FORT BELVOIR , Va. -- Members of the U.S. Army Cyber Command and Second Army headquarters community had an opportunity to learn about the organization's planned move to Georgia in the coming years during town hall sessions at ARCYBER's two primary operating bases here and Fort Meade, Md., Jan. 28 and 29.
Officials from Fort Gordon and its neighboring community of Augusta, Ga., conducted the sessions to provide ARCYBER members who may move with the command with information about the growth and expansion of their region, facilities and capabilities. The move is expected to affect approximately 400 civilian and 300 military ARCYBER headquarters positions.
In opening remarks at the event here, Lt. Gen. Edward C. Cardon, ARCYBER commander, praised the leadership of Fort Gordon and its surrounding communities for the "absolute first-class effort" they have made in preparing for the ARCYBER move. Ronald W. Pontius, deputy to the ARCYBER commander, reinforced that message in his opening comments to participants at Fort Meade.
"Fort Gordon today is a lot different than Fort Gordon a couple of years ago, and it will be a lot different three to four years from now," Cardon said, with the ARCYBER move and the growth of the Cyber Center of Excellence and the inclusion of intelligence units and additional signal units there.
"The way it impacts Army Cyber, though, is if you are going to be in the cyber force for the future, I predict you are going to have assignments at Fort Gordon, because that is going to be the center for cyber for the Army."
Those changes are also sparking increased growth in quality of life at Fort Gordon and in the region, the general added.
"Everything, I think, is on an upward trend down there," Cardon said. "What do I mean by that? Schools, education opportunities, universities, business opportunities -- all that's coming because of the increase in capabilities coming to Fort Gordon. That's not going to change. That will accelerate, I believe, given the nature of the world we're in today."
Each town hall session included presentations on Fort Gordon and area facilities, services and growth by Col. Sam Anderson, commander of Fort Gordon, and representatives of the school districts of Georgia's Richmond and Columbia Counties; the the Augusta Metro, Columbia County and North Augusta Chambers of Commerce; and the Central Savannah River Area Alliance for Fort Gordon.
Anderson provided an in-depth look at what he labeled the "Herculean effort ongoing to prepare our facilities and infrastructure" to create a state-of-the-art power projection platform for cyber operations. He said efforts are under way to get funding for more than $700 million for construction and modernization projects for those facilities, and predicted that when they are complete they will be so world-class that people will want to show up there for work on Christmas day.
That level of effort can be seen across the Fort Gordon region, the colonel added, saying the partnership between the post and its neighbors "offers a synergy that is truly a force multiplier for the Army."
The Army announced in late 2013 that the ARCYBER headquarters would move from Maryland and Virginia to Georgia to consolidate cyber and network operations at the Army Cyber Center of Excellence and create "institutional unity and a focal point for cyber doctrine and capabilities development, training and innovation." Cardon said that currently the move is expected to take place in 2019-2020.
(This article was compiled from information provided by Army Cyber Command at Forts Belvoir and Meade and the Fort Gordon Public Affairs Office.)
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