In December 2013, it was announced that the U.S. Army Cyber Command would move to Fort Gordon in 2018 and that Fort Gordon would be designated the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence (COE). Thus, the number of Fort Gordon employees is expected to increase from 24,000 to over 28,000 the next five years.
Using military models, 4,700 new military and government civilian employees equates to community growth of about 14,000 when spouses and children are included. About one third of the new employees will be government civilians and contractors. As there is no additional on post family housing planned, the majority of these new employees will live in the community. In addition to this growth, being designated the Cyber COE will attract a large number of defense contractors in the cyber security business because this will be the heart of the Army’s cyber security development and management efforts.
Utilizing the talents, skills, technology, and acumen of education and community partners including Aiken Technical College, the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce, Augusta Technical College, the CSRA Alliance, the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, the Columbia County School System, Fort Gordon, Georgia Regents University, and the Richmond County School System, ACE has been founded to facilitate the creation of a cohesive, unified, community-based cyber-security niche. This consortium will raise the effective value of the 6-12 educational system and its integration into post-secondary education. This will increase area students’ capabilities, generate an employable workforce for the U.S. military as well as the defense industry, and, in turn, position GRU and the CSRA as a resource and partner to the NSA/Cyber COE/Ft. Gordon in cyber security expertise.