08:41 GMT, May 24, 2010 Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced today Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander’s appointment as the first U.S. Cyber Command commander, officially establishing the initial operating capability for the new command. The announcement comes immediately following Alexander’s promotion to receive his fourth star during a ceremony at Fort Meade, Md., today.

“Given our increasing dependency on cyberspace, this new command will bring together the resources of the department to address vulnerabilities and meet the ever-growing array of cyber threats to our military systems,” said Gates.

U.S. Cyber Command possesses the required technical capability and focuses on the integration of military cyberspace operations. The command is charged with pulling together existing cyberspace resources, creating synergy that does not currently exist and synchronizing war-fighting effects to defend the DoD information security environment. This is not an expansion of DoD’s mission. It is in keeping with the department’s mission to protect and defend U.S. national security and protect the lives of men and women in uniform.

U.S. Cyber Command is a sub-unified command, subordinate to U.S. Strategic Command. Its headquarters is currently located at Fort Meade, Md. The Senate confirmed Alexander’s promotion to become commander of the new sub-unified command, U.S. Cyber Command on May 7.

For more information, visit http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2010/0410_cybersec/ .