In late February, the Army Force Structure Transformation (ARSTRUC) plan directed the activation of two more so-called expeditionary cyber and electromagnetic activities teams (ECTs) in the 11^th Cyber Battalion — a total of 90 authorizations — rounding out that battalion and an additional 390 authorizations for ECTs to begin building the 12^th Cyber Battalion, Lt. Gen. Maria Barrett, commander of Army Cyber Command, said in an interview with DefenseScoop.  

“We’re doubling down on what the expeditionary [Cyberspace and Electromagnetic Activities] teams have been doing to date. I think that is a good sign,” Barrett said.

The battalion provides tactical, on-the-ground cyber operations (mostly through radio-frequency effects), electronic warfare and information operations. The unit consists of four companies with over 300 personnel total and five ECTs — scalable formations designed to augment units upon request.

They’re expected to maneuver with units, plan tactical operations for commanders and conduct operations on the ground.

The decision to expand the teams — and the overall concept — comes after what initially began as a pilot effort over six years ago to test how the Army could integrate tactical cyber and electronic warfare effects for brigades on the ground without having to rely upon the remote, strategic resources of U.S. Cyber Command, which are not only in high demand but, at the time of the pilot, limited in authorities to conduct operations.

According to Army Cyber, based on lessons learned over the last five years, the command has refined the operational concept of the ECTs to account for Army doctrinal and organizational changes, now accounting for employment in competition as well as crisis and contingency scenarios. That feedback has included real-world operations — such as when, in the run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, an ECT was sent forward to Europe to support the Army’s regional theater headquarters to provide subject matter expertise in electronic warfare, information operations, and defensive cyber and offensive cyber planning — lessons learned from Ukraine and other regions, over two dozen combat training center rotations, multiple Warfighter and theater-level exercises, and the Project Convergence experimentation series. As the ECTs continue to mature, ARCYBER will refine their concepts of operations to provide better support and consequential effects to commanders, according to a spokesperson.

Integration with Special Operations Forces and space forces is one of several operational use cases for the ECTs. Going forward, most use cases — particularly in conflict — for the ECTs will involve their placement with conventional combined arms formations to provide specialized EW and cyberspace effects against operational and tactical targets at corps and below, the spokesperson added. Other use cases could involve integration with space and special operations forces under what the Army dubs the modern triad, a play on the nuclear triad consisting of the combination of space, special operations and cyber to create a deterrent effect greater than the sum of its parts.

The Army continues to experiment with the concept and how those forces can augment or support the operations of a division, including Summit Strike, a first-of-its-kind home station training event for 10^th Mountain Division to test and train multidomain operations and capabilities that took place Nov. 19-21.

11^th Cyber Battalion participated in the event to better understand how it fits into a division fight and what targets it can assist to create effects against and provide tactics they can bring back for their own training objectives in the future.  

“11^th Cyber is a tactical cyber unit and that is a first-of-its-kind ability or effect that the Army has to call on. There’s a lot of question on how that unit would actually come and like support a division,” said Capt. Sean Thorpe, 10^th Mountain Division CEMA officer in charge for 10^th Mountain Division. “11^th Cyber is able to gain access to certain unique enemy capabilities that are always on the high payoff target list for a division. Things that we want to destroy, so that way the enemy isn’t able to use those so they can support their maneuver units. 11th Cyber gives us the unique capability of providing access to those things so that we can provide cyber effects.”

The Army is examining appropriate command relationships to ensure that Army Cyber can employ trained ECTs with appropriate intelligence and authorities in support of theater Army missions for joint force commanders throughout the competition continuum, according to a spokesperson.

When the new battalion comes online, Barrett noted it will likely be a carbon copy of what the 11^th currently does. The Army is examining holistically how it does electronic warfare, what that looks like at the edge and what kind of capabilities it needs. Similarly, it is taking a look at whether it needs to make any adjustments in the new battalion, but those are all pre-decisional.  

