Letter to Lieutenant General Kadavy - Supporting National Guard Cyber Battalion for Indianapolis

Letter

Dear Lieutenant General Kadavy:

We write to express our strong support for the Indiana National Guard's proposal to station a cyber battalion in Indiana under the Army National Guard Cyber Brigade's Concept Plan. The Indiana National Guard is ideally suited to host a cyber battalion.

The Indiana National Guard combines a large Army Guard contingent, key units, and optimal facilities. The Indiana National Guard boasts the fourth largest Army National Guard contingent in the nation, as well as signal and military intelligence units with deep cyber expertise. In addition, the Indiana National Guard owns a 12,000 square foot sensitive compartmented information facility at the Indiana Intelligence Center in Indianapolis. This facility includes over 200 seats-more than enough to support the cyber headquarters battalion.

This distinctive combination of cyber-related assets enables the Indiana National Guard to provide uniquely skilled and valuable support to Army Cyber Command. In fact, more than a dozen members of the Indiana National Guard currently serve at Fort Meade as part of Task Force Echo-conducting cutting-edge strategic cyber missions in direct support of our deployed warfighters.

Adding to these advantages of the Indiana National Guard, a cyber battalion headquartered in the Indianapolis metropolitan area would also benefit from proximity to key academic institutions, a premier Department of Defense laboratory, and a cutting-edge training complex. The Purdue University Cyber Center and Indiana University Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research provide valuable research and support. Nearby Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane is home to leading national experts on cyber security and hardware assurance. The Indiana National Guard's Muscatatuck Urban Training Complex (MUTC) boasts the Department of Defense's only live, full-scale cyber range.

For these reasons, we encourage you to consider the merits of the Indiana National Guard's proposal to station a cyber battalion in Indiana. We fully support their proposal.

Please do not hesitate to let us know if we can be helpful. Thank you for your distinguished service to our country.