Army Cyber Command is focused on maintaining and building critical network operations and partnerships while integrating and developing information warfare capabilities to counter and defeat sophisticated, agile adversaries, said ARCYBER commander Lt. Gen. Stephen G. Fogarty in a keynote address at the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association 2019 Army Signal Conference in Springfield, Va., March 13.
Calling the Department of Defense Information Network “the most important, the most complex, weapons system DoD employees are operating 24/7”, Fogarty said he believes that operating and maintaining its networks may be the Army’s number-one priority.
"The network is the critical capability that is going to allow us to fight and win on modern battlefields. ... All the other (Army) priorities are actually dependent upon that effective network," he said.
"If you want effective mission command, you want persistent ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance), you want long-range persistent fires, just in time logistics, you want MEDEVAC -- all those things that we require for a commander to be able to see the adversary, see himself, create that situational understanding, and then to be able to deliver decisions, whether they're in the information space or in kinetic operations, that is completely dependent upon the network.”
“Whoever can sense, understand, decide and act faster than the adversary enjoys a decisive advantage."
ARCYBER’s first task is making sure commanders have freedom of maneuver on their networks and can see themselves and their adversaries in real time, he said. Its next critical function is to deliver effects against adversaries. While in the past that has primarily meant cyberspace effects, he added, the critical task ahead is integrating the three stated responsibilities in its mission – cyber, electronic warfare and information operations – to focus on building a coherent information warfare capability.
“So I don't limit myself to the cyber domain,” Fogarty said. “I've got to exploit the information environment. I think that's much bigger, it's much broader."
"What we're finding is much of what we do in Army Cyber today as we're supporting combatant commanders around the world, is we're delivering content, we're delivering a capability that may create an information operation. And I think that's very powerful. It's something that we have to embrace. It's something that we have to exploit."
“(The ARCYBER mission statement) isn't saying deliver cyber effects against our adversaries -- it's ‘deliver effects.’ So it might be (electronic warfare) capability. It might be a cyber package or payload or an action, or it may be IO content that we're delivering or an effect we're creating for an information operations effect. ... So as I look at the major maneuver elements in Army Cyber, NETCOM (the Army Network Enterprise Technology Command) is the largest, most important maneuver element that I have in the command. The Cyber Protection Brigade is part of NETCOM. So that's the ‘operate and defend portion’ -- the majority of what I do every day. 780th MI Brigade -- part of INSCOM (the Army Intelligence and Security Command) -- that's part of my offensive capability. As I look at the other piece, which is also in INSCOM -- 1st Information Operations Brigade -- that's defense; that's operate, and then that's tremendous effects generation capability. So the ability for multiple tribes to come together to work a problem is the key to success.”
At the same, ARCYBER relies on the support of multiple partners to accomplish its mission, Fogarty explained. He said collaboration with industry and academia is vital to helping the Army build tools that enable commanders to see themselves and understand the effect the network has on their maneuver power and capability, and to visualize what the adversary is doing in the information environment and understand its relevance. Contractors are also essential across the entire range of ARCYBER responsibilities, he added. And he gave high praise to the skills and experience of dedicated reserve component Soldiers who provide critical support to Army Cyber operations worldwide.
Fogarty also called the command’s ability to recruit and retain first-class talent one of its key priorities. The good news, he added, is that ARCYBER has been successful by offering innovative paths to a rewarding career with a sense of purpose and mission. But that can’t be taken for granted, he said, with so many other organizations competing for the same talented people who are critical thinkers, technically and tactically adept, and persistent in working through challenging problems rapidly.
As ARCYBER builds its information warfare capabilities, its move to Fort Gordon next year will enhance those efforts, Fogarty said, by providing the Army with a power projection platform for information dominance.
He said in previous remarks he has commented that the command’s name may become “something like Army Information Warfare Operations Command” in the future. But while the name may not be set in stone, he said, the concept is “not just a slogan -- that is the big idea. And that's what we're moving toward rapidly.”
“As we transform the command it won't be just a name change, but changes in relationships, in organizations, in training, in capabilities.”
For information about uniformed and civilian career opportunities with Army Cyber Command, visit our website at www.arcyber.army.mil and click "Careers"
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ABOUT US: United States Army Cyber Command directs and conducts integrated electronic warfare, information and cyberspace operations as authorized, or directed, to ensure freedom of action in and through cyberspace and the information environment, and to deny the same to our adversaries.