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Army Cyber Partners With Unified Land Operations
by U.S. Army Spc. Joseph Knoch
January 24, 2020
On his first rotation as an active duty Soldier, 2nd Lt. Shane
Neal, an Offensive Cyber Operations Planner (OCO Planner), with the
Expeditionary Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) Team
(ECT), 915th Cyber Warfare Support Battalion, is eagerly engaged in
the U.S. Army’s recent applications of cyber warfare technologies
during Saber Junction 2019 (SJ19), Sept. 3-30, 2019, Grafenwoehr and
Hohenfels Training Areas, Germany.
As one of the nearly
5,400 participants from 16 ally and partner nations who have
gathered together to participate in SJ19, Neal is working alongside
many U.S. Army commanders to plan and organize the integration of
cyber warfare strategies and tactics.
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September 12, 2019 -
2nd Lt. Shane Neal, and Cpt. Douglas Gain, officers with the
Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities Team, discuss their
plans during Exercise Saber Junction 2019 (SJ19) at the
Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany. SJ19 is an exercise
involving nearly 5,400 participants from 16 ally and partner
nations at the U.S. Army’s Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels
Training Areas, Sept. 3 to 30 Sept. 2019. SJ19 is designed
to assess the readiness of the U.S. Army’s 173rd Infantry
Airborne Brigade to execute land operations in a joint,
combined environment and to promote interoperability with
participating allies and partner nations. (U.S. Army photo
by Spc. Joseph Knoch)
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“As an ECT OCO planner, I’m part of the cyber planning cell,
which has been integrated with a brigade plans team,” Neal said.
“Our mission is to aid in the strategic assignment of CEMA
technologies to battlefield operations here at Saber Junction 2019.”
A Brighton, Michigan, native, Neal attended Michigan State
University where he first learned about cyber operations and the
opportunities to work in the U.S. Army as a Cyber and Electronic
Warfare Officer.
“I went through ROTC... while I earned my
bachelors in Mechanical Engineering,” Neal said. “After graduation,
I wanted to take the opportunity to serve as an active duty officer.
Being an engineer, a big part of my choice to pursue becoming a 17A,
Cyber Operations Officer, was my interest in the strategic and
tactical operations of CEMA technologies.”
After graduating
from occupational training in May of 2019, Neal was stationed in
Fort Gordon, Georgia, where he joined the newly formed 915th Cyber
Warfare Support Battalion.
“CEMA and unified land operations
are in the process of being merged within the Army. Being a part of
the 915th CWSB is a really great opportunity to be on the frontline
of this merger.” Neal said. “When I found out that I was selected
amongst other candidates to be a part of the 915th CSWB, I knew I
had a unique opportunity.”
As the CEMA officer in charge for
the 173rd Airborne Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Cpt. Douglas Gain’s
role in SJ19 is to advise commanders of the new realities of what
cyber brings to the battlefield.
“Working directly with Neal is giving me an
opportunity to really set the example for a young man who represents
the future of CEMA officers, said Gain. “I don’t think there is any
better way to prepare someone for this job, other than being in an
exercise like Saber Junction 2019”
Though cyber has a broad field
of application within warfare, Neal states that his role during SJ19
is focused on the planning of offensive strategies.
“With
offensive cyber you can degrade the enemy's ability to organize
their mission command systems and communicate, along with other
forms of strategic and tactical degradation of the enemy’s
capabilities.” Said Cpt. Michael T. Belina, Brigade Signal Company
Commander, 173rd Airborne IBCT, 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion
(Airborne).
A signal planner for SJ19, Belina stresses the
exercise provides new cyber officers like Neal, the opportunity to
see how maneuver elements can benefit from the services that CEMA
provides.
“Having a direct connection to the planning
process and it’s real time effect on the ground forces provides a
valuable understanding.” Belina said.
Neal agreed that this
experience is proving to be a valuable one saying that many people
tend to see cyber operations as a bunch of guys sitting in a dark
room behind computer screens.
“We are tactically integrating
cyber operators of four to six man teams with various units on the
front line.” Neal said. “That’s a big deal because they are equipped
to use cyber tools that are designed to disrupt, degrade, deny,
destroy, and manipulate the enemy combatants electronic operations
and electrically controlled kinetic weapons systems. This is the
future of warfare.”
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