Senate confirms new Army cyber warfare unit leader

Maj. Gen. Stephen Fogarty has been selected to lead the U.S. Army’s cyber warfare unit, replacing soon-to-be director of the National Security Agency, Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone. 

Fogarty’s nomination was quietly confirmed by the Senate late last week, before lawmakers left for a weeklong recess. A Senate Armed Services Committee staffer and a spokesman for Army Cyber Command both confirmed the development.

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Fogarty has served at Fort Meade, Md., as chief of staff at U.S. Cyber Command, the Pentagon’s chief cyber warfighting unit, since June 2016. Before that, Fogarty was the commanding general at the Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon in Georgia.

Army Cyber Command, which is headquartered at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, is a service component supporting U.S. Cyber Command. Past commanders of the Army’s cyber warfighting unit have also led Joint Task Force Ares, a unit that conducts cyber operations against computer networks used by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Fogarty will take over at Army Cyber Command for Nakasone, who President Trump successfully tapped to lead the NSA and Cyber Command. When he assumes his new role Friday, Nakasone will lead both entities while the administration studies whether and when to separate them.

Nakasone, who will take over for Adm. Mike Rogers, was confirmed easily in late April. A career military intelligence officer, Nakasone has been widely cheered by current and former officials for his experience and abilities.