Army Network Enterprise Technology Command

Army Network Enterprise Technology Command
NETCOM/9th SC(A) Distinctive Unit Insignia
Active	1 October 2002–current
Country	United States of America
Type	Signal Command
Garrison/HQ	Fort Huachuca, Arizona
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Jennifer L. Napper[1]

Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM) is a subordinate command under the Army Cyber Command. Its mission is operating and defending United States Army computer networks. The numerical command for NETCOM is 9th Army Signal Command. Its heritage can be traced back to the creation of the 9th Service Company in 1918. The command headquarters is at Fort Huachuca in Arizona. The current commander is Major General Jennifer L. Napper.

Mission

NETCOM/9th SC(A) plans, engineers, installs, integrates, protects and operates Army Cyberspace, enabling Mission Command through all phases of Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental and Multinational operations. Additionally, the commanding general is designated as the Deputy Commanding General for Network Operations, U.S. Army Cyber Command/2d U.S. Army. With the headquarters at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, the NETCOM/9th SC (A) Team has nearly 16,000 Soldiers, Department of the Army Civilians and Contractors stationed and deployed around the world, providing direct and indirect support to Army, Joint and Coalition forces.

Commands and activities

Theater

• 5th Signal Command (Europe)
  • 2nd Signal Brigade (Mannheim, Germany)
  • 7th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade (Schweinfurt, Germany)
• 7th Signal Command (Theater) (Continental United States)
  • 35th Signal Brigade (Fort Gordon, Georgia)
  • 93rd Signal Brigade (Fort Eustis, Virginia)
  • 106th Signal Brigade (Fort Sam Houston, Texas)
• 311th Signal Command (Theater) (Pacific)
  • 516th Signal Brigade (Fort Shafter, Hawaii)
  • 1st Signal Brigade (Seoul, South Korea)
• 335th Signal Command (Middle East)
  • 160th Signal Brigade (Camp Arifjan, Kuwait)

Contingency and homeland

• 21st Signal Brigade (Fort Detrick, Maryland)

Activities

• US Army Signal Activity-Intelligence and Security Command (Fort Belvoir, Virginia)

History

U.S. Army Strategic Communications Command

On 1 March 1964, the Army activated U.S. Army Strategic Communications Command (referred to as STRATCOM) to exercise full command and control over worldwide strategic communications.

STRATCOM established the 1st Signal Brigade to exercise command and control over all Army communications-electronics resources in Southeast Asia. Scattered among 200 sites in Vietnam and Thailand, this brigade became the largest combat signal unit ever formed. STRATCOM leaders moved to modify the command’s designation to better suit its changing mission by dropping “strategic” from its organizational title. On 1 Oct. 1973, the Army re-designated STRATCOM as the U.S. Army Communications Command (USACC).

U.S. Army Communications Command

During the early 1980s, Army automation focused on the development of hardware and software systems. These systems were used for force development, personnel, supply, payroll, medical, maintenance, and troop support. Due to the scale of the work, the Army empowered USACC to lead development of strategic concepts for information systems management. USACC recommendations, combined with an Army Chief of Staff vision of consolidated information disciplines, gave genesis to the U.S. Army Information Systems Command (USAISC), the newest iteration of Fort Huachuca’s strategic communications organization, on 1 May 1984.

U.S. Army Information Systems Command

Post Desert Storm Army downsizing and organizational review focused a critical eye on command structure. A general perception in the 1990s among major commands (MACOM) and theater commanders held that USAISC central management deprived them of needed command and control over regional and theater information systems, computer system acquisitions, and signal assets. The Department of the Army agreed and moved to dismantle USAISC, relegating the organization to major subordinate command status under U.S. Army Forces Command, and re-designating it as U.S. Army Signal Command (USASC) in September 1996.

U.S. Army Signal Command

Army MACOMs and theater commanders worked independently to resource their own Information System requirements. This decentralization and deregulation led to a proliferation of non-standardized command, control, communications, and computer (C4) systems and an unacceptable level of incompatibility among Army-wide communications equipment and support networks.

The department of the Army on 1 Oct. 2002, decided to again centralize service C4 and many aspects of information systems management and security under one Army command: the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command/9th Signal Command (Army) (NETCOM/9th SC (A)), reporting directly to the Army’s Chief Information Officer (CIO/G-6).

See also

• 9th Army Signal Command (United States)
• U.S. Army Cyber Command
• U. S. Army Signal Corps
• U.S. Cyber Command

References

External links

• NETCOM Home page
• Headquarters and Headquarters Company 9th Signal Command Lineage
• The short film STAFF FILM REPORT 66-19A (1966) is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]