Building information forces

Barrett said that from Army Cyber’s perspective, the ARSTRUC’s directions came in two buckets: to finish building the first cyber battalion and building the Theater Information Advantage Detachment. The latter is one of three organizations being developed by the Army to synchronize information capabilities at the theater level: one in the Pacific, one in Europe and another that Army Cyber is focusing on transregional threats.

As part of all these builds, the ARSTRUC is sunsetting 1^st Information Operations Command, which provides information operations support and training.

“Taking the success of realizing that we do need information operations. We need to understand this environment. Commanders need to integrate information advantage as part of their scheme of maneuver, both in campaigning and in conflict, and have those forces ready to go and not small teams being deployed out as 1st IO was doing,” Barrett said. “Instead of [that capability] just being focused on the information operations disciplines, we’re now complementing them with, it’s cyber, it’s IO, it’s EW, it’s fires. Bringing all of those competencies together to create this just really composite effects in the theaters or, as we take a look at global from an Army Cyber TIAD standpoint, transregional challenges in the information environment.”

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That battalion, which sits beneath the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade under Army Cyber Command, provides tactical, on-the-ground cyber operations (mostly through radio-frequency effects), electronic warfare and information operations.

The unit consists of four companies with over 300 personnel total and five established expeditionary cyber and electromagnetic activities teams — scalable formations that are designed to augment units upon request. They’re expected to maneuver with units, plan tactical operations for commanders and conduct ops on the ground. The vision is to have a total of 12 ECTs by September 2027 — one for each active division in the Army — capable of providing offensive cyber capabilities, EW and information advantage functions.

An ECT from Apex Company of the 11th Cyber Battalion will deploy to support 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division as part of its mid-October rotation at the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center in Hawaii. That brigade is one of the experimental units for the Army’s so-called “transforming in contact” concept, where more and more units are receiving newer technologies to experiment with. Under that concept, the service plans to use deployments and troop rotations to test new equipment — mainly commercial off-the-shelf gear — that could allow units to be more responsive on a dynamic battlefield. Three capability areas where the Army needs to be faster and more adaptable when it comes to delivering equipment to forces under the concept include: unmanned aerial systems, counter-UAS and electronic warfare.

Each brigade in the Army, as part of its capstone training event to be validated as a fully trained and ready unit, must go through a combat training center rotation in which they are stressed under a simulated battle campaign against an opposing force.

Moreover, in addition to augmenting 2nd Brigade, an ECT from Apex Company will also support the opposing force going against 2nd Brigade — marking the first time two ECTs will square off on opposing sides, according to Army officials.

The ECT supporting 2nd Brigade will focus on conducting electromagnetic reconnaissance of the opposing force in support of the targeting process and supporting the commanders’ scheme of maneuver, while the ECT supporting the opposing force will focus on disrupting 2nd Brigade’s command and control systems, providing the opposing force commander situational awareness in the electromagnetic spectrum, Maj. Shawn Quillen, the operations officer for 11th Cyber Battalion, said in an email.

Personnel from the 11th Cyber Battalion will be integrated at all echelons from division down to the platoon level and work to establish tactics, techniques and procedures for how CEMA cells — staff sections at echelon that include planners to provide targeting options and capabilities to achieve a commander’s objective (just as an artillery planner would offer the commander choices related to their field for a pending operation) — plan and execute CEMA missions with the cyber battalion, a spokesperson from 25th Infantry Division said.

A majority of those tactics and techniques created will come from the platoon level as they are ultimately the eyes and ears for what is happening on the ground, the spokesperson noted, adding there will likely be a slight learning curve for everyone involved, but units are expected to be able to execute with great success.

ECTs have supported more than a dozen combat training center rotations since 2019, Lt. Col. Luis Etienne said in an email. Those teams have served as enablers for conventional and special operations forces for rotating units as well as opposing forces at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, and the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson in Louisiana.

Officials in the past have explained the importance of these events for the ECTs and 11th Cyber Battalion to be able to hone their technical skills while also learning how to support and maneuver with the unit requesting their assistance. Work typically begins 180 days before the combat training center rotation so all parties involved can integrate and build trust prior to being deployed on the ground.

