Echoes of Influence: Saying Farewell to 1st IO | Article

By Maj. Ally Raposa, 1st IO Command

The story of the first Data Operations Command is a testomony to how innovation in warfare usually begins quietly – drawn out on butcher boards in briefing rooms and SCIFs (Delicate Compartmented Data Facility) – by individuals who see what others don’t but acknowledge.

From the sands of Iraq to the digital battlefields of at this time, its members helped pioneer Military Data Benefit.

The thought started as an INSCOM (U.S. Military Intelligence and Safety Command) idea; an intangible type of warfare that would decide a battle’s final result. From that imaginative and prescient emerged the Military’s solely active-duty info operations unit: the first Data Operations Command (Land), or 1st IO. Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the unit spent three many years deploying groups, offering reach-back help, conducting crimson workforce cyber risk assessments, and delivering IO coaching.

Tracing its lineage to the Land Data Warfare Exercise (LIWA), activated Could 8, 1995, 1st IO was formally established on October 28, 2002.

This story goes past organizational charts and pressure construction realignment. It’s in regards to the individuals who made it matter and a legacy that informs and empowers the subsequent era of data warriors.

Thirty years—to the day—after LIWA’s founding, 1st IO Command cased its colours on Could 8, 2025. Its legacy set to be carried ahead by Military info benefit forces and nascent Theater Data Benefit Detachments (TIADs). 1st IO deployed worldwide, embedded in joint and Military instructions, coaching 1000’s and enabling instructions to attain an info benefit.

The unit’s heraldry captures a worldwide mission: the inexperienced circle symbolizes land operations worldwide; black and white denote 24/7 vigilance; the lightning bolt and sword symbolize speedy response and pressure safety. 1st Battalion (Custodia Indicium Ausum – Safety, Data, Exploitation) includes a chess piece, dragon, and knight’s helm for psychological operations, info warfare, and area protection; whereas 2nd Battalion (Indicium Dominatus – Data Dominance) showcases a defend, lightning, and stars for community protection, agility, and international attain.

Till April 2025, the command maintained a sustained international presence, supporting a number of combatant instructions in contested environments. Former and present members recounted tales of innovation beneath stress and institutional depth. Lt. Col. Paul Hill, who led a deployed IO Area Assist Staff, offering help to Operation Atlantic Resolve, highlighted the demand for IO capabilities.

“Data operations groups need to be versatile, educated throughout a variety of capabilities, and in a position to make an influence as quickly as we hit the bottom,” Hill stated. “Our potential to grasp the setting, combine capabilities from throughout the joint pressure, and ship an impact larger than the sum of its elements is important. The necessity for this functionality will solely develop because the operational setting turns into extra advanced.”

1st IO tailored to the altering battle and proved that affect, entry, and notion can matter as a lot as firepower. Maj. Blake Fitzgerald was assigned to 1st IO from 2022 via its inactivation in 2025 and led the ultimate deployed Area Assist Staff.

“My FST deployment to Qatar, in early 2025 stands out most. It’s the teammates that made it unforgettable – shared challenges, shared accountability, and a transparent sense of influence. It was the perfect of three missions I led with the command,” stated Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald additionally contributed to the Military’s early implementation of the Theater Data Benefit Detachment mannequin, gaining firsthand perception into the Military’s marketing campaign of studying.

“These experiences allowed me to see the total arc of data benefit; from its legacy in 1st IO to its future beneath ARCYBER (U.S. Military Cyber Command),” remarked Fitzgerald.

“The expertise right here went again to Bosnia within the Nineteen Nineties. That sort of depth gave me readability on how far we’ve come and confidence in the place we’re going,” Fitzgerald added.

Others mirrored on the mindset and institutional depth that made the command distinct.

Retired Col. Tammy Heath, who served in 1994 throughout LIWA and into the transition to 1st IO throughout its stand-up from 2003 to 2006, described these adolescence as a uncommon privilege.

“We weren’t higher than anybody else, we simply had extra publicity,” stated Heath. “We acquired to eat and breathe IO daily, sitting in what felt just like the IO capital of the world on the time.”

Heath recalled studying instantly from leaders “constructing the airplane in flight,” serving to form a era of IO professionals educated in concentrating on, deception, and affect.

Lt. Col. Chris Telley, commander of 1st IO’s 1st Battalion, famous in his inactivation speech that “no different formation was as geared up to coach, certify, and deploy groups able to delivering full-spectrum info benefit.”

Retired Maj. Gen. John Davis, who commanded 1st IO in 2006, echoed that delight when he spoke on the unit’s ultimate eating out, reflecting on its enduring influence. He emphasised the “sacred obligation to be ready” for contemporary warfare, the place success calls for the convergence of “bullets, bombs, bits, and bytes.” Davis credited 1st IO with remodeling army operations by embedding IO into the broader battle and shifting operational paradigms throughout the joint pressure.

“Warfare is evolutionary and mutable,” stated Davis. “Adversaries have spent many years studying from us, exploiting results beneath the edge of armed battle.”

In at this time’s digital age, the place momentum is constructed via delicate, persistent results, Davis credited 1st IO’s 30-year legacy for laying the inspiration of data warfare at each stage: tactical, operational, and strategic, whereas offering vital help throughout the Military, joint forces, and Joint Particular Operations Command.

