Maryland National Guard hosts critical infrastructure meeting with key leaders
by Maj. Benjamin Hughes
CROWNSVILLE, Md. – The Maryland National Guard hosted the 2025 Maryland Defense Critical Infrastructure Interagency breakfast for key leaders from federal, state, and local agencies and experts in critical infrastructure at the Maryland Department of General Services Community Place building in Anne Arundel County, June 27, 2025.
Understanding the associated risks and threats, the leaders were brought together to identify gaps in protection and defense capabilities, network across various sectors, and develop a comprehensive approach to enhancing the state’s overall resiliency.
“We want to make sure that we are giving the American people, our communities, what they need to be confident in our abilities to keep the nation safe,” said Maryland Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Janeen L. Birckhead, adjutant general of Maryland. “Our goal is to be better prepared in an all-hazards approach, so thank you for being here because I know all of you recognize the importance of this topic.”
There were leaders from the Maryland Department of Emergency Management, the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, local law enforcement, and other organizations from across the state.
U.S. Army Col. Chrstopher M. Chung, garrison commander at Fort Dietrick, and his garrison command sergeant major Command Sgt. Maj. Erick Detrich from the active-duty military attended the meeting along with military installation representatives from Joint Base Andrews.\
“We focus on the Maryland critical infrastructure related to anything that is essential to mobilize, deploy, or sustain military operations,” said Maryland Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Craig Hunter, director of the Maryland National Guard Joint Staff. “In Maryland, we have several key military installations within the state, and our focus is to support those, but critical infrastructure is truly a system of systems. If one is hit, it does not isolate to that one area. Each of us has our individual sectors that we focus on. You may focus on the water sector, electric, or cyber. That’s why we want to bring everyone together as a huge team and work on this problem all together.”
The meeting included a threat assessment from the FBI and an overview of the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, which has 80 fusion centers across the country, which are in constant communication to share critical information.
“Our current threat assessment is that we have not received any information indicating a specific, credible threat to the critical infrastructure here in Maryland or the National Capital Region, but we do remain committed to strong partnerships with the public and private sectors so that we have that information if it should kind of arise,” said Arianna Garcia, the branch chief of Critical Infrastructure Protection, SHIELD program manager, and Fusion Liaison Officer coordinator for the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center.
The mission of the MCAC is to serve as the focal point between federal, state, local, and private sector partners in gathering analysis and disseminating criminal and homeland security information to keep Maryland safe.
“I really feel good about our team by bringing everyone together at all levels of government and having the conversation,” said Travis Nelson, director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security. “All of these issues begin and end locally, so I think it’s critical to have our local partners in here, because the officers that are on the street, the personnel, they’re going to notice. If somebody’s doing surveillance against some of our infrastructure, they’re going to notice first when something doesn’t seem right, and alert us quickly so we can adequately respond. Because if we miss the opportunity to stop an event, then we’ve already failed in some capacity.”
The Maryland National Guard provided a cyber capabilities brief highlighting the Maryland Cyber Task Force and the Department of Defense Innovative Readiness Training program. Cyber IRTs are able to help with vulnerability assessments or threat hunting exercises, which benefits the requesting agency by assisting with a cyber or information technology problem that they could not address internally.
“The great thing for us is that it’s real-world training in the environment for our [military cyber] operators,” said Maryland Air National Guard Lt. Col. Michael Graham, deputy J6 for cyber operations with Maryland National Guard Joint Staff. “If there ever is an incident with that particular agency, we’ve already been there. We already made the connections. We’ve already shook their hands, and we’ve built trust.”
The leaders were tasked with setting up working groups for each sector of critical infrastructure to shape battle drills, ensuring each party knows their roles and responsibilities. Chair members will include representatives from the federal government, state government, military, academia, and the private sector. There will also be an upcoming tabletop exercise.
“Today’s meeting was just the beginning—but it was a meaningful one,” said Birckhead. “As we look at the complex challenge of protecting Maryland’s critical infrastructure, we must think in both depth and breadth—across agencies, across communities, and across missions. I am grateful for everyone who showed up to share their expertise as a part of what will be a comprehensive, coordinated approach that we are building together.”