Investing in knowledge: Strengthening U.S. Armed Forces communications security

FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. — Throughout history, military leaders have recognized that securing communications is critical to operational success. On July 26, 1777, Gen. George Washington wrote to Col. Elias Dayton:

“The necessity of procuring good Intelligence is apparent & need not be further urged — All that remains for me to add, is, that you keep the whole matter as secret as possible. For upon Secrecy, Success depends in most Enterprizes of the kind, and for want of it, they are generally defeated, however well planned & promising a favourable issue.”

Improving COMSEC is not merely a technical upgrade. COMSEC is a fundamental pillar of national sovereignty, tactical survivability, and strategic deterrence. Robust COMSEC denies adversaries the ability to intercept, decrypt, or disrupt vital information. By securing the channels through which plans, commands, and telemetry flow, a military force preserves the element of surprise, protects lives, secures critical assets, and ensures the absolute integrity of command and control.

History has demonstrated the devastating consequences of compromised communications and the evolution of cryptologic warfare. During World War II, the Allied forces compromised the German Enigma and Lorenz cipher machines through the Ultra program. The continuous, actionable intelligence the Ultra program provided was so highly reliable that historians believe it accelerated the defeat of Axis forces by two to four years. To protect the existence of the Ultra program and ensure continued military campaign dominance, the Allied forces created operational security rules.

During the Vietnam War, the cryptologic conflict proved equally decisive. The People’s Army of Vietnam targeted human vulnerabilities instead of attempting to break secure U.S. military cryptographic hardware. Operators established a network of clandestine intercept stations to monitor radio traffic continuously and exploit unauthorized convenience codes and unencrypted voice transmissions. By deciphering tactical communications, North Vietnamese forces gained advanced warning of troop movements and airstrikes. The compromised COMSEC neutralized much of the tactical advantage the U.S. sought to achieve.

During the height of the Cold War, Chief Warrant Officer John Anthony Walker Jr. ran a highly damaging Soviet espionage ring within the U.S. Navy known as the Walker Family Spy Ring. By providing the Soviet Union with cryptographic keys and machine schematics, the spy ring enabled adversaries to decipher more than one million encrypted naval messages. This breach gave unprecedented, real-time insights into U.S. military tactics, submarine locations, and operational plans.

During the hunt for Pablo Escobar, Colombian National Police formed an elite task force known as Search Bloc that executed a signals isolation strategy by shutting down regional repeater stations and banning cellular phones. This forced Escobar to use a trackable radiotelephone to communicate. Aided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and a highly classified U.S. Army signals intelligence unit, Search Bloc used a mobile electronic surveillance unit to intercept Escobar’s transmission and triangulate his exact location on Dec. 2, 1993.

In 2023, a China-based attacker designated as Storm-0558 acquired an inactive Microsoft consumer signing key and used it to forge security authentication tokens. This allowed other hackers to masquerade as legitimate users and access the cloud email accounts of approximately 25 major organizations, including senior U.S. government officials. This breach emphasized how compromising a single piece of core cryptographic infrastructure enabled adversaries to execute broad espionage without cracking individual device security.

Today, cryptographic materiel remains a highly targeted item for spies. Unlike stealing one classified document, compromising cryptographic materiel provides systemic access to entire networks. It allows adversaries to read thousands of directives, conduct passive monitoring undetected, and even decrypt historically archived communications. To prevent such compromises, the U.S. Army must ensure its personnel are trained to manage COMSEC correctly.

Recognizing this strategic imperative, the Army Materiel Command relies on robust training programs to build a skilled, resilient, and future-ready workforce. As part of AMC, the Communications-Electronics Command U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command supports this training requirement by leading the planning and execution of the COMSEC Integration for Protecting and Hardening Environments for Resilience forum that takes place at Fort Huachuca in the spring.

The CIPHER forum brings together hundreds of professionals from the COMSEC community for dozens of general and specialized training sessions covering operational, technical, and strategic COMSEC priorities. This forum serves as the leading venue within the Department of War for Key Management Infrastructure, or KMI, Operating Account Manager collaboration, education, and modernization alignment.

AMC Headquarters Security Division Chief Christopher Corley emphasized the importance of this specialized training event for KOAMs.

“True cryptographic security is not achieved in a vacuum,” Corley said. “The CIPHER COMSEC training equips AMC Enterprise COMSEC professionals with the essential knowledge and the strategic KOAM partnerships required to secure the network, synchronize our defense, and maintain the decisive edge of the warfighter.”

While COMSEC training exists at events like CIPHER, enabling KOAMs to attend training events in person is a continuous effort. Many commands express they lack the time and financial resources to send their personnel to in-person training events. The vital importance of overcoming time and cost barriers to provide specialized education was best summarized by Benjamin Franklin when he wrote, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

To remove the cost barrier, the Army Civilian Career Management Activity provided centralized funding for 12 COMSEC specialists to attend CIPHER this year. ACCMA provided the funding to support this educational and developmental forum designed to enhance the professional growth of these specialists and position them for future COMSEC mission demands.

By providing the necessary funding and directives, ACCMA provides Army Civilians with opportunities to attend critical events like CIPHER, directly enhancing their abilities to take on complex responsibilities in a rapidly evolving mission space.

“Thanks to the funding provided by ACCMA, I was able to join fellow COMSEC professionals at CIPHER 2026 to dive deep into our technical and operational modernization of the community,” said Michael Schramm, CECOM Tobyhanna Army Depot KOAM. “The synergy between the focus on workforce readiness of ACCMA and coordination of this forum by USAISEC empowers Army Civilians like me to bring cutting-edge, mission-aligned competencies back to our day-to-day operations.”

ACCMA advances talent development through its Talent Education and Development Division. This division strengthens Army readiness by overseeing Enterprise Civilian Talent Development Programs, core foundational career training, continuous learning or funding management, and career pathway standardization. These career pathways are structured into 11 career fields across functional areas and grade levels. These career fields house critical career programs vital to the COMSEC mission, such as the Digital Technology career field comprised of CP-34 (information technology) and CP-71 (cyber warfare) or the Security and Intelligence career field containing CP-35 (intelligence).

ACCMA development priorities focus on enterprise-level, competitive programs that build strategic and cross-functional expertise. To accomplish this task, ACCMA provides development pathways that reinforce mission-aligned competencies through functional and technical training. ACCMA programs heavily emphasize experiential learning by providing fellowships and broadening assignments to expand professional scopes.

“This investment does not just build long-term career pathways; it actively strengthens our immediate ability to secure, harden, and defend our critical communications infrastructure against the rapidly evolving threats of today,” Schramm explained. “The ability to network, share operational processes, and communicate with other COMSEC professionals regarding the unique issues and solutions we have navigated within our respective account environments truly embodies and furthers the age-old mantra of one team, one fight.”

Together, CECOM USAISEC's successful execution of the CIPHER forum and ACCMA's commitment to professional development funding showcase AMC's holistic approach to workforce readiness. By investing in people and strengthening their technical capabilities, the Army builds resilience in an increasingly contested and technologically demanding environment.