Army Cyber Command hits key milestone

In a major milestone for the Army's cyber forces, the Secretary of the Army designated them as an Army service component command (ASCC).

In a July 14 announcement, the Army said the designation was signed by Army Secretary Eric Fanning through a July 11 Army General Order. The ASCC designation will bring ARCYBER's roles and authorities in line with commands such as Army Europe and Army Special Operations Command.

The designation "is a major step forward in providing unity of command for cyberspace operations in support of, and fully integrated with, U.S. Cyber Command," the Army said.

"A dedicated Army Service Component Command for the cyber domain is an important step to strengthen the Army's ability to deliver important cyber capabilities and synchronize operations for the Army and joint force," said Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon, commander of Army Cyber Command and Second Army.

"This decision is an important step to strengthen the Army's ability and ARCYBER's authority to deliver cyber capabilities and synchronize cyber operations in support of the Joint Force," a spokesperson from ARCYBER said in an emailed response. "Cyberspace is a recognized warfighting domain, and the Army directed the establishment of a cyber ASCC to ensure the presence of a globally-responsive and regionally-engaged Cyber Force."

The ASCC designation will allow ARCYBER to direct and conduct cyberspace operations to "ensure freedom of action in the cyberspace and information environment, and to deny access to our adversaries," the Army said. The commander is now authorized to gather resources to organize, develop and employ cyber capabilities in support of both the Army and the joint force.

The Army is on track to meet its commitment of 41 teams to the joint Cyber Command's 133 teams, ARCYBER confirmed to C4ISRNET, meeting initial operating capability by the end of fiscal 2016 and full operating capacity by the end of fiscal 2018.

"The Army is on track to meet its goal to 41 [cyber mission force] teams by this October," Andrew "A.J." Forysiak, director of the Capabilities, Implementation, and Modernization Directorate for Army Cyber Command,said at an event this spring. At the time, Forysiak said 36 teams are at initial operating capability and 10 are at full operational capability, with all expected to reach FOC by October 2016.

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