FORT GORDON, Ga. (Feb. 9, 2015) – The growing importance of cyber operations brought more than 100 seniors leaders from around the Army and Department of Defense to Fort Gordon, Feb. 4, to plan for the unique infrastructure needs of cyber warriors.
Fort Gordon hosted the Installation Management Command’s, or IMCOM, second Cyber Installation Support Summit at the Gordon Club and Conference Center. The first summit was held at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, in October 2014.
Leaders representing a wide variety of defense organizations throughout the country convened to discuss requirements and resources needed to support growth related to cyber forces, including the planned relocation of U.S. Army Cyber Command to Fort Gordon.
Maj. Gen. Al Aycock, director of operations for the Army Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management, and Maj. Gen. LaWarren Patterson, deputy commanding general for operations/chief of staff of IMCOM, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, were among the leaders who attended to help plot solutions to unique cyber requirements.
“We have some homework to do, but we’re focused on the problem and making it easy for commands to get what they need,” Aycock said.
The event served as a platform for Fort Gordon and other stakeholders, including Fort Meade, Maryland, and Fort Belvoir, Virginia, to share issues stemming from cyber growth and discuss possible solutions.
For example, at Fort Gordon, topping the list of future cyber needs were placement of sensitive compartmented information facilities, or SCIFs, and classroom renovations.
Anderson said there are 14 Cyber Center of Excellence, or CoE, classrooms that have not undergone any modernization efforts since their construction decades ago.
Cyber CoE and Fort Gordon Commander Maj. Gen. Stephen G. Fogarty echoed concerns, stating his goal is to get all classrooms to standard to accommodate the growing needs of sensitive, high-tech training.
“Less than five percent of our classrooms have been modernized at all, so we’ve got some work that’s going to have to take place,” Fogarty said.
“Our infrastructure needs to support a changing population,” said Col. Samuel G. Anderson, Fort Gordon garrison commander.
Fort Meade is experiencing similar challenges, although on a smaller scale. It’s a dose of reality being experienced Army-wide as the total force gets smaller but the cyber force continues to grow. Despite inevitable growing pains, Anderson said he remains confident they are making progress.
“It’s a pretty complex problem, but we’ve got the right people here at Team Gordon,” Anderson said.