“Engagements like those at Combat Training Centers (CTCs), especially JPMRC, allow the Soldiers of the 11th to refine their tactical and technical skills to operate in realistic austere environments and achieve mission success. The experiences gained from the engagements also informs commanders and senior leaders on how the 11th can and will support their operations,” Maj. Vincent Michel, information advantage cell officer in charge, said in an email.

“These engagements also inform the Cyber Electromatic Activities (CEMA) community across the Army on the best practices and lessons learned so they can transform in contact, and rapidly adapt to the changing operational environment. More importantly, these engagements allow the 11th to focus on warfighting, and honing our craft of delivering CEMA effects in and thru any environment (jungle, desert, urban, etc…). We stand ready to provide Cyber, Electromagnetic Warfare, and Information Advantage capabilities to the Army and Joint Force to enable multi-domain operations anywhere in the world,” he added.

The 11^th Cyber Battalion was initially built out of the Army’s desire to have cyber support and capabilities at the corps and below level. Historically, cyber capabilities were typically held at higher authorities such as at the theater and joint level.

Following a pilot program to test the concept, the Army created the 915th Cyber Warfare Battalion, which evolved into the 11th Cyber Battalion, that was activated in October 2022.

The battalion officially activated the final company in early July.

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Charlie Company — also known as Capybara Company — of the 11^th Cyber Battalion (Leviathans) was activated in a ceremony July 11 at Fort Eisenhower, Georgia. The 11^th Cyber Battalion, which sits beneath the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade under Army Cyber Command, provides tactical, on-the-ground cyber operations (mostly through radio-frequency effects), electronic warfare and information ops.

The Army described the event as “momentous” given all subordinate units are now active.

“This signifies the final phases of our efforts to get to full build and achieve full mission capability. As the Army modernizes its capabilities and force structure to meet the threats and challenges of the future battlefield, Alpha, Bravo, and now, Charlie Company, with the support of HHC (Headquarters and Headquarters Company), stand ready to help the Army and the Joint Force win throughout the conflict continuum,” Lt. Col. Luis Etienne, commander of the 11th Cyber Battalion, said at the ceremony, according to a release.

With the activation of Charlie Company, the 11^th Cyber Battalion has four companies with over 300 personnel total and five established expeditionary cyber and electromagnetic activities teams, according to the Army. These ECTs are designed to augment units upon request and are scalable. They’re expected to maneuver with units, plan tactical operations for commanders and conduct operations on the ground.

In the run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the service sent an ECT forward to Europe to support the Army’s regional theater headquarters, provide subject matter expertise in electronic warfare, information operations, defensive cyber and offensive cyber, and answer questions quickly. They were mostly conducting electronic protection functions, but there were also information ops execution personnel as well as planners.

The vision is to have a total of 12 ECTs by September 2027 — one for each active division in the Army — capable of providing offensive cyber capabilities, EW and information advantage functions.

The 11^th Cyber Battalion was initially built out of the Army’s desire to have cyber support and capabilities at the corps and below level. Historically, cyber capabilities were typically held at higher authorities such as at the theater and joint level.

Following a pilot program to test the concept, the Army created the 915^th Cyber Warfare Battalion, which evolved into the 11^th Cyber Battalion, that was activated in October 2022.

Charlie Company will be unique within the battalion with ECTs providing so-called over-the-horizon, long-range effects and sensing with remote capabilities and infrastructure. The unit will address capability gaps for the Army as well as the joint force, serving as a bridge between the physical battlefield and the cyber mission force that conducts operations on behalf of U.S. Cyber Command, according to the Army.

Such a concept was always envisioned between these more tactically focused units that could provide proximal access for these high-end remote cyber operators and vice versa, especially as doctrine, concepts and authorities have evolved.

Alpha and Bravo companies will continue to focus on filling cyber and electromagnetic capability gaps at corps and below.

