A unique cyber protection unit of the US National Guard will play a key role in the upcoming Eagle Resolve 2025, the premier multinational exercise in the Gulf region.

The Cyber Protection Team - Mission Element (CPT-ME) of the West Virginia Army National Guard's Army Interagency Training and Education Center (AITEC), in November announced a role in planning Eagle Resolve 2025 alongside host nation Qatar.

AITEC's CPT-ME is the only unit of its kind in the US National Guard to be part of a training center rather than a Joint Forces Headquarters.

Eagle Resolve is a biannual US Central Command (CENTCOM) exercise that rotates between host nations, changing focus every few years to a specific area of defense. Qatar is slated for 2025, with the exercise focusing on cybersecurity.

The Eagle Resolve exercise, which began in 1999, aims to enhance security and co-ordination across the Arabian Peninsula and develop partner nations' ability to respond to current and emerging threats in the region.

Participants for the 2025 iteration are set to include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The exercise is meant to develop a Gulf Cooperation Council and US Combined Joint Task Force capable of linking multiple agencies to build a regional approach for integrated defense strategies.

The focus on cybersecurity in 2025 reflects the growing importance of digital defense mechanisms in modern military operations.

Sharing cybersecurity knowledge

AITEC's CPT-ME will oversee a large part of planning Eagle Resolve 2025, specifically focusing on infusing their advanced cybersecurity knowledge and capabilities into the planned exercises.

Launched in 2023, the CPT-ME is an agile embedded prevention and response team.

It is designed to provide preventive cybersecurity expertise, trend analysis and response to critical state and local networks essential to government and private critical industry functions.

For Eagle Resolve 25, the CPT-ME will join forces with GCC partners and other US military units -- namely the Qatari air force and the US Army Reserve Cyber Protection Brigade -- in a cybersecurity-focused joint exercise.

This engagement offers a unique opportunity for the West Virginia CPT-ME to collaborate closely with Qatar and other GCC partners and enhance its capabilities by learning from the diverse experiences and knowledge of its international counterparts.

Such interactions are expected to advance the evolution of the CPT-ME's operational effectiveness, enabling them to better address emerging cyber threats.

As cyber threats continue to evolve, the integration of specialized units like AITEC's CPT-ME into large-scale international exercises underscores the need for agile and responsive cyber defense teams.