FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MD – Mr. Brandon Pugh, the U.S. Army’s Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary of the Army, visited the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber) on August 6. The brigade is the Army’s sole offensive cyber operations unit, playing a pivotal role in national defense and cyber warfare.
The visit followed Mr. Pugh’s three-day trip to U.S. Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) headquarters at Fort Gordon, Georgia, where he received briefings and engaged directly with ARCYBER’s top talent.
“The 780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber) is on the frontline of defending our nation and conducting cyber operations,” said Brandon Pugh, the Army’s Principal Cyber Advisor. “The brigade is an invaluable component of the United States’ cyber enterprise. My visit to the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber) was an extraordinary opportunity to meet Soldiers conducting these important cyber operations and to see its unique capabilities firsthand.”
During his time in Georgia, Mr. Pugh met with capability developers from the 11th Cyber Battalion, who showcased innovative, in-house engineered devices tailored to meet the operational needs of expeditionary cyber teams. He also interacted with Soldiers from the 782nd Military Intelligence Battalion (Cyber), who support Cyber Joint Force Headquarters (JFHQ-C) for the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.
The 780th MI BDE (Cyber) is geographically dispersed across four states. The brigade headquarters, the 781st MI Battalion (Cyber), and the Operations Support Element (OSE), are based at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland; the 11th CY Battalion and 782d MI Battalion (Cyber) are headquartered at Fort Gordon, Georgia; and the 782d has operational detachments in Hawaii and Texas.
According to the Brigade commanding officer, Col. Candy Boparai, the 780th MI BDE (Cyber) is a critical enabler of ARCYBER and U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), delivering unique, multi-domain capabilities to sense, understand, and deliver effects in the information environment.
“The 780th MI Brigade (Cyber) directly supports USCYBERCOM’s core missions: defending the Nation and conducting cyber operations to achieve Combatant Command objectives,” said Boparai. “We operate as a key component of the Army’s Cyber Mission Force (CMF), specifically providing National Mission Teams, National Support Teams, Combat Mission Teams, and Combat Support Teams, and Capability Solutions Developers.”
According to Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph Daniel, the brigade’s senior enlisted leader, “As the Army’s only offensive cyber force, the 780th provides unique capabilities to sense, understand, and deliver tactical, operational and strategic cyber effects globally to achieve Combatant Command objectives.”
Daniel remarked that the brigade supports Joint Force efforts, leveraging their more than 2,100 personnel to address cyber challenges worldwide; and the brigade’s cyber teams, 11th CY BN Expeditionary CEMA (cyberspace electromagnetic activities) Teams (ECTs), and developers are all actively involved in regular cyber operations, collaborating with USCYBERCOM, Army electronic warfare units, and other partners.
In addition to receiving briefings, Mr. Pugh was able to see a live operation in the brigade’s Joint Mission Operations Center and view an Army Continuous Transformation drone demonstration by the OSE Cyber Solutions Development team.
As part of the Principal Cyber Advisor’s briefing, the brigade discussed the training requirements to achieve and maintain mastery in a Cyber Soldier’s assignment. These requirements are executed at the brigade, following their training at the U.S. Army Cyber School. The additional training can range from several months to more than a year and continues as the Soldiers progress.
“The Army’s most significant inputs into cyber readiness are presenting high quality personnel and providing the supporting talent management policies to sustain them in Cyber Mission Force long enough to achieve and maintain mastery in their skillsets,” said Boparai. “We are the only U.S. Army offensive cyber operations brigade and our focus as the administrative command headquarters is to man, train, equip, assess and enable the Army CMF and CEMA teams in accordance with published USCYBERCOM and ARCYBER standards.”
The 780th MI Brigade (Cyber) motto is inscribed on the organization’s Distinctive Unit Insignia “Ubique Et Semper In Pugna.” Latin for “Everywhere and always fighting,” we don’t specifically talk about what we do nor who we are in a cyber ‘knife fight’ with; however, we are “Everywhere and Always…In the Fight!”
Story by Steven Stover
780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber)
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