{"id":20939,"date":"2018-09-06T19:24:49","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T19:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/06\/the-surprising-test-ground-for-dod-information-operations\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T14:18:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:18:38","slug":"the-surprising-test-ground-for-dod-information-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/it-networks\/2018\/09\/06\/the-surprising-test-ground-for-dod-information-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"The surprising test ground for DoD information operations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Defense\u2019s cyber community has found an unexpected proving ground to cut its teeth on operations: the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, speaking to Fifth Domain Aug. 21 in an interview at TechNet Augusta, said cyber operators in the Middle East have worked \u201cat a higher tempo than other commands” and in the process have developed \u201cproficiencies.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyber operations globally have ramped up in recent years. Fogarty, the head of Army Cyber Command, told reporters at a media roundtable in early August that the force has operated in the last 24 months at a level that far surpasses previous efforts, offensively and defensively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central Command, the primary military combatant command that oversees operations in the Middle East and spans from Egypt to Pakistan, has seen the highest intensity of conflict in the last 15-plus years with both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and most recently operations to beat back the Islamic State group from its territorial gains in Iraq and Syria. Fogarty, most recently chief of staff at Cyber Command, now leads Joint Task Force-Ares, the cyber offensive effort against ISIS ground operations in that region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These fast-moving operations have provided an unprecedented learning laboratory for U.S. Cyber Command and Army Cyber Command through its Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber. The Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber provide cyber effects to combatant commands they\u2019re assigned to. Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber Army is assigned to CENTCOM, Africa Command and Northern Command. While it is led by the head of Army Cyber Command, and made up of mostly Army cyber teams, it includes cyber teams from other services.<\/p>\n\n\n\t