amplitude. So what you’re seeing here is a bunch of signal sets out in the environment. This yellow line across is actually the noise floor. So it’s moving pretty quickly here. And then the levels that increase up is the power levels on these signals. So you can see some signals kind of gaining and losing power that might be some interference or not completely locked in on that signal set. And then what we’re focused in on right now is a span almost like a zoomed in portion of approximately 30 megahertz down here, the rest of the honey badger suite, we have a vector signal generator, which allows us to create signals that look similar to, similarly to what we would find out in the environment. And then below, we have a DVB, or a digital video broadcast piece of equipment.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IN LATE 2023 THE UNIT WAS PUT TO THE TEST WHEN MEMBERS OF THE COLORADO AIR NATIONAL GUARD WERE DEPLOYED FOLLOWING A COUP IN NIGER. ONCE ON THE GROUND THE 138th JUMPED INTO ACTION TO HELP DISRUPT ENEMY COMMUNICATIONS.

NOW, THEY STAND READY TO BE CALLED INTO ACTION AGAIN. BUT, THAT CALL MAY NEVER COME.

“For all the expertise and experience gathered here, there is a question about whether or not the mission will remain. There is a push by some to take the mission of the 233rd from Greeley and give it to the Space Force.”

THE 137th SPACE WARNING SQUADRON AND THE 138th ELECTROMAGNETIC WARFARE SQUADRON ARE TWO OF SEVERAL UNITS LISTED IN A 2025 FEDERAL LAW THAT CALLS FOR THEM TO BE TRANSFERRED TO THE ACTIVE DUTY SPACE FORCE. THAT REQUEST CAME FROM SPACE FORCE LEADERSHIP, BUT IS BEING MET WITH RESISTANCE.

IN A RECENT STATEMENT, THE NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION MENTIONED THAT MOVING THE UNITS TO ACTIVE DUTY MIGHT ACTUALLY GO AGAINST FEDERAL LAW SINCE THE AIR FORCE HASN’T COORDINATED WITH THE STATES ON THE TRANSFER.

“There has still been no formal notification to, coordination with, or consent obtained from the impacted states. This violates federal law and undermines the principles of cooperative federalism and the essential role that governors play in maintaining the readiness of the National Guard.”

THE STATEMENT GOES ON TO SAY

“Governors must be part of the conversation from the start, as has been the precedent for over 120 years.”

IT’S A SUBJECT THAT’S ALSO NOT SITTING WELL WITH SOME OF THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN CARRYING OUT THEIR RESPECTIVE SQUADRON’S MISSIONS.

[TSgt Raymond Ballard, 137th Space Warning Squadron]

“The skill sets that we have, it takes a long time to obtain, and we even have drill status guardsmen, who are also doing other things like but they’ve been with the unit for, you know, years. And they’re engineers, they’re we have physician assistants, we have law enforcement, and they also provide certain skill sets that we don’t have the full timers have. And I think that’s very important, especially if you’re going out for this type of mission, for, you know, a world war three scenario,”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IN A MAY ARTICLE OF THE GAZETTE, THE COMMANDER OF THE 233RD SPACE GROUP, MAJOR MATT FRIEDELL SAID VERY FEW OF THE 100 PEOPLE IN HIS UNIT ARE INTERESTED IN TRANSFERRING TO THE SPACE FORCE. MOST, ARE PART-TIME AND NOT INTERESTED IN LEAVING THEIR CIVILIAN CAREERS.

[MSgt Jacob Larimore, 233rd Space Group]

“I would not be transferring over. My civilian career is built around, you know, space at this point, and I think to switch to the Space Force would make sense in a perspective, but the risk of having to move would kind of derail my civilian career as well. So not necessarily interested in that right now.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IN PURE NUMBERS, THE 2025 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT CALLS FOR THE TRANSFER OF NEARLY 600 AIR GUARD SPACE PROFESSIONALS TO THE SPACE FORCE.

EARLIER THIS YEAR THE NATIONAL GUARD ASSOCIATION REPORTED A COLORADO AIR GUARD QUESTIONNAIRE FOUND ONLY 8% OF POTENTIALLY AFFECTED AIRMEN WOULD BE WILLING TRANSFER. WHILE NEARLY 80% WOULD NOT.

[SMSgt Paul Yeager, 137th Space Warning Squadron]

“I joined the Guard, because my wife, you know, has a career here up in Northern Colorado, my kids go to school here in Northern Colorado, and I could still serve and be in this, you know, this one area, and still be able to, you know, serve my country. And I was like, that’s why I wanted to be in the Air Guard. I don’t want to have to, I didn’t want to have to PCS.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IT’S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT UNDER THE CURRENT PLAN AIR GUARD SPACE PROFESSIONALS DO NOT HAVE TO TRANSFER ─ BUT THEIR POSITIONS WILL.

MEANING THEY CAN OPT TO STAY IN THE GUARD AND RETRAIN IN A DIFFERENT SPECIALTY. THAT MEANS THE MOVES, IF CARRIED OUT, WOULD RESULT IN THE TRANSFER OF EMPTY BILLETS. IT WOULD ALSO MEAN DECADES WORTH OF EXPERIENCE WILL GO UNUSED AS DOZENS OF GUARDSMEN RETRAIN INTO NEW POSITIONS.

[SMSgt Jerimiah Perou, 138th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron]

“When it comes down to electromagnetic operations, the National Guard has been has been doing this for years. It’s not brand new to us. Understood the Space Force came into existence in 2019 off of US Space Com, and essentially, we’ve got a lot of that historical information that we’re able to provide to the fight.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

SPACE FORCE OFFICIALS ARE QUICK TO POINT OUT ACCORDING TO THE LEGISLATION, IF A GUARDSMAN DOES DECIDE TO TRANSFER TO THE SPACE FORCE, THEY’LL STILL BE BASED IN THEIR CURRENT STATE FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT DECADE.

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

“Regardless of what the future holds for the mission of the 233rd. There is no doubt that the men and women working here bring plenty of experience and passion for the job to the fight, providing a safety net they hope never needs to be used. For Senior Producer, Brett Baker, Video Editor, Brian Spencer, Graphics Artist, Dakota Patio, Videographer, Chris Fitzpatrick, I’m Ryan Robertson with Straight Arrow News. Signing off.”

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