Army leaders discussed the development of Army information warfare capabilities and the importance of collaboration and partnerships to that evolution with representatives of military services, the tech industry, academia, and other governmental and non-governmental agencies at the National Cyber Summit in Huntsville, Ala., June 4-5.
Lt. Gen. Stephen G. Fogarty, commander of Army Cyber Command; Brig. Gen. Jennifer G. Buckner, director of Cyber, Electronic Warfare, and Information Operations, Headquarters Department of the Army (G-3/5/7); and Col. Nichoel Brooks, Army Futures Command director of Intelligence, spoke with summit participants about the integration of information warfare functions and Army modernization.
Fogarty emphasized the need for the Army to rapidly bring cyber, electronic warfare and information operations together to provide Army and joint forces with comprehensive capabilities to affect and dominate the information environment in multi-domain operations.
Whoever acts fastest comes out ahead, he said, and "nowhere is this more important than in the information environment."
"We must get there, because our adversaries are there."
That development and change is not just about technology, Fogarty explained, but also about transforming culture and processes.
"If we're going to focus on subsets of the challenge, persistent engagement is not going to work," he said. "Persistent engagement means engagement across the full depth of the environment."
Achieving that full development of information warfare proficiency will take partnerships between and among the Army and the tech industry, academia, the military services and allies and partners, he said, to build capabilities such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, and the processes and authorities to detect and deter adversaries in the information environment at the level of action in real time.
Buckner underscored Fogarty's remarks, and spoke about integrating Army cyber, information operations and electronic warfare capabilities to keep pace with evolving Army and joint operational priorities.
Brooks talked about how industry and other partners can help and support Army modernization and supply chain processes.
The bottom line, Fogarty said, is that the Army cannot cede the initiative or the advantage in dominating the information environment.
"We must not fear the consequences if we act, but ... if we don't act," he said.
The National Cyber Summit is an annual event hosted by the North Alabama Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association, Cyber Huntsville Corporation, Auburn University Research, and University of Alabama in Huntsville designed to further cybersecurity and technology education, collaboration and workforce development.
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