There's been a change of leadership for the 188th Wing of the Air National Guard, stationed at Ebbing Air Force Base in Fort Smith. Last month, Col. Jonathan "Brute" Esparza replaced Col. Jay "Evil" Spohn as commander of the unit.
Ozarks at Large's Jack Travis, who does not have a call sign just yet, got in touch with Col. Esparza to discuss his new role and responsibilities, which the colonel says change based on who you ask.
Esparza: You know, if you ask my mom, I do way more than I really do. If you ask my coworkers, I don't do enough. And if you ask the airmen, they don't know me well enough. In reality, though, the job is great. I'm in charge of a wing of about 1,000 airmen. Those airmen are made up of citizen airmen, National Guard members, many of whom live in the state of Arkansas — some of whom, though, live in our neighboring states such as Oklahoma and Texas, to name a few.
Those airmen make up not only a strategic baseline for our national defense, but they also make up a significant portion of talent and capability within the state of Arkansas that contribute on multiple fronts. One of those fronts is what I'm talking about today — in their pursuit of being those citizen airmen that answer our nation's call and provide service when asked to do so. The other aspect is they're fathers, mothers, brothers or sisters, cousins — members in our community that have important jobs as teachers, firefighters, police officers, civilian leaders, etc.
So what my job really is, is corralling this huge level of talent, ensuring they have the resources they need. They have the vision and the direction they need to secure our national objectives, while continuing to contribute as key leaders within our communities.
Travis: Could you highlight some of the work they're doing at the 188th Wing and explain why those projects or missions exemplify the unit's mission as a whole?
Esparza: That's a great question because I could spend a tremendous amount of time on not only the accolades, but on the missions. But I'll narrow it down to just three simple ones for the sake of time.
Here at Ebbing, we house three distinct operational missions. The first of which is our RPA, which is an acronym for Remotely Piloted Aircraft. We fly the MQ-9 Reaper. We operate those 24/7 here at Ebbing, and we operate those across the entire globe. As we speak right now, we have men and women operating these aircraft in some of the most contentious areas across the globe, securing our national objectives.
Next to them is our ISR, which is an acronym for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance — the ISR group. They house the DGS mission and the targeting mission. Like our MQ-9 cohorts, they're performing 24/7 operations, analyzing the battle space and providing material solutions to combatant commanders across the globe to achieve our national objectives.
One thing that's unique about those two mission sets — and I still have another mission set to get to — but those two mission sets are housed here at Ebbing in a singular 440,000-square-foot facility, which provides the nation's only true in-house location of MQ-9 operations simultaneously being executed in the same workspace as DGS and targeting operations, providing a truly synergistic capability that is unparalleled anywhere else.
For context, I have a targeter here that could be looking at and analyzing a unique environment but needs a little bit of clarity from an expert in MQ-9 operation. In lieu of sending an email or going to the phone or some other means of virtual communication, this member can get up, walk 10 feet over and begin to talk, and have a synergistic impact on what products both teammates are delivering to the combatant commanders. That represents our two mission sets that we've had here since we divested from the A-10 in the early 2010s. We've been performing that mission for 15 years.
In terms of how capable we are — well, in 2024, the 184th Attack Squadron, our RPA squadron, was named the General Atomics RPA Squadron of the Year across the entire Air Force, to include the Air National Guard and the regular Air Force.
Our third mission set, which I'm really proud of as well, is new to the River Valley and new to Ebbing — but I say "new" in Air Force terms. We've been doing it now for almost two years, which depending on your perspective, that might be quite a while. But we fly the F-35 here. And that operational mission is unique and unlike anywhere else, because the F-35s we fly are the ones that have been purchased by some of our closest allies — primarily within the NATO sphere, but not exclusive to the NATO sphere. We train those pilots in their aircraft to fly fifth-generation aircraft. Many of those countries are being introduced to fifth-generation capabilities — America's most technologically advanced capabilities — to help us export our national defense strategy across the globe, and we have a significant role in that.
Our role is multifold. We have pilots flying that mission alongside our regular Air Force partners in pursuit of those goals. And our airmen — of those 1,000 airmen — are producing all the infrastructure and all of the support necessary to produce that mission, to include fuels, airfield operations, security and munitions, just to name a few.
So our three primary mission sets to summarize are the RPA, the ISR and our F-35 Foreign Military Sales mission. What makes us truly unique is that if you look at a National Guard base across the globe, very few of them have more than two missions. The majority of our operational National Guard bases house one singular mission — a fighter mission, an airlift mission, a tanking mission. There are some like Ebbing that have multiple, but there are very few that hold three distinct, unique missions that are so intertwined with one another for the synergistic support we all provide working together. That's what really makes everything unique and sets us apart.
Travis: I think you used the word "corralling" earlier when you were describing your job. That sounds like a lot to rein in. Why did you pursue this position? Are there any changes or improvements you wish to facilitate?
Esparza: I'm going to go back to "corralling" in pursuit of answering that question. We are at a key evolution at Ebbing as we grow this Foreign Military Sales mission. It is a sizable investment in our infrastructure and in what it delivers to the town — that in and of itself is distinct change. This operation has been steady and hard-pounding on those previous two missions for a decade-plus. But this change, and how we are going to integrate our other two operational missions into this incorporation of fifth-generation country-building, is significant. I'm just happy to be a part of it.
When I say "corral," I mean there are so many entities that have care and drive and enthusiasm toward this. I just want to help us drive to that common vector. In corralling, I am just there to make sure that the people have what they need, that they have the same level of enthusiasm that I do, and that they are always in a position where they can safely execute their mission. Because what they're doing matters. It matters to the country, it matters to the community. And quite frankly, it matters to each of us that stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
If you look at the Minuteman, which we wear on the crest of our Air National Guard patch, it truly represents the airmen that make up the 188th Wing. We have several mission partners, and a lot of the symbolism that ties to the Minuteman ties to them as well. We have our regular Air Force partners from the 33rd Fighter Wing, the 85th Group and the 57th Fighter Squadron that are here working alongside us. We have our civilian partners, various contractors and our national allies. Right now we have Poland and Finland — soon Germany and Singapore — here within the next 365 days.
So when I talk about the Minuteman, sure, he represents the Air National Guard crest and emblem, but I think there are similarities between all of these warfighters that we work hand in hand with. The Minuteman resembles a farmer in the 1700s who in one hand holds a plow and in the other holds a musket. When his nation calls, he gently places the plow down — indicating that his responsibilities to the community are on pause — as he now takes up arms with the musket and goes to represent his community in the completely different facet of answering our nation's call in conflict. When that conflict is abated and comes to an end, he returns to the field, grabs the plow and resumes what he needs to do in order to serve his community.
I think that's what really represents our airmen here today. And I hope when people think about me, they think about the Minuteman — and they think about the 1,000 airmen that make up our unique wing here of the Flying Razorbacks.
That was Col. Esparza speaking about his new role as unit commander of the 188th Wing with Ozarks at Large's Jack Travis. A spokesperson for the unit told us they have job openings in the 188th Operations Group and the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group. The Guard pays for college tuition, so if anyone is interested, give them a call. You can visit 188wg.ang.af.mil for their number and more information.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
