Fort George G. Meade: The First 100 Years

Second Army and Fort Meade
CYBERSPACE AND THE FUTURE
291
In June 1947, Second Army, a training Army, moved its
headquarters from Baltimore, Maryland, to Fort George
G. Meade, Maryland. Second Army encompassed the
seven states of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, and also
included the District of Columbia.
On Jan. 1, 1957, the Army redesignated Second
Army as Second United States Army, one of six Zone
of Interior Armies of the United States. Second U. S.
Army supported multi-purpose missions of command,
operations, training and provisions of administrative and
logistical services to ensure the continued operational
readiness of its assigned combat and support units in the
Active Army, Army Reserve and National Guard.
At the height of the Cold War, Second U.S. Army
helped mobilize forces for potential conflict. During
the September 1961 Berlin Crisis, Second U.S. Army
mobilized 39 National Guard and Army Reserve units
in the seven-state area and eight Army Reserve units
from other Army areas. During the October 1962 Cuban
Missile Crisis, Second U.S. Army deployed 41 units, which
comprised more than 5,700 military personnel.
Reorganizations within the Army led to Second U.S.
Army’s inactivation in 1966. On Jan. 1, 1966, First and
Second U.S. Armies merged, resulting in the inactivation
of Second U.S. Army at Fort Meade.
Second U. S. Army became affiliated with U.S. Army
Cyber Command in 2010. The Army assigned the lineage
and honors of the inactive Second U.S. Army, which
had been temporarily active from 1983 to 1995, to U.S.
Army Cyber Command upon its activation on Oct. 1,
2010. The new command had its headquarters at Fort
Belvoir and some support staff at Fort Meade. On Mar.
6, 2014, Headquarters, Department of the Army General
Orders No. 2014-02, activated a new unit designated
Second Army as a Direct Reporting Unit of the Chief
Information Officer/G-6, HQDA, with the Commander,
U.S. Army Cyber Command as the Commander, Second
Army. The General Orders also reassigned Second
Army’s lineage and honors to the new unit. The U.S.
Army Network Enterprise Technology Command,
By Dr. Lawrence M. Kaplan
formerly a DRU of the Chief Information Officer/G-6,
HQDA, which supported ARCYBER’s mission, was
assigned to Second. The resulting command and control
arrangement, designating the Commander, U.S. Army
Cyber Command, also as the Commander, Second Army,
optimized the Army’s force structure to better support
Army Cyber Command’s mission. When ARCYBER
became an Army Service Component Command to U.S.
Strategic Command in July 2016, the Army reassessed
NETCOM’s command and control relationship with
ARCYBER and Second Army. On Jan. 18, 2017, to
improve Army readiness and achieve unity of command,
the Army discontinued Second Army, reassigned
NETCOM to ARCYBER and returned Second Army’s
lineage and honors to ARCYBER.
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(Pg. 289) U.S. Cyber Command soldiers use the latest weapons in
the U.S. arsenal.
(Left) Second Army live fire exercise at Fort Meade, 1950.
(Below left) Second Army Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, (Below right)
Second Army Distinctive Unit Insignia.