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12 High Desert Warrior                                                                                         www.aerotechnews.com/ntcfortirwin
In tMharche4, 2B016ox

Integration of cyberspace capabilities

into tactical units

          By U.S. Army Cyber Command                       Col. Jerry Turner, commander of the 2nd                                                                                                                      U.S. Army photo
                                                        SBCT, said having cyber planners linked to             Soldiers with the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade conduct cyberspace operations
   The Army’s efforts to integrate operational          the brigade during its entire train-up process         during a training rotation for the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division,
cyberspace capabilities into its tactical units took    helped the unit better understand the possibili-       here, Jan. 24. The Fort Meade, Md.-based 780th was one of several cyber organizations
another big step forward during a training rotation     ties and potential of cyber on the battlefield.        that took part in the rotation as part of an pilot program to designed to help the Army
at the National Training Center in January.                                                                    develop how it will build and employ cyber in its tactical formations.
                                                           At the same time, the NTC infrastructure sup-
   Cyber forces provided support to offensive           porting the rotation underwent a transformation        context for current problems, so as we look out to         3rd Brigade CombatTeam, 25th Infantry Division).
and defensive cyberspace operations, intelligence,      to enhance training on offensive cyber operations.     future problems and try to develop future solutions,       We came into this rotation understanding it. And so
information operations and opposing forces for                                                                 we have an understanding of what the cyber force           immediately the team was talking maneuver termi-
the NTC rotation for the Lancer brigade – the              Chief Warrant Officer 3 Nevery Berry from the       is facing now, here at the NTC and at the tactical         nology and fires terminology that was understood
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry           780th MIB, said his team worked on the infrastruc-     level,” Hutchison said during the rotation.                and nested with the brigade combat team.
Division from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.           ture to support cyber training at NTC for about
                                                        six months prior to the Lancer brigade rotation, to       “We hope to add value by understanding the                 “We have been able to provide a solid process to
   Elements of the U.S. Army Cyber Com-                 create a realistic cyber environment in “the box.”     current challenges facing staff integration and cyber      inform the brigade commander of his fight. We’ve
mand headquarters: 780th Military Intelligence                                                                 planning at the maneuver headquarters, as well as          nested with decision points and provided cyber
Brigade from Fort Meade, Md.; U.S. Army                    Those improvements included replicating a           the expeditionary nature of cyber enabling at the          concepts of operation or schemes of maneuver to
Cyber Protection Brigade from Fort Gordon,              real-world network provider serving the several        maneuver headquarters,” Waage added.                       support the brigade’s scheme of maneuver, to the
Ga.; Cyberspace Opposing Force from the 1st             mock villages in the box, establishing Wi-Fi access                                                               point where Lancer 6, the brigade commander,
Information Operations Command at Fort                  points and providing laptops and smartphones to           Ultimately the findings from the rotation and           and Lancer 3, the operations officer, looks at his
Belvoir, Va.; 201st Expeditionary Military Intel-       enable online communication. Soldiers acting as        other CSCB pilot efforts will be used to help              cyberspace planner as a key member on the staff
ligence Brigade from JBLM; and Fort Gordon’s            opposing forces and “cyber threat actors” – role-      NTC develop and improve the cyber elements                 and goes to her regularly for observations and
U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence and 7th            players simulating civilians on the battlefield or     of its training, and help the Army make decisions          recommendations on how to integrate cyberspace
Signal Command took part in the exercise.               enemy sympathizers – can use the system to do          on cyber doctrine, manning, rules of engagement,           operations to support the brigade fight.”
                                                        everything from carry on routine conversations         individual and collective training, tactics, equip-
   The cyber participation in the training was a        to help adversary forces target Soldiers. The same     ment, and the myriad other functions necessary                Turner said the 2nd SBCT’s successes with
key element in the Army’s ongoing Cyber Sup-            network also enables friendly forces to detect and     to creating and employing forces in a warfighting          cyber operations have convinced him that it’s a ca-
port to Corps and Below (CSCB) pilot, designed          take action against threats.                           domain – even whether to incorporate cyber                 pability that all brigade commanders should have.
to help the Army develop how it will build and                                                                 functions at the corps level and below at all.
employ cyber in its tactical formations.                   Where all these training scenarios once de-                                                                       “We had some great success during this rota-
