Army Cyber Command, or ARCYBER, and Second Army and the Army National Guard, or ARNG, signed a memorandum of understanding June 5 that provides for an ARNG cyber protection team to align with Army Cyber Command and Second Army.
The agreement is designed to integrate ARNG cyber, cyber enabling capabilities and capacity into full spectrum operations.
"We welcome the addition of Army National Guard capabilities to Army Cyber Command and Second Army," said Lt. Gen. Edward C. Cardon, commanding general, ARCBYER and Second Army." With a strong tie to the communities where they live and their civilian occupations, Guardsmen and women have special capabilities that directly enhance the Army's ability to conduct cyberspace operations."
"The Army National Guard provides key surge capacity to the nation's and the states' governors' cyber operations," said Maj. Gen. Judd H. Lyons, acting director, Army National Guard. "Including the National Guard can only improve our nation's capacity to respond. And in the cyber realm, we must act with urgency to develop these relationships and continue to test them."
Under the provisions, the ARNG will provide one cyber protection team, or CPT, in an active duty, Title 10 status, in support of ARCYBER and Second Army.
The team, already serving since Oct. 1, 2013, will be provisionally designated the 1636th Cyber Protection Team and initially stationed in Laurel, Md.
The 1636th CPT will conduct one or a combination of the following missions: defensive cyberspace operations, cyber command readiness inspections, vulnerability assessments, cyber operational forces support to emulate threats, critical infrastructure assessments, theater security cooperation and Federal Emergency Management Agency support.
The ARNG is building additional cyber force structure that will begin in Fiscal Year 2016. The locations of those units have yet to be determined.
Members of ARNG cyber units may provide support to ARCYBER and Second Army in the following statuses: voluntary federal active duty, state active duty and involuntary active duty.
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