(Story by Maria Blanchard, Fort Gordon Public Affairs Office)
A major Fort Gordon construction project reached a significant milestone on May 29.
The project, which is transforming the space once dominated by Signal Towers and buildings such as Alexander Hall, started with a groundbreaking in July 2020.
On May 29, leaders from the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence (CCoE), U.S. Army Garrison Fort Gordon, Fort Gordon Director of Public Works, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) gathered at the entrance of Military Construction Army (MCA) 1 for a formal facility transfer ceremony — a quiet but significant moment in Fort Gordon’s ongoing transformation into the nation’s premier hub for signal, cyber, and electromagnetic warfare training.
MCA 1 is part of the broader 35-project CCoE MEGA Program — an ambitious, multi-year initiative to physically reshape Fort Gordon into a world-class training and education environment. While MCA 1 is not the largest of the four Military Construction projects within the program, it is widely regarded as the most complex, a testament to the scale of vision and the difficulty of execution that characterized every phase of its development.
The ceremony itself was intentionally brief and informal — a standing outdoor gathering at the MCA 1 front door, centered on the formal signing of a DD Form 1354 transfer memorandum by the Garrison Commander and the Savannah District Engineer, followed by group photographs to mark the milestone for posterity.
Key participants included the CCoE and Fort Gordon Commanding General, Major Gen. Ryan Janovic, Fort Gordon Garrison Commander Col. Anthony Kazor, Savannah District Engineer Col. Ronald Sturgeon as well as members of the Program Delivery Team to include USACE, DPW and CCoE representatives, all dressed in OCPs or business casual attire befitting the working nature of the occasion.
In his remarks, Janovic extended sincere gratitude to Sturgeon and the USACE team for their coordination, technical expertise, and steadfast partnership throughout the project. Equal recognition was given to the dedicated Program Delivery Team — military personnel, civilian workforce members, and contract partners — who navigated years of construction challenges to bring MCA 1 to this point.
The acceptance of MCA 1 is not an endpoint, however. An extensive fit-out phase is scheduled to conclude in 2028, meaning the work of turning this facility into a fully operational training platform continues. The strategic purpose of MCA 1 reflects the evolving demands of modern warfare. Designed to serve as a state-of-the-art training platform, the facility will train Cyber and Electromagnetic Warfare Soldiers, NCOs, Officers, and Warrant Officers — equipping them with the skills necessary to support Large-Scale Combat Operations (LSCO). In an era where the electromagnetic spectrum and cyberspace are contested domains, facilities like MCA 1 are not luxuries — they are operational necessities.
This vision aligns directly with the broader transformation that Fort Gordon has been undergoing for years.
“The networks that go into it will allow us to do training at a level that is just far and above what we do today, and in a domain that is so dynamic like cyber, being able to train in that environment is absolutely critical,” Major Gen. John B. Morrison Jr., former CCoE Commanding General, said at an earlier groundbreaking ceremony for the CCoE campus:
Fort Gordon’s evolution into the Army’s cyber and signal epicenter did not emerge in a vacuum. It is the product of decades of institutional investment and proud heritage. The Signal Corps’ roots run deep, stretching back to figures like Major Gen. Adolphus Greely, who served as the Army’s Chief Signal Officer beginning in 1887 and expanded the nation’s communications capabilities through telegraph networks reaching Alaska, the Philippines, and the Caribbean. Greely would go on to become the Signal Corps’ fifth Medal of Honor recipient — a legacy honored even as Fort Gordon physically transformed around his memory.
The demolition of Greely Hall in an earlier phase of the CCoE campus transformation was itself a symbol of the tension between honoring that history and pressing boldly into the future. Opened in 1966 as part of the first Fort Gordon and Signal School reorganization the hall stood for decades before making way for the new campus.
“The plaque has been removed, and the name Greely Hall is retired, but Major Gen. Greely’s legacy will live on in each world-class signal, cyber, and electronic warfare soldier trained by the Cyber Center of Excellence,” said Morrison.
Approximately 20,000 Signal Corps and cyber soldiers train at Fort Gordon every year.
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