“Tactical, operational, or strategic, Leviathans, with the Capybaras now as valued members of the team, stand ready to deliver Cyber and EW combat power to the Army and Joint Force, and enable full-spectrum mission success,” Etienne said. “We are a one-of-a-kind unit in the Army with the best damn Soldiers the Army has to offer. Our Soldiers are smarter. Our Soldiers are faster. Our Soldiers are stronger. And now that we have the Capybaras on our right flank, we are ready to hold the line and enable mission success against any adversary or foe we face.”

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The handover — held in Georgia at Fort Eisenhower, formerly known as Fort Gordon — was for the 11^th Cyber Battalion, which sits beneath the 780^th Military Intelligence Brigade under Army Cyber Command and provides tactical, on-the-ground cyber operations (mostly through radio-frequency effects), electronic warfare and information ops.

Lt. Col. Benjamin Klimkowski, the 11^th’s first-ever commander, passed the reins to Lt. Col. Luis Etienne, Jr. at the event on Wednesday, according to an Army release.

The formation was recently activated last October, born out from the 915th Cyber Warfare Battalion. The official activation signified a growth and maturity from inception of table of distribution and allowances years to a modified table of organization and equipment organization. The former is a unit organized to perform a specific mission in which funds are discontinued as soon as the mission is accomplished, while the latter refers to equipment a unit needs to accomplish its specific doctrinal missions.

The unit consists of several expeditionary cyber and electromagnetic activities teams (ECTs) that are scalable and will maneuver with units, plan tactical operations for commanders and conduct operations on the ground.

In fact, in the run up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Army sent an ECT forward to Europe to support the Army’s regional theater headquarters to provide subject matter expertise in electronic warfare, information operations, defensive cyber and offensive cyber, in order to help them and answer questions quickly. They were mostly conducting electronic protection functions, but there were also information ops execution personnel as well as planners.

There are currently four ECTs — with a fifth planned at the end of September — within the unit and three companies, according to the Army. By September of 2027, there are expected to be 12 ECTs in total.

From Klimkowski’s time as commander of the 11^th and the 915^th before it, he saw the unit grow, build and test concepts and units, working to integrate them into operations with traditional military units as well as the high-end remote operators that conduct cyber ops on behalf of U.S. Cyber Command.

The unit must be highly adaptable and innovative to be able to take signals and targets and turn them into an effect or something actionable on the fly.

“I have mentioned the following sentiment before, as a new organization, defining a new mission set — the burden of innovation can weigh heavy. It is difficult to ask an organization that is operating at full capacity to simultaneously do those things and be innovative about new approaches, and ask that organization to capture those insights for posterity,” Klimkowski said at the ceremony. “Whether it was working with Special Forces groups or other multi-domain partners, time and again, you went the distance to make the Amy more prepared to fight its next war.”

Etienne comes to the unit from Cybercom’s Cyber National Mission Force — the command’s elite cyber warriors tasked with defending the nation from cyber threats and organized into task forces focused on specific actors and nations — having been the deputy commander of Joint Task Force 2, which is focused on China.

Klimkowski is moving on to an NSA fellowship.

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A revised version of Joint Publication 3-12 Cyberspace Operations — published in December 2022 and while unclassified, is only available to those with DoD common access cards, according to a Joint Staff spokesperson — officially provides a definition for “expeditionary cyberspace operations,” which are “[c]yberspace operations that require the deployment of cyberspace forces within the physical domains.”

DefenseScoop has seen a copy of the updated publication.

The last version was published in 2018 and was publicly available. The Joint Staff spokesman noted that five years has been the norm for updates.

The definition, recognition and discussion of such operations are indicative of not only the maturity of cyberspace and associated operations, but the need for more tactical capabilities to get at targets that the current cyber force might not be able to access.

U.S. Cyber Command owns the offensive cyber capabilities within DOD, and the services conduct offensive cyber ops through Cybercom and the cyber mission forces that each service provides to the command. Authorities to launch cyber effects have traditionally been held at the highest levels of government. In recent years, those authorities have been streamlined and delegated. However, most cyber operations are still conducted from remote locations by the cyber mission force (CMF) and primarily focused on IP-based networks.