Lt. Col. Telley emphasised that whereas the story of the primary IO battalion is outstanding, its destiny follows a well-known trajectory.

Within the wake of World Conflict II, the U.S. divested key capabilities just like the Workplace of Strategic Providers, Workplace of Conflict Data and the twenty third Headquarters Particular Troops. These capabilities unconventional missions went largely unrecognized on the time, but their pioneering ethos by no means really vanished. They resurfaced many years later because the bedrock of recent info and affect operations wanted to counter dynamic threats. 1st IO’s lineage traces on to those self same innovators; the twenty third Headquarters Particular Troops and the 3133rd Sign Firm Particular, the famed “Ghost Military,” whose cartoonists, architects and newspapermen introduced skills properly exterior the usual Soldier’s playbook.

Strategic competitors at this time calls for the identical inventive agility that after fueled the reconstitution of U.S. capabilities after World Conflict II. The legacy of 1st IO Command lies in its institutional information and its potential to optimize an never-ending panoply of unconventional expertise, very similar to these previous models. What 1st IO constructed will likely be recalibrated, refined, and reemployed, able to adapt, ship, and decisively contribute to the subsequent battle.

Lengthy earlier than “cyber” entered the Military’s lexicon, LIWA and later 1st IO formed our on-line world operations.

2nd Battalion, 1st IO, held its inactivation ceremony in December 2024. its core mission, executing multifunctional crimson workforce our on-line world assessments remained very important. Lt. Col. Matthew Maness, the battalion’s ultimate commander, characterised the inactivation not as an finish, however as a strategic transition.

“By transferring the Pink Staff’s mission to the Cyber Safety Brigade, ARCYBER, we’re aligning the personnel, sources, expertise, and coaching to satisfy the challenges of tomorrow. We’re additionally guaranteeing the legacy of the Command,” acknowledged Maness.

Now working because the Military Cyber Pink Staff, the unit’s distinctive capabilities have been explicitly retained within the ARSTRUC (Military Construction) as a vital enabler for Multi-Area Operations (MDO).

The sentiment of delight in legacy was echoed on the inactivation ceremony by Lt. Gen. Maria Barrett, commanding normal of U.S. Military Cyber Command, who underscored the enduring heritage of 1st IO Command.

“Individuals are the guts of what’s to be preserved via the entire expertise,” stated Barrett.

Drawing a parallel to the legacy of Revolutionary Conflict, she described 1st IO’s story as one in all success. Establishing a vital bridge between the digital panorama and the land part. The unwavering dedication, innovation, and adaptableness of 1st IO’s individuals laid the inspiration for the knowledge forces of tomorrow.

Matt LaChance, who served from 2002 via 2025 in a number of key roles together with Deputy to the Commander, spoke of the unit’s constant operational worth.

“Our mindset was what set us aside. That’s why particular operations prospects saved asking us again,” stated LaChance. “Throughout Iraq beneath the Coalition Provisional Authority, we built-in IO with the ‘D’ in DIME, instantly alongside diplomacy. That’s not one thing you see usually, and it was the correct functionality on the proper time.”

Jimmy Wade, the primary appearing command sergeant main throughout the LIWA/1IO transition, added, “Our energy wasn’t simply in our toolset, it was the belief we constructed throughout instructions. That’s what made us efficient.”

“The inactivation of the command means the Military is popping a web page,” stated Col. Willie Rodney, the commander of 1st IO. “It doesn’t imply what the command has executed just isn’t nonetheless related, it simply means we’re going to do it a unique means. 1st IO and data operations writ giant have been created as a result of the Military didn’t know how you can combine non-kinetics into the battle. The rise of MDO calls for the Military combine the capabilities which can be executed in domains aside from air, land, and sea into the scheme of maneuver and operations course of. The necessity for IO just isn’t going away with the command; somewhat, the Military is forcing it to be built-in all through the service and its forces. General, it’s a step towards the place we’ve all the time needed and wanted to go.”

Requested what recommendation he’d give to the subsequent era, Rodney didn’t hesitate. “Change will inevitably come. You’ll be able to battle it and grow to be irrelevant, or you may perceive it and affect it to attain outcomes that also match the imaginative and prescient.”

And in that legacy, 1st IO Command has earned its place. It gave the Military its first true glimpse of data benefit. The experience 1st IO cultivated will now seed the subsequent era of data superiority models. Now, it passes the torch to a brand new assemble, able to battle and win within the subsequent period.

“The inactivation of the command means the Military is popping a web page,” stated Col. Rodney. “It doesn’t imply what the command has executed is irrelevant; we’re simply doing it a unique means. The rise of MDO calls for integrating capabilities past air, land, and sea into operations. IO’s want isn’t going away; it’s turning into built-in throughout the service.”

Rodney suggested future leaders to embrace and affect change proactively. In that mindset, 1st IO Command has secured its place in Military historical past. It gave the Military its first glimpse of built-in info benefit. The legacy it leaves behind will inform, prepare, and empower the subsequent era of data warriors. The torch has handed, however it nonetheless burns brightly.

“Victory Via the Energy of Data”