FORT GEORGE G. MEADE

OVERVIEW

Fort George G. Meade is a U.S. Army installation in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., that today serves as the joint home of the U.S. cryptologic, cyber, and signals-intelligence enterprise. Although the base is administered by the Army's Installation Management Command, the population on Fort Meade is overwhelmingly joint and civilian: roughly 60,000 military members, federal civilians, and contractors flow on and off the installation daily, supporting more than 100 tenant organizations from every armed service and several Defense Department agencies.

The flagship tenants are the National Security Agency (NSA), which has been headquartered on the base since 1957, and U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), the unified combatant command established in 2010 and elevated to full combatant-command status in 2018. The Navy's principal Fort Meade footprint is U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / U.S. Tenth Fleet, the Navy service component to USCYBERCOM that is responsible for Navy cryptologic, signals-intelligence, electronic-warfare, and cyberspace operations worldwide. Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Maryland is co-located with NSA, and the Defense Information School (DINFOS) at Fort Meade is the joint training schoolhouse for all U.S. military Public Affairs Officers and Mass Communication Specialists.

KEY FACTS

• TypeArmy installation hosting joint cryptologic, cyber, and intelligence enterprise
• Host ServiceU.S. Army (Installation Management Command)
• NSA HeadquartersHome of the National Security Agency since 1957
• CYBERCOMHeadquarters of U.S. Cyber Command, established 2010
• Navy PresenceU.S. Fleet Cyber Command / Tenth Fleet headquartered on base

HISTORY

Fort Meade was established in 1917 as Camp Meade, a World War I Army training cantonment that prepared more than 100,000 soldiers for service in France. It was named in honor of Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, the Union commander at the Battle of Gettysburg. Between the world wars the post served as a permanent Army facility and a tank training center where a young Dwight D. Eisenhower was stationed in the 1920s. During World War II it again became a major mobilization and training center, and in the postwar period transitioned to administrative and intelligence missions.

The base's modern identity took shape in 1957, when the National Security Agency relocated its operations to Fort Meade from Arlington Hall, consolidating the U.S. signals-intelligence and cryptologic mission on the installation. Over the following decades the NSA campus grew into one of the largest concentrations of mathematicians, linguists, computer scientists, and intelligence analysts in the world. In 2010 the Department of Defense established U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade, co-located with NSA and dual-hatted under the same commander, formally fusing the cryptologic and cyberspace operations missions. USCYBERCOM was elevated to a unified combatant command in 2018. The Navy's role at Fort Meade has grown alongside, with U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / U.S. Tenth Fleet serving as the Navy service component to USCYBERCOM.

MAJOR COMMANDS & TENANT UNITS

• National Security Agency (NSA)
• U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM)
• Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)
• U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / U.S. Tenth Fleet
• Navy Information Operations Command Maryland
• Defense Information School (DINFOS)
• 704th Military Intelligence Brigade (Army)

LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY

NOTABLE EVENTS

1. 1917
   Camp Meade Established

   Established as a World War I Army training cantonment named for Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, the Union victor at Gettysburg.
2. 1957
   NSA Moves In

   The National Security Agency consolidated at Fort Meade, making the base the center of U.S. signals-intelligence operations.
3. 2010
   U.S. Cyber Command Stands Up

   USCYBERCOM established at Fort Meade, co-located with NSA and integrating cryptologic and cyber operations.
4. 2018
   CYBERCOM Elevated

   U.S. Cyber Command elevated to a unified combatant command.

NEARBY BASES

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

SOURCES

• Wikipedia: Fort George G. Meade
• Fort Meade Official Site
• U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / U.S. Tenth Fleet