WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Some Robins Air Force Base team members are ready to take on a new mission.
About a year ago, Robins started saying goodbye to their Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, better known as JSTARS.
Members of JSTARS began re-training for new high-tech missions that they say will make the U.S. better equipped to fight foreign adversaries.
Monday afternoon marked the start of it all, and Megan Western was there for the squad's activation ceremony.
Robins Air Force Base made history Monday by activating the 728th Battle Management Control Squadron.
"Our primary job is to orchestrate the battlefield, if you will, and make sure that the assets that we're controlling, whether they be fighters, tankers, bomber aircraft, are there when they need to be there," says Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Gulbranson.
He is the Integration Office Lead responsible for activating the squadron.
Gulbranson says nearly 50 people are now squadron members, many already held other positions at the base. They expect to have about 200 people.
"From this location, we'll be able to control airspace on the other side of the planet if and when we're called upon to do so," he adds.
It also shifts the role that the National Air Guard plays
"This is the first in terms of the command and control footprint at Robins where we're shifting that, from this one specifically being an active duty led the mission, and the guard will be in a supporting role," he says.
Gulbranson adds that they will continue to work closely together with one another as they continue to build the squadron.
According to a press release, It is one of the first steps in preparing for the four new missions coming to the base.
These include an Airborne Command and Control Squadron, flying the E-11 Battlefield Airborne Communications unit, an Advanced Battle Management System, and a Spectrum Warfare Group.
Gulbranson says technology and adversaries are improving, so they must bring state-of-the-art technology into the region.
"We're trying to become a more resilient force and expand our efforts in joining all of the main commander controls, that's what they're calling it, so as we develop more and more technologies, that's where we're going with that," he says.
The 728th will be called the demons, and Gulbranson says they're ready to defend the nation and protect the constitution and the flag.
"I'm extremely excited, nervous at the same time, but confident," he says.
He adds that with every day in Central Georgia feeling like Armed Forces Day, they plan to keep working with the community.
A work center for the 728th squadron is under construction and should be completed in 2027.