Many of the services have begun investing in capabilities and forces for their own offensive cyber, however, that is mostly in the blended electronic warfare or radio frequency-enabled sphere at the tactical level.

The updated doctrine recognizes that these capabilities, which will still have to be coordinated centrally, could provide access to targets that remote operators might not be able to get for a variety of reasons.

“Developing access to targets in or through cyberspace follows a process that can often take significant time. In some cases, remote access is not possible or preferable, and close proximity may be required, using expeditionary [cyber operations],” the joint publication states. “Such operations are key to addressing the challenge of closed networks and other systems that are virtually isolated. Expeditionary CO are often more regionally and tactically focused and can include units of the CMF or special operations forces … If direct access to the target is unavailable or undesired, sometimes a similar or partial effect can be created by indirect access using a related target that has higher-order effects on the desired target.”

It also notes that these effects and operations should be coordinated with the intelligence community to deconflict intelligence gain/loss.

Moreover, the updated doctrine recognizes the complexity of cyberspace and how in-demand cyber capabilities might be. Thus, global cyber support might need to “reach-forward” to support multiple combatant commands simultaneously.

“Allowing them to support [combatant commands] in this way permits faster adaptation to rapidly changing needs and allows threats that initially manifest only in one [area of responsibility] to be mitigated globally in near real time. Likewise, while synchronizing CO missions related to achieving [combatant commander] objectives, some cyberspace capabilities that support this activity may need to be forward-deployed; used in multiple AORs simultaneously; or, for speed in time-critical situations, made available via reachback,” it states. “This might involve augmentation or deployment of cyberspace capabilities to forces already forward or require expeditionary CO by deployment of a fully equipped team of personnel and capabilities.”

When it comes to internalizing the new doctrine, the Air Force sees this as additional access points for operations.

“How do we leverage folks that are and forces that are at the tactical edge for access? That’s primarily how I think about the expeditionary capabilities we have … is empowering or enabling the effect they’re trying to create or using their access or position physically, to help enable some of our effects,” Lt. Gen. Kevin Kennedy, commander of 16^th Air Force/Air Forces Cyber, told DefenseScoop at the AFCEA TechNet Cyber conference.

He noted that these access-enabling capabilities could be across the services, but primarily from an Air Force perspective, “I’m looking at looking within the Air Force, from aerial platforms down to ground-based airmen, as well about how we would do that,” he said.

Officials have described how the services are seeking to build their own forces separate from Cybercom.

“There was a lot of language that came out the [National Defense Authorization Act] that talked about force design in general. All the services to one degree or another are really — I’m not going to say rethinking — but evaluating what their contribution to the joint force is, as well as what their own … service-retained cyber teams are,” Chris Cleary, principal cyber advisor for the Department of Navy, told DefenseScoop at the AFCEA conference.

Last year’s NDAA directed the Pentagon to develop a strategy for converged cyber and electronic warfare conducted by deployed military and intelligence assets, specifically for service-retained assets.

As electronic warfare and cyber capabilities are expected to be a big part of the battlefield in 2030 — a key waypoint the Army has been building toward — it recognizes those capabilities can’t be held from remote sanctuary, Maj. Gen. Paul Stanton, commander of the Army Cyber Center of Excellence, told DefenseScoop in an interview on the sidelines of the AFCEA conference.

In fact, the Army’s principal cyber adviser has tasked the Cyber Center of Excellence with clarifying certain authorities and capabilities.

“How do you execute electronic attack to achieve effects? How do you differentiate a cyber-delivered capability that benefits from proximity based on owning the land, owning the ground?Because that’s what the Army does. The principal cyber advisor, Dr. [Michael] Sulmeyer is tasking me with conducting a study to clearly define and delineate where those lines are,” Stanton said. “This study is going to help us be able to clearly define that. I expect to be tasked to kick that off here in the very near future with about 90 days to complete.”

