National Guard task force that supports Cyber Command changes over February 12 The 123rd Cyber Protection Battalion is taking its turn to support Task Force Echo V and U.S. Cyber Command.(Army Cyber Command) WASHINGTON — The Army recently announced a new tranche of National Guard units to staff a critical and ongoing task force for U.S. Cyber Command. Members of the 123rd Cyber Protection Battalion — made up of guardsmen from Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia and Wisconsin – relieved the 15-month deployment of the 124th Cyber Protection Battalion for Task Force Echo, an Army announcement said. The task force was described at its outset in 2017 as the largest mobilization of reserve forces in cyberspace, and to date over 600 National Guardsmen have been assigned to it. Now in its fifth iteration, soldiers will begin a 12-month deployment based at Fort Meade in Maryland.