U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Meisler, 311th Signal Command Commander, rappels down a communication tower at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Aug. 22, 2023. (Minjo Cheo/U.S. Army)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — A $27 million upgrade of the U.S. Army’s communications network for broadband, voice and video communications in South Korea is nearing completion after nearly a year and a half.
Soldiers and civilian professionals with the 1st Signal Brigade modernized the communications network that connects 52 sites in South Korea and that must be ready in wartime.
The project — Army Transport Edge — calls for new network architecture designed to replace older hardware and reduce the time it takes to manage routing, bandwidth and connectivity across the Korean Peninsula, according to Maj. Scott Tanaka, senior network engineer for the 1st Signal Brigade.
Empower AI, of Reston, Va., was awarded a contract by the Army in November 2023 to support the project, according to a company news release at the time. Empower did not respond to requests by email and phone Feb. 10 for additional information.
U.S. Army Maj. Scott Tanaka, senior network engineer for 1st Signal Brigade, at brigade headquarters, Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Jan. 30, 2026. (Alejandro Carrasquel/Stars and Stripes)
The Army Transport Edge project improves how the Army delivers information but also strengthens cybersecurity in a theater where commanders depend on constant communication, Tanaka said during a Jan. 30 interview.
“Having an edge in your cyber warfare capabilities today is a critical factor, and this new network is a huge bolstering component in just that,” Tanaka said. “This new network allows the United States Army to deliver information faster, and more conveniently to key systems and their users while also safeguarding them in the cyber realm.”
Work on Army Transport Edge began in November and December 2023 as part of broader modernization efforts in South Korea, Tanaka said. The project focused on improving the Army’s transport layer — the digital backbone that carries voice, video and data traffic.
The network modernization is part of a broader shift toward a zero trust security environment, which aims to verify users and systems before granting them network access, Alan Krall, deputy director for the 41st Signal Battalion, said during the same interview Jan. 30 at the brigade headquarters.
“As we get to the zero trust environment, the network that we’re building increases the amount of security that we’re building into the system,” Krall said. “So, it solves the security problem.”
A soldier assigned to U.S. Army Network Enterprise Center-Walker checks servers at Camp Walker, South Korea, March 17, 2025. (Shawnee Vercammen/U.S. Army)
The battalion’s biggest challenge has been modernizing the network while keeping the old network operational, Krall said.
The Army aims to move completely off the legacy network in the fall, though the timeline depends on successful completion of remaining work, he said.
“We’re tentatively scheduled to be offline, I think Sept. 26 this year,” he said. “That’s the goal.”
The modernization project improves speed, reliability and the Army’s ability to expand network support during large exercises or emergency operations, especially when additional units surge into South Korea.
The Army Transport Edge network is already operational across the peninsula, Tanaka said, but some capabilities, including automation features designed to support a faster swap to a backup network and recovery, are still being developed and refined.