When it comes to service-retained forces and capabilities, the Army has built the 11^th Cyber Battalion, formerly the 915^th Cyber Warfare Battalion, which provides tactical, on-the-ground cyber operations — mostly through radio-frequency effects — electronic warfare and information ops. The unit will help plan tactical operations for commanders and conduct missions in coordination with deployed forces. It consists of several expeditionary cyber and electromagnetic activities (CEMA) teams that are scalable and will maneuver with units and conduct operations on the ground for commanders.

The Navy, meanwhile, is building what it’s calling non-kinetic effects teams, which will augment afloat forces with critical information warfare capabilities. Cleary has previously noted that the service is still working through what cyber ops at sea will look like.

“As we continue to professionalize this, [information warfare commanders within carrier strike groups] will become more and more important as it fully combines all aspects of the information warfare space, the electromagnetic spectrum, command and control of networks, eventually potentially offensive cyber being delivered from sea, information operations campaigns,” Cleary said.

“That job will mature over time, and then the trick is to get the Navy and the Marine Corps to work together because we are back to our roots of being an expeditionary force. Even the Marines through [Commandant] Gen. [David] Berger’s new force design is really about getting the Marines back to being what the Marines were designed to be, which is an expeditionary fighting force that goes to sea with the Navy. We work together to achieve our objectives as a team, and we’re getting back to our blocking [and] tackling them.”

For the Marine Corps’ part, officials have been building Marine Expeditionary Force Information Groups (MIGs), which were created in 2017 and support each MEF within the Corps, integrate electronic warfare with intelligence, communications, military information support operations, space, cyber and communication strategy — all to provide MEF commanders with an information advantage.

The service has also recently established Marine Corps Information Command (MCIC), which was designed to more tightly link the service’s information forces — including cyber, intelligence and space — in theater with the broader joint force across the globe.

Mission elements the Marines have created and sent forward with Marine expeditionary units are “right in line with [Joint Publication] 3-12,” Maj. Gen. Joseph Matos, deputy commander of Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, told DefenseScoop at the AFCEA conference.

“How do we take what we do at the fort, or back at Fort Meade [where Cybercom is headquartered], and be able to extend that out to the services? That’s what we’re in the process of doing right now … We started about two years ago doing that. That capability is starting to mature pretty well,” he said. “It’s to extend Cyber Command out to those forward units.”

Matos said the recently created MCIC will act as the integrator for a lot of these capabilities throughout the force, acting as a bridge of sorts.

The organization will help tactical forces understand the authorities and capabilities that cyber can provide to help them conduct their missions.

“You kind of hit a glass ceiling of the capability [of] the lower elements being able to reach out and do cyberspace operations,” Matos said of the process prior to establishing that entity. “We’re able to say, OK, here’s a team, trained, capable,’ understand the capabilities that we can bring, give them to the deployed forces to say, ‘OK, you want to do cyber operations, here’s how we can help you do that.’ We know who to talk to, the authorities and so on so forth, and we can do that. I think it’s right in line with what the [Joint Publication] 3-12 is trying to do.”

That command essentially acts as the glue between the high-end cyber forces and the tactical elements, bridging the gap between Cybercom forces and the deployed forces.

“The genesis of the Marine Corps Information Command to tie all these elements together is to address that concern, is to be that integration point between the forces below the tactical edge who have these requirements to operate in a rapidly changing environment. But also tie that to the Marine Corps Information Command knows who to talk to at Cyber Command, or at NSA, or at Space Command. To be able to be that touchpoint between the two organizations so you don’t have to have an infantry battalion going all the way to” a combatant command, Matos said during a presentation at the AFCEA conference.

“I think as we operate in this rapidly changing cyberspace world, that Marine Corps Information Command’s going to be a tremendous benefit to the [Marine Air Ground Task Force], but also to the joint world and the intelligence and cyber world,” he added.

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These organizations are envisioned to be aligned to theater Armies and coordinate with other theater-level organizations such as the Multi-Domain Task Force and Expeditionary Cyber Teams, according to an Army spokesperson.

These expeditionary cyber teams, part of the 11th Cyber Battalion, are scalable and will maneuver with units and conduct operations on the ground for commanders. The Army anticipates a total of 12 teams by 2026 that will help plan tactical cyber operations for commanders and conduct missions in coordination with deployed forces.

