In a world where warfare increasingly includes attacks in the digital domain, one Air National Guard unit took a radical step backward—into the analog era.

The Missouri National Guard’s 139th Operations Group recently conducted a groundbreaking exercise dubbed “Operations Goes Dark,” designed to simulate a full-scale cyber attack that disables all electronic communication.

For four days, the unit tested its ability to function without internet, radios, or cell phones—relying instead on methods more reminiscent of World War II than 21st-century warfare.

In one vivid example, Airmen ran half a mile across base carrying sticky notes to alert the operations team about the takeoff details of a C-130 aircraft.

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Once airborne, ground crews used smoke signals to communicate with pilots amid simulated combat conditions.

“It was controlled chaos,” said one pilot, describing the high-pressure environment created by the blackout.

The intent behind the drill was clear: prove that the airwing could still complete its mission—launching and landing aircraft, resupplying ground forces—without the technological tools that have become second nature in modern military operations.

The simulated adversary used electronic warfare techniques to jam internet communications intermittently at first, then completely shut them down by the third and fourth day.

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With digital tools out of commission, personnel fell back on whiteboards, dry-erase markers, and handwritten notes.

“We have the potential for being involved with real-world adversaries that have the ability to do this,” said Capt. Kyle Hutchison, a pilot with the 180th Airlift Squadron and the mastermind behind the exercise.

Lt. Col. Jason Lehman, chief of safety for the 139th Airlift Wing, echoed the need to shift perspective.

“We tried to change the mindset of going back to the old school mentality… We went back to whiteboards and dry erase markers and drew out the mission by hand.”

Flight operations—ordinarily reliant on fast, digital updates for maintenance status, weather conditions, and crew readiness—suddenly became cumbersome.

Runners were dispatched to observe aircraft launches and return with updates. Even a simple phone call was out of the question.

“You can’t just pick up the phone and say, ‘hey, this is so and so,’” Hutchison said.

“Being able to do that is a real, real kick in the pants when you’re not used to operating that way.”

Without radios, phones, or emails, something as minor as a misheard word could derail an operation.

Planning briefs that would normally be shared via PowerPoint now required in-person presentations and constant clarification.

“There are a lot of very simple things that we use phones to communicate things to each other about. If you didn’t have that, think about how much extra time that would inflict on you,” Hutchison said.

The increased risk of human error became a major concern. “There’s always a way where there could potentially be the human dimensions aspect of this where somebody messes up something or misspeaks,” he said.

“We’re human. It happens. But that’s one of those situations where you pray that it doesn’t happen in a conversation that was super important.”

Despite the challenges, the unit adapted. Satellite phones were tested as a backup to call flight service stations outside the simulated jamming zone.

Pilots also reverted to “clock to chart to ground” navigation—using paper maps, flight time, and ground visuals in place of GPS.

For Hutchison and others, the exercise was a necessary jolt.

“I think that was an eye opening and kind of a shocking revelation… everybody had done this at some point in their career going through pilot training or nav school but it’s been a long time,” he said.

Still, limitations remained. The exercise was primarily confined to the operations group, while the rest of the base operated as usual. That disconnect underscored the need for broader coordination in future drills.

“We were kind of in an exercise bubble here where it was the operations group doing this, but the rest of the base was not under the exercise,” Lehman said.

“Next time, lessons learned for a bigger exercise for us is getting everyone involved.”

Additionally, for safety reasons, air traffic controllers still had to communicate with civilian aircraft in the area, which created a hybrid scenario rather than a fully analog one.

Lehman suggested that future training might benefit from a different physical setting as well.

“A more mountainous environment” would add challenges related to terrain and risk management, unlike the flat landscapes of Missouri and eastern Kansas.

With an eye on joint operations, Lehman emphasized the importance of cross-branch collaboration under analog conditions.

“As we know, different services communicate differently. Sometimes just the lingo barrier can cause issues,” he said.

That’s before anyone even starts shouting instructions to runners sprinting across the base to deliver hand-written messages.

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