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Ellsworth Air Force Base is preparing to become the first main operating base for the B-21 Raider, a milestone that is reshaping how the 28th Security Forces Squadron secures the installation. As pilots and maintainers study the schematics of the next-generation stealth bomber, the squadron’s Defenders are overhauling their approach to the Integrated Defense mission.
Transitioning from protection of the B-1B Lancer to a highly classified, dual-capable bomber is driving a paradigm shift in mindset and methodology. Training pipelines are being rebuilt around advanced threat detection, multi-domain awareness, and rapid tactical response. “The B-21 Raider represents the future of our nation’s strategic deterrence, and the security apparatus protecting it has to be equally advanced,” said Lt. Col. Michael Olson, 28th Security Forces Squadron commander. “We are not just updating our standard operating procedures. We are completely reimagining flightline defense to counter the modern capabilities of near-peer adversaries, ensuring this critical asset is protected long before it ever leaves the ground.”
Training scenarios have grown more complex, with Security Forces aggressively incorporating counter-small, unmanned aircraft systems protocols to neutralize drone threats. Defenders are learning to integrate their tactics with new perimeter sensors, thermal imaging, and automated intrusion detection systems being installed alongside B-21 infrastructure.
Because the Raider will eventually include the strategic deterrence mission, the squadron is training to the Nuclear Weapons Security Standard. Exercises are designed to test specialized recapture and recovery tactics, heavily armed response times, and the absolute denial of unauthorized access. “Our Defenders are training for a ‘no-fail’ environment every single day,” noted MSgt. Jared Lowrie, 28th Security Forces Squadron training section. “The technology we are deploying on the perimeter is state-of-the-art, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to the Defender on the flightline. We are pushing our personnel to their physical and mental limits so that their response is second nature. Our training ensures they are the most lethal and capable security asset we have.”
The unit is also securing a base in transition. Massive construction of specialized shelters, low-observable maintenance facilities, and environmental structures for the B-21 requires active protection of dynamic construction zones while maintaining the uncompromised integrity of existing restricted areas.
As new hangars rise and the base transforms, the Defenders’ ongoing evolution aims to ensure that when the B-21 Raider arrives on the South Dakota flightline, it will be guarded by a modernized, intelligence-driven, and relentlessly trained security force.
