U.S. Army Cyber Command is on its way to Augusta, but it might look a little different.
During a keynote address at AFCEA’s TechNet Augusta 2019, Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, the commander of Army Cyber Command since May 2018, said he plans on proposing a name change over the next two months. Because of the wide variety of responsibilities soldiers will have to perform in the cyber branch of the military, Fogarty said “Army Information Warfare Command” would be a more accurate descriptor.
Over the course of this year, Fogarty said the military plans to bring Army Cyber Command headquarters to Fort Gordon from Fort Belvoir, Va. He said there are already a significant amount of soldiers and some civilians in the area, and he expects the headquarters building to be finished and operating by June 20, 2020.
Fogarty also emphasized the need for speed in cyberwarfare. He said progress in cyberspace has been impeded by bureaucracy, and that the U.S. needs to create an information dominance. He called on industry partners and academics for advice on the best way to train and equip soldiers for missions in cyberspace.
At the completion of his address, Fogarty signed into effect an advisory board for Career Program 71, which involves civilians as “cyberspace effects professionals” who enable and execute cyberspace operations. The program was recognized as the Army’s 32nd civilian career program as of May 2019.
Andricka Thomas, cyberspace effects career program director, said civilians have been working for the military in cybersecurity since 2014, but the program provides a dedicated framework for the mission.
“We need a career program that’s dedicated to how do you continuously retool the civilian workforce to be able to stay ahead of the threat,” she said.
The program works to develop civilian experts who contribute to the Army’s cyberwarfare experts, and it will continue to establish training plans and career paths for the now formally-recognized community. The workers are typically trained from jobs such as cybersecurity, cyberintelligence, and cyber information technology.
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© 2019 The Augusta Chronicle
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