Fort Huachuca Army Post

Military Intelligence, Cybersecurity & Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Fort Huachuca is located in Cochise County in southeastern Arizona, on the western slope of the San Pedro River Valley. The Fort supports a diverse mission set: as an individual training base for Military Intelligence and Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Soldiers; as an operations platform supporting Army Networks Operations; and as a communications,  intelligence, and electronic warfare test and valuation  platform. Four different training units conduct 78 courses,  training and educating over 12,000 service members and  civilians. These missions are conducted by the US Army  Intelligence Center of Excellence (USAICOE), Network  Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM), US Army  Information Systems Engineering Command (ISEC), the Joint  Interoperability Test Command (JITC), Intelligence Electronic  Warfare Test Directorate (IEWTD), US Army Electronic  Proving Ground (EPG), and the 2nd Battalion 13th Aviation  Regiment. Numerous additional tenant/partner support  organizations and their missions are located on the Fort as well. 

The Military Intelligence (MI) training mission encompasses  training, organizing, and equipping MI professionals to  support the nation’s war fighting requirements throughout  the operational continuum. The Intelligence Center offers  over 47 courses ranging from Initial Entry Training and  Noncommissioned Officer Courses to Officer Advanced  Courses. During the year, USAICoE trains and educates approximately 9,000 Service Members and Civilians. The Intelligence Center’s Capabilities Development and Integration  Directorate is at the forefront of Military Intelligence Future  Force and Doctrine development, ensuring the MI Corps  is prepared for future operations. The Human Intelligence  Training Joint Center of Excellence located at Fort Huachuca  provides the Department of Defense premiere training.  Rounding out the individual training mission is the 2nd  Battalion 13th Aviation Regiment, operating the largest UAS  training center in the world. Each year, the 2-13th Aviation  Regiment trains approximately 2,000 Soldiers across 12 distinct  programs of instruction including: RQ-7B Shadow UAS  Operator and Repairer; MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS Operator  and Repairer; UAS Instructor Operator Course; 150U UAS  Warrant Officer Technician; UAS Resident Instructor Course;  and the UAS Command and Staff Leaders Course. 

NETCOM is the primary operational mission element on  the Fort. The Headquarters for NETCOM is responsible for  operating and defending the Army’s network worldwide and  is supported by elements of the Communication Electronic Command’s ISEC and the Communications Security  Logistics Activity.

Because of the ideal terrain and topography of southeast  Arizona, Fort Huachuca is the primary location for  developmental testing of all the Army’s Communications  Electronics systems as well as the operational testing of all the  Army’s Intelligence Electronic Warfare systems. Co-located  with the Department of Defense (DoD) JITC, almost every  DoD system that communicates or collects intelligence on  the battlefield will pass through one or both of the EPG and  JITC during their development and eventual interoperability  certification before final fielding to the Services. 

The US Army Garrison at Fort Huachuca has command and  control of functions which include operations, maintenance,  and security of Fort Huachuca as well as responsibility for all  stationing and quality of life (morale, welfare, recreation, child care and development). Many of the active duty military and  their family members live on post in privatized housing with  1,064 individual homes in ten housing areas. As for military  barracks locations, there are 4,825 units on Fort Huachuca. 

Fort Huachuca’s strategic assets that support the diverse  missions performed are the Buffalo Soldier Electronic Test  Range (BSETR) and the R2303 Military Restricted Airspace.  The BSETR comprises 2,500 square miles in western Cochise  and eastern Santa Cruz Counties in southeast Arizona.  Codified in Arizona State Statute as a military electronics  testing range, the BSETR provides a low electromagnetic  noise environment that supports the Fort’s diverse testing and  training missions.  

In 2022 Fort Huachuca dedicated the 1LT John R Fox Multi Domain Operations Non-Kinetic Range Complex. This  non-kinetic range is the first of its type in the Army, designed  to train and enhance the army’s capability in the multi-domain  environment with full development and representation of  threat capabilities and activities across the electromagnetic  spectrum. This range will support warfighting concepts and  modernization required for the Army to reach its goals for 2030  and 2040. 

The 946 square miles of the R2303 airspace is contained within  the BSETR operations area and is completely separated from  any competing commercial air traffic corridors. Fort Huachuca  has scheduling and operational control of Restricted Airspace  including areas R-2303A, R-2303B, and R-2303C (totaling 941sqmi) and Delegated Airspace North, North East and South of the Restricted, totaling an additional 200sqmi. Both  Restricted and Delegated Airspace is used by Department of  Defense Manned and Unmanned Aircraft Systems for both  training and testing. Airspace is active for approximately 24  hours per weekday; controlled and deconflicted by Libby  Army Airfield Air Traffic Control/ Radar. When not in use by  the military, typically the weekends and federal holidays, all  airspace reverts back to the Federal Aviation Administration’s  Albuquerque Center for airspace control .Supported by  Libby Army Airfields 12,000 foot long main runway, as well  as multiple UAS airstrips and the 4,600 foot Hubbard Dirt  Assault strip, main airspace users currently include the 2-13th  for training on the Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aerial System,  Gray Eagle class of air vehicles, and 111th MI Brigade’s Special  Electronic Mission Aircraft along with other testing used by the  Electronic Proving Ground.  

Other users of Special Use Airspace and the Joint-Use Libby  Airfield include the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training School  operated for the Department of Defense by Missouri Air  Guard, the USAF 162nd Fighter Wing, The Thunderbirds  with their F-16s, and the 355th Air Wing’s A-10s, US Special  Operations Command’s Naval Special Warfare, US Army  Special Operations Command’s 160th Special Operations  Aviation Regiment, 10th Mountain Division Shadow UAS,  JTF-N (Various aircraft, both manned and Unmanned), the U.  S. Forest Service air tankers, 214th Reconnaissance Group (AZ  Air National Guard), the US Customs/Border Patrol Reaper  MQ-9 UAS and Municipal Aircraft. 

In addition to the BSETR, R2303, and MDO Range  capabilities at the Fort, there are fourteen live fire ranges, two Demo Ranges, one laser and other training facilities including  Rappel Tower/Cliffs, Leadership Reaction Course, Aircraft  loading mock-up, Obstacle Course, Confidence Course, Mask  Confidence Chamber, Assault Landing Strip, six Airborne  Drop Zones, three Land Navigation Courses, Grenade Assault  Course (non-firing), and four Urban Operations sites.

Fort Huachuca has been on the leading edge of our Nation’s  Defense since 1881 and remains a key resource for the  Department of Defense. 

SOURCE: Military Affairs Commission 2023 Economic Impact of Arizona’s Principal Military Operations