The Army in October formally approved its new warfighting doctrine for multi-domain operations, which directs the service to combine and integrate land, air, maritime, space and cyber in all facets of operations.

Similarly, the force has been on a multi-year path to develop doctrine for what it calls information advantage with the ultimate goal of providing commanders decision dominance to better sense, understand, decide and act faster.

All the services have done some level of reorganization under the banner of information warfare, with information advantage being the Army’s approach. Information has become a more prominent aspect of modern military operations. Adversaries have attempted to exploit the information environment on a daily basis short of actual conflict, in what many experts refer to as the “gray zone.”

As such, the Defense Department has sought to play catch up as many aspects of its information warfare prowess atrophied after the Cold War and during the 20-plus years of counterinsurgency operations against a technologically inferior and less resourced adversary.

Army officials have begun incorporating the core tenets of information advantage during operations as a means to test it out and tweak it as they go. The concept outlines five core tasks, which include enabling decision-making, protecting friendly information, informing and educating domestic audiences, informing and influencing international audiences, and conducting information attacks.

The Army is planning to implement the TIAD detachments over the next few years, according to a spokesperson, and it is assessing requirements for detachments in select Army Service Component Commands for 2030. It is awaiting force structure approval from the Army.

Key skillsets within the detachments include cyberspace and electronic warfare operations, civil affairs operations, psychological operations, information operations, military deception, operations security and public affairs.  

Officials have also stated that the Army is working with other similar organizations across the military such as the Navy’s Fleet Information Warfare Command and the Marine Corp’s Marine Expeditionary Force Information Groups to ensure effects are synchronized across the joint force.

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Previously known as the 915^th Cyber Warfare Battalion, the unit, which belongs to Army Cyber Command, provides tactical, on-the-ground cyber operations — mostly through radio-frequency effects — electronic warfare and information operations. The unit will help plan tactical operations for commanders and conduct missions in coordination with deployed forces. It consists of several expeditionary cyber and electromagnetic activities (CEMA) teams that are scalable and will maneuver with units and conduct operations on the ground for commanders.

The activation ceremony signifies the unit’s growth from its inception of table of distribution and allowances years to a modified table of organization and equipment organization. The former is a unit organized to perform a specific mission in which funds are discontinued as soon as the mission is accomplished while the latter refers to equipment a unit needs to accomplish its specific doctrinal mission.

The unit came out of a pilot effort years ago to test how the Army could integrate tactical cyber and electronic warfare effects for brigades on the ground without having to rely upon the remote, strategic resources of U.S. Cyber Command, which are not only in high demand but, at the time of the pilot, limited in authorities to conduct operations.

“We have come a long way from our initial CSC-B [pilot] engagements and Combat Training Center rotations. We educated Army leaders on what cyber can bring to the fight, but we also learned what the Army needs. We did not have all of the answers and every engagement has been crucial to our battalion’s growth and development. We can thank our leaders and soldiers for their contributions for the better part of a decade that have helped shape what the 11th Cyber Battalion has become,” 11^th Command Sgt. Maj. Marlene Harshman said.

The 915^th previously never received battalion colors or a distinctive unit insignia. With the activation of the 11^th, the unit now has both.

“The transition reflects Army Cyber’s recognition of the Expeditionary CEMA Team as a permanent part of Army forces and an essential part of future land operations — the need for CEMA Soldiers is increasing,” said Lt. Col. Benjamin Klimkowski, commander of the 11^th. “The most important thing to recognize about the transition is what is not changing; while parts of our structure are now more stable and doctrinally grounded, 11th Cyber Battalion will remain adaptive, innovative, and aggressive about supporting the needs of the warfighter.”

As the world and adversaries adapt, the Army is looking to change in kind.

“The Army will adapt with world requirements, this is one of those necessary changes. We owe the people of the United States a cyber force that will help answer the requirements for commanders at all echelons. We will be a force multiplier to Army Cyber Command and an asset to the Army Service Component Commands,” Harshman said.

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