                                                        pended on scripted processes, Burnett said, the           Perhaps the most major lesson learned                   tion in terms of shaping information operations
   To further facilitate the training and the pilot,    enhanced infrastructure now more realistically         from the pilot thus far is that cyber effects can          with cyber (as well as) on the wide area security
planners, staff officers and subject-matter experts     reflects today’s hybrid threats.                       be understood and executed much like other                 mission with cyber, and then certainly in the
from Army Cyber, the 780th and the Cyber Pro-                                                                  warfighting effects, such as combat engineering            decisive action role,” Turner said. “So this may
tection Brigade also integrated into the brigade           “The environment is dynamic, and it chang-          or intelligence operations, allowing cyber plan-           not be the final version, and it certainly won’t be
staff and NTC’s Operations Group for the rota-          es, and now rather than there being a script,          ners and operators to use maneuver terms and               the final version of how cyber works in a brigade,
tion. Their role was to provide additional support      there is a real human factor that is manipulat-        symbols tactical commanders are familiar with,             but what it’s allowed (us) to do is think about it
and expertise for the training while gathering          ing how the information is viewed,” he said.           and to integrate seamlessly into their staffs.             and to begin to explore its possibilities.”
observations and recommendations to help the
Army determine how it will train, man, equip,              The improvements also give commanders                  “It’s not about individual enemies on the battle-          Continued CSCB pilot efforts include addi-
sustain and develop doctrine to define and con-         a lot more to think about. While much of the           field,” said Maj. Wayne Sanders, executive officer         tional combat training center rotations. Elements
duct cyber operations in tactical environments.         traffic the network carries is mundane conversa-       for the 781st Military Intelligence Battalion, and         of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry
                                                        tion, when real threats are detected it challenges     a member of the operations team that supported             Division from Fort Riley, Kan., are already
   The cyber component of the 2nd SBCT                  a commander’s decision-making, Berry said. He          cyber during the rotation. “It’s the ability to integrate  making preparations for an August NTC rota-
rotation represented an extension of an inte-           will have to think about things such as key cyber      into the brigade’s operations process and develop          tion. In addition, increased cyber operations are
grative cyber exercise the brigade conducted at         terrain, critical networks and systems, cyber rules    plans to support combined arms maneuver.”                  being incorporated into the Network Integration
JBLM in October. It also follows and expands            of engagement and execution criteria, what actions                                                                Evaluation and Army Warfighter Assessment
on two similar brigade combat team rotations            his forces can take and how they may affect other         “The importance of us being able to talk tacti-         programs, a series of Soldier-led evaluations
conducted last year at the Joint Readiness Train-       activities, whether they must request the authority    cally is critical for our success in integrating in the    designed to integrate and rapidly progress the
ing Center at Fort Polk, La., as part of the pilot.     to take action, and even whether second- or third-     staff,” Burnett said. “This was identified during          Army’s tactical communications network.
                                                        order effects or the possibility of collateral damage  the 3/25 BCT rotation at Joint Readiness Training
   Each of those exercises was preceded by exten-       might cause him to decide not to take action.          Center (an earlier rotation in the pilot, involving the
sive planning and unit training at home station
supported by cyber forces. Preparing the Lancer            The pilot is also giving the Army a lot to think
brigade and the NTC for cyberspace training and         about. The observations and recommendations of
operations was no exception, and began months           the cyber planners who partnered with the 2nd
before the rotation kicked off at Fort Irwin.           SBCT, NTC and others, such as the observer-con-
                                                        troller/trainers who closely monitor training in the
   Cyber elements “integrated early and integrated      box, were presented at after-action reviews during
often” with the brigade, said Lt. Col. Jonathan         and after the rotation, and will be further compiled
Burnett, the CSCB pilot lead for Army Cyber             for consideration by the Army’s decision-makers.
Command. That integration took several forms,
he added, from familiarizing the unit with cyber           Capts. Frederick Waage and Matthew Hutchi-
operations, capabilities, execution criteria and rules  son were part of a team of researchers from the Army
of engagement and integrating into their planning       Cyber Institute at the United States Military Acad-
processes and operations, to establishing critical      emy, which also took part in the NTC rotation to
intelligence support at JBLM for the brigade at         gather observations they said will be compiled into
NTC, to making recommendations for hardening            ACI papers designed to spark discussion about the
its networks and systems against attack.                future development of cyber activities and doctrine.

                                                           “One of the main reasons we’re out here is to gain

For more information go to www.irwin.army.mil
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