Campus Construction

Base Transformation Progressing Modernization

By Laura Levering

Article published on: March 20, 2025 in the Army Communicator Spring 2025 Edition

Read Time:< 2 mins

U.S. Army Signal Corps leaders receive a tour of MCA2, which will contain signal and cyber professional military education classrooms and instructional laboratories.

Signal Towers was memorialized nearly three years ago, signifying a major leap towards modernization for both signal and cyber professionals. At the heart of these modernization efforts is the building (and completion) of a U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence campus. And although there is still much work left to do, a recent tour made it evident that a lot of work has been done.

Traveling along Chamberlain Avenue, once Fort Eisenhower’s main east-west thoroughfare, it’s impossible not to notice the progress. To date, several outdated 50-to-60-year-old buildings have come down and a sizeable portion of Chamberlain Avenue closed. In their places stand two Military Construction, Army (MCA) sites with another two in the works.

MCA1 will contain the Cyber School Headquarters along with a Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) Training, Research and Network Center. MCA2 will be a mix of signal and cyber professional military education classrooms and instructional laboratories. It will also house the commanding general’s command suite and headquarters staff, a resource center, and conference rooms. MCA3 is where Advanced Individual Training will take place for signal Soldiers, and MCA4 is planned to house a mix of learning environments that will include a 2,000-seat lecture hall serving as a “shared space for all of CCoE, as well as the installation, to use,”explained John Batson, deputy commandant, U.S. Army Signal School.

Batson was among several Signal Corps leaders who went on a guided tour of MCA2 on Feb. 25. Brett Wiliford, resident engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Atlantic Division (CESAD), led the tour and answered questions – one of the main ones on peoples’ minds being, “When will this project be completed?”

MCA3 and MC4 have yet to break ground. MCA3 is scheduled to begin construction later this year, while MCA4 is expected to be included in the FY25 Facility Investment Plan for construction in 2029. MCA1 and MCA2, on the other hand, are closer to the finish line.

“They’re on track for construction to finish by the end of this year,” Wiliford said. Fitting out the facilities with furniture, equipment and other necessities will likely add an additional 22 months, but Soldiers can anticipate MCA1 and MCA2 will be “troop ready” by 2028. Although it might seem like a while off, Col. Julia Donley is confident the wait will be worth it.

“It is a giant leap forward for signal training in comparison to the current 1970s facilities we are using,” said Donley, 43rd chief of Signal and U.S. Army Signal School commandant. “It will also be a greater learning experience for the signal leaders who are going to come through Fort Eisenhower whereas today they’re struggling with degrading facilities.”

U.S. Army Signal Corps leaders leave the site of the future U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence campus following a tour of MCA2.