President Donald Trump has ordered Fort Meade-based U.S. Cyber Command to be elevated to a unified combatant command — a designation raising its level within the Department of Defense — and said he’s exploring separating it from the National Security Agency.

In a statement Friday, the president said the move will strengthen America’s cyberspace operations “and create more opportunities to improve our nation’s defense.”

U.S. armed forces are organized into nine combatant commands — six are geographic; three others focus on specialized capabilities: special operations, nuclear or strategic forces, and transportation.

Under Trump’s order, Cyber Command, currently under U.S. Strategic Command, will become the 10th combatant command.

Maryland officials have advocated for the change, saying that raising Cyber Command would cement the state’s position as the home of the U.S. computer warfare effort.

The president said it will also “help streamline command and control of time-sensitive cyberspace operations by consolidating them under a single commander.”

Maryland Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, a Democrat who is the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the move “recognizes the fact that cyberspace is the battlefield of the 21st century.”

“Demand for cyber warfare capabilities is only going to increase, and this decision will give the command the power and resources it needs to better protect our country,” said Ruppersberger in a statement.

He also called the decision “a great move for our country [and] for Maryland.”

Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted that Congress urged the move last year through defense policy legislation, and said he was “thankful that the administration has carried out this change.”

Cyber Command was created in 2009 at NSA headquarters at Fort Meade. During President Barack Obama’s administration, former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper suggested it should be independent of the NSA.

Trump hinted that might be in the works, saying Secretary of Defense James Mattis is looking at whether to separate Cyber Command from the NSA, with a decision to come “at a later date.”

Tim O’Farrell, general manager for the Fort Meade Alliance, a coalition of business leaders who advocate for the Army installation, said raising Cyber Command’s profile is “huge for the state of Maryland.”

O’Farrell said while the move was largely expected, its impact on the cybersecurity community could be huge.

“What this means is greater emphasis on cyber and economic development around the region, as companies want to come to a place that is so close to the center of it all,” O’Farrell said. “If you want to understand what is happening in that space, you’re going to have to come through here.”

Baltimore Sun reporter Ian Duncan contributed to this article.