IRT Cyber Guam 2026 reinforces networks, partnerships

HAGÅTÑA, Guam – Sixty active duty and reserve Airmen, Sailors, and Soldiers teamed up to refine Guam’s cyber network and emergency radio infrastructure for a Department of War Innovative Readiness Training program cybersecurity training opportunity June 1-12.

Working alongside the Government of Guam Office of Technology, the team continued work from previous IRT Cyber Guam IRT iterations to assess physical and virtual limitations, identify vulnerabilities, share best practices, develop an improved emergency radio network, and train with joint and community partners.

This year’s training was the third iteration of partnering with OTECH for IRT Cyber Guam. U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Kyndra Ridenhour, Cyber Guam 2026 team lead, explained the first year’s focus in 2024 was establishing what the network looked like, the second implemented best practices, and this third iteration continued implementation and provided options for scaled long-term solutions to vulnerabilities and operating requirements that support Guam’s critical infrastructure.

Throughout the two-week training, the team decommissioned obsolete equipment, tested emergency response communications across military installations, utilities, and the governor's office, upgraded and deployed new network equipment, and assessed upgrade requirements for the Government of Guam’s Adelup offices.

Ridenhour, whose role has evolved over the three IRT Cyber Guam iterations from trainee, to trainer, to team lead, emphasized the value for military IT professionals to be able to train on live networks compared to the military’s more limited closed systems.

“We have to be a lot more flexible and shift to what the community partners’ needs and guidelines are,” she said. “We get to find solutions to work around what support and funding they have, and that forces us to think critically and help solve complicated problems our closed military networks can’t necessarily provide us. I think this type of experience is essential.”

Cyber Guam 2026’s training proved highly timely when, on June 8, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake off the coast of the Philippines triggered two tsunami advisories for Guam mid-exercise, emphasizing the need for the radio team’s work.

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Sean Gmachowski, Cyber Guam 2026 Radio Team lead, said the team researched topographic maps of Guam to find the island’s highest points, and established feasible repeater sites that would help military bases and municipalities communicate in the event of a natural disaster.

“There were a lot of blind zones we established last year,” said U.S. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Cory Cox, Cyber Guam 2026 Radio Team trainer. “This year’s focus has been establishing another backbone to allow Land Mobile Radio systems to work even if they’re using normal repeaters or not.”

This year’s participants, made up of active duty and reserve Airmen, Sailors, and Soldiers from 18 different units, worked across the island in radio, assessment, and network teams.

“I love the joint aspect of IRT,” said U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Travis Gentz, Navy service lead for Cyber Guam 2026 and Automation Deployment Team trainer. “We’re around other people who love technology, are motivated to be here, and love what they do. We get to have a mission-first mentality to learn, engage, and see the impacts of our work right away.”

Gentz welcomed the challenge of training troops on a live network because of the tangible impact on developing junior members’ skills and serving the community.

“I think the big thing is the sense of pride,” Gentz said. “It means a lot knowing the troops got to do something important like decrease Guam’s security footprint that has a long-term effect on their neighbors.”

As a program centered on working in American communities, IRT not only exposes participating service members to the other branches but also often provides once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to travel across the country and U.S. territories to support American communities.

“The IRT team have become trusted resources for our team,” said Beatrice Santos, OTECH acting chief technology officer. “We value the techniques we have learned from them, and we hope working with our team in real-life scenarios and systems over these last three years has provided a good learning environment for new service members as well.”

The service members participating in Cyber Guam 2026, along with their community partners, value the unique opportunity the IRT program provides.

“Joint and community opportunities like this are fantastic because they can bring every branch and component together,” Ridenhour said. “I hope the Airmen and Sailors on this trip try to experience it all, from the productive networks to the culture. I never thought this was possible, and now that I’m here, I don’t want to leave!”

As a training tool and outlet for service members’ innovation, participating units signed off on 2,000 training tasks, saved an estimated $630,000 in service costs, facilitated live network training equivalent to $250,000, and plotted 520 emergency radio network sites.

The IRT program, created in 1992, offers unique training opportunities to develop mission-ready forces while providing real-world benefits at no cost to the American communities they partner with in cybersecurity, medical, aerial spray, transportation and other focus areas. Cyber Guam 2026 has the particular benefit of delivering critical training to troops while supporting valued community partners in the Indo-Pacific, which is a key strategic area for the 2026 National Defense Strategy.

For more information on IRT or how your community can apply for a training activity, visit irt.defense.gov.