Army Cyber Command headquarters cases colors as it departs National Capital Region

By Bill RocheJuly 1, 2020

Lt. Gen. Stephen G. Fogarty, commadner of U.S. Army Cyber Command (left), and ARCYBER Command Sgt. Maj. Sheryl D. Lyon (center) prepare the ARCYBER colors for casing during a casing ceremony at Fort Belvoir, Va., July 1, 2020. The ceremony marked the move of the ARCYBER headquarters from the National Capital Region to a new home at Fort Gordon, Georgia. (Photo by Bill Roche)
Lt. Gen. Stephen G. Fogarty, commadner of U.S. Army Cyber Command (left), and ARCYBER Command Sgt. Maj. Sheryl D. Lyon (center) prepare the ARCYBER colors for casing during a casing ceremony at Fort Belvoir, Va., July 1, 2020. The ceremony marked the move of the ARCYBER headquarters from the National Capital Region to a new home at Fort Gordon, Georgia. (Photo by Bill Roche) (Photo Credit: ) VIEW ORIGINAL

U.S. Army Cyber Command cased its colors in a brief ceremony at Fort Belvoir, Va., July 1, 2020, marking the departure of the ARCYBER headquarters from the National Capital Region and the move to its new home at Fort Gordon, Ga.

From its founding nearly 10 years ago, ARCYBER organizations have occupied several facilities at Fort Belvoir, Fort Meade, Md., and other locations in the NCR. In 2013 Army leadership directed that the command move to Fort Gordon to consolidate and streamline Army cyberspace and affiliated functions. Originally targeted to be complete by Fiscal Year 2022, ARCYBER is now completing that move as the culmination of several years of planning, construction and execution that is bringing Army Cyber elements together in new state-of-the-art facilities in Georgia.

Some of ARCYBER's associated organizations will remain in the NCR. The 780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber) will continue to operate at Fort Meade and the 1st Information Operations Command at Fort Belvoir.

Founded in October 2010 to provide a focal point for Army operations in the cyberspace domain, ARCYBER achieved many milestones during its tenure in the NCR.

Starting that October with just 82 people -- 16 enlisted Soldiers, five warrant officers, 37 officers and 24 Army civilian employees -- the command stood up in about six months.

During its early years, ARCYBER grew as it focused on building the Army portion of the Department of Defense’s joint Cyber Mission Force, and by 2011 the Army had already established the 780th as its first cyber brigade.

Army cyberspace operations had a banner year in 2014, with the establishment of the Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon; the Army Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber; the Army’s Cyber Branch; the Army Cyber Protection Brigade, and the first Army National Guard Cyber Protection Brigade in a Title 10 status.

In 2015 ARCYBER began a pilot to deliver tactical cyber capabilities to the Army.

The following year ARCYBER spearheaded Joint Task Force-ARES, to counter ISIL operations in northern Iraq and Syria. In July 2016 the Army designated ARCYBER as the Army Service Component Command for cyberspace operations, while unprecedented Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election in November that year demonstrated the threat of coordinated information warfare operations and provided greater focus for ARCYBER’s mission. It was the same month that the command conducted groundbreaking ceremonies at Fort Gordon for its new headquarters there.

In September 2017 ARCYBER declared that all of the Army’s 41 active-duty Cyber Mission Force teams had reached Full Operational Capability -- a year ahead of schedule -- and the command’s focus pivoted from building the CMF to integrating Cyber-Electromagnetic Activities into joint and Army operations.

In 2018, Electronic Warfare became part of the Cyber Branch. And that November, during the congressional mid-term elections, ARCYBER fought back against foreign election interference.

In May 2019 the Army activated the 915th Cyberspace Warfare Battalion -- the Army’s first scalable organic Information Warfare expeditionary capability, with cyber, signal, electronic warfare, and information operations in one unit.

As 2020 unfolds, ARCYBER is looking ahead, maintaining round-the-clock operations in the information environment and completing its move to Georgia in the face of the unprecedented challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

At the modest ceremony in which Lt. Gen. Stephen G. Fogarty, the ARCYBER commanding general, cased the command’s flag alongside senior ARCYBER enlisted advisor Command Sgt. Maj. Sheryl D. Lyon, the general reflected on the significance of that simple action and thanked ARCYBER’s supporters for their dedication to the command during its tenure in the NCR and to its future in Georgia.

“Today marks a major milestone in our unit’s 10-year history,” Fogarty said. “Many people helped grow this organization -- many who are attending virtually with us now -- and I’m grateful to INSCOM and the Fort Belvoir community for their years of support. I’m also thankful for everyone investing into our next chapter at our new home at Fort Gordon, and Command Sergeant Major Lyon and I look forward to uncasing these colors there soon.”

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ABOUT US: United States Army Cyber Command integrates and conducts full-spectrum cyberspace operations, electronic warfare, and information operations, ensuring freedom of action for friendly forces in and through the cyber domain and the information environment, while denying the same to our adversaries.

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