{"id":10495,"date":"2025-05-04T15:41:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T15:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=10495"},"modified":"2025-05-06T15:45:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T15:45:49","slug":"maryland-air-guard-hosts-resource-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2025\/05\/04\/maryland-air-guard-hosts-resource-fair\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Air Guard hosts resource fair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Airman 1st Class Sarah Hoover

MIDDLE RIVER, Md. —
The Maryland Air National Guard\u2019s 175th Wing hosted a two-day resource fair for Airmen impacted by the planned divestment of the A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft and the planned expansion of cyber at Warfield Air National Guard Base, May 1 and May 4, 2025.

The event, which was held inside the A-10 Maintenance Hangar, brought together subject matter experts and representatives from career fields across the Wing to offer guidance and share opportunities with Airmen preparing for this major mission shift. Day one focused on engaging full-time personnel, while day two was tailored to support drill-status Guard members navigating the transition.

\u201cWith the planned divestment of our A-10 mission, approximately 350 of our Airmen will be affected and that is a significant shift,\u201d said Maryland Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Drew Dougherty, assistant adjutant general \u2013 Air. \u201cThis demands a proactive and people-first response.\u201d

The 175th Wing is currently a dual-mission wing operating the A-10C Thunderbolt II and home to the 175th Cyberspace Operations Group, which executes offensive and defensive cyber operations and includes an intelligence squadron. The U.S. Air Force announced in March 2024 a plan for the Maryland Air National Guard to divest all their A-10s this year and convert to a cyber wing.

On June 29th, the 104th Fighter Squadron, previously established as the 104th Observation Squadron, will mark its 104th anniversary of federal recognition and service. The unit was first mobilized for federal duty on February 3, 1941, and has since operated a diverse array of aircraft. In 1979, the squadron began flying the A-10 Thunderbolt II, and in 2007, it made history as the first unit to deploy the upgraded A-10C Thunderbolt II into combat during operations at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq.

The unit has completed nine combat deployments over the last 20 years.

Now, with the planned divestment of the A-10 mission, many members of the Maryland Air National Guard will seek out new avenues and plan what’s next for their career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cComing down to the job fair and seeing all the jobs that are down here that I may not have seen before or known about opens up new opportunities,\u201d said Maryland Air National Guard Senior Airman Antoine Lewis, a jet engine mechanic for the 175th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. \u201cIt\u2019s important to see that the base is taking care of us and is offering options and resources, so we can safely take the next step.\u201d

At the Resource Fair, each squadron highlighted their organization\u2019s mission and discussed current opportunities in the field, as well as Air Force Specialty Codes for job descriptions, training requirements and more. Additional support offices were present, including the 175th Wing Recruiting and Retention team, Human Resources Office, Information Protection Office, Military and Family Readiness, as well as Military OneSource.

\u201cWe have to do everything we can to empower everyone with really good information and ensure that we\u2019re giving every opportunity to teach and drive decision making,\u201d said Maryland Air National Guard Maj. Michael Dezinna, director of operations for the 135th Intelligence Squadron and a key organizer for the resource fair. \u201cAll the units really stepped up to the plate and did an awesome job.\u201d

Every unit of the 175th Wing was represented and used interactive displays, kiosks and subject matter experts to explain their missions, as well as discuss opportunities for cross-training, benefits, bonus eligibility, and pay options.

Maryland National Guard leadership is still advocating for a future flying mission at the 175th Wing during the ongoing A-10 divestment.

\u201cThis transition impacts more than just aircraft, it touches careers, families and futures, and I want members to know we are committed to every single one of them,\u201d said Maryland Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Janeen L. Birckhead, the adjutant general of Maryland. \u201cOur top priority is keeping all of the Airmen here in the Maryland Air National Guard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Airman 1st Class Sarah Hoover MIDDLE RIVER, Md. — The Maryland Air National Guard\u2019s 175th Wing hosted a two-day resource fair for Airmen impacted by the planned divestment of the A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft and the planned expansion of cyber at Warfield Air National Guard Base, May 1 and May 4, 2025. The event,  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":10505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10495"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10511,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10495\/revisions\/10511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}