Against the backdrop of a KC-135 Stratotanker, the Annual State Threat Assessment was presented by Governor Jim Pillen Monday morning at a Nebraska National Guard hangar. The report is a product of the Committee on Pacific Conflict, which was created through the passage of LB 1300 in 2024.
The committee, consisting of 11 members, met four times in 2025 and heard from state and national subject matter experts on a variety of security topics involving agriculture, cyber security, power generation, law enforcement and international procurement. The report provides a non-classified overview of potential threats facing Nebraska, and actions the Governor’s administration took in 2025 to mitigate them.
Pillen highlighted some of the features that put Nebraska on the front lines of not only state and national security, but also international security, including operations originating out of Offutt Air Force Base, the capabilities of the state’s National Guard and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which is home to an internationally known biocontainment unit operated in collaboration with Nebraska Medicine. He also mentioned Nebraska’s unique water and food resources, and its public power systems, all of which are critical assets.
“It’s important that we know who our foreign adversaries are, we identify the risks and that we create policies that protect our state security and our national security,” Pillen says. “Today is a good day to celebrate what the Committee on Pacific Conflict is doing and what it is working on.”
Major General Craig Strong, the adjutant general for the Nebraska National Guard, emphasized issues that make Nebraska vulnerable to bad actors and steps the Military Department is undertaking on to address them.
“Nebraska is no longer just a flyover state in the eyes of our adversaries,” Strong says. “It is a front-line target for economic coercion, cyber-physical attacks, and influence operations. Through the authorities granted in LB 1300 and LB 1301, the Nebraska National Guard is now better positioned to secure our home base while simultaneously assisting our nation in projecting strength into the Pacific Theater.”
There are three categories that are top priorities within the administration – agriculture and food security as national security, securing the homeland, and cybersecurity and protection of state digital infrastructure.
(Photos: KLIN’s Tom Stanton)