Some of the initial towers had prompted groups of citizens in Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and California to organize to fight construction of GWEN towers in their areas. The groups believed that the presence of a GWEN node would increase the community's "strategic worth" in the eyes of the Soviet Union and thus invite attack. Responding to these groups, the Air Force repeatedly downplayed the importance of the towers, stating they were not worth that kind of attention by the Soviet Union.