Maryland Air Guard cyber operators support DEFENDER 24 along with NATO counterparts

Maryland Air National Guard Maj. Artur Meryamov, 175th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, and Maryland Air National Guard Capt. Alexis Eyo, 275th Operations Support Squadron, work together with cyber defenders from Estonian Defense Forces Cyber Command and Poland Cyber Command to emulate an adversarial cyber threat in a simulated network as part of red team operations during the DEFENDER 24 cyber exercise, May 16, 2024, in Tallinn, Estonia. DEFENDER is the Dynamic Employment of Forces to Europe for NATO Deterrence and Enhanced Readiness, and is a U.S. European Command scheduled, U.S. Army Europe and Africa conducted exercise that consists of Saber Strike, Immediate Response, and Swift Response. DEFENDER 24 is linked to NATO’s Steadfast Defender exercise, and DoD’s Large Scale Global Exercise, taking place from 28 March to 31 May. DEFENDER 24 is the largest U.S. Army exercise in Europe and includes more than 17,000 U.S. and 23,000 multinational service members from more than 20 Allied and partner nations, including Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.(U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Laura Virtue)