Cyber Security Needs for DoD by 2016

SMSgt Robert Dahl — Sun, 25 May 2014 22:24:50 -0400

If anyone is even thinking about cross training and getting into Cyber security jobs...the DoD has openings. Check out this article: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-15/uncle-sam-wants-cyber-warriors-but-can-he-compete

The U.S. Government Wants 6,000 New 'Cyberwarriors' by 2016

Salaries for that kind of talent are much higher in the private sector

Response by SSG Michael Hathaway made Sep 19 at 2014 5:35 PM

SSG Michael Hathaway — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 17:35:25 -0400

Thank you for the heads-up. This field is a one I have been following for awhile, currently in school for BS in Cybersecurity.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 31 at 2014 6:05 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 06:05:01 -0500

It's a great opportunity for those seeking experience in that field. I think our greatest problem in recruiting for that mission will be in fighting the private sector for qualified personnel. I have been discussing it lately with a lot of my Computer Science brethren and most of us have come to the conclusion that Cyber should be a separate service branch altogether. That would grant more lateral motion in how to recruit, retain and train. For example, do our strategic cyber warriors really need to run a 2-mile or be able to do 40 push-ups? Do they need to shoot 23/40 twice a year? Are these requirements keeping us from recruiting the best we can?

I hate playing into the stereotype of "hackers" but look at the people who have been arrested in the past 10 years for hacking, including members of the group Anonymous. Those are the people we want. By turning their skills to support a mission larger than themselves, and with a fair amount of oversight, who knows what these people would have done (instead of jailtime) and what tools they could have brought to the table as defenders of our nation's network and cyber assets...

Over 60 years ago, we split off the Air Force from the Army because the mission was too vast and we needed to be able to specialize the field more. Today, the cybersecurity and ethical hacking mission is the newest "hot" priority. The field is only going to grow and expand as we work to secure and defend our technology against cyber attacks. I strongly believe each branch should have a piece of the mission but that the United States would be served best by creating a branch to handle the extremely technical strategic mission. All the training in the world is no substitute for raw talent and we need to find a way to tap that talent.

Response by PO2 Michael Edgar made Apr 12 at 2019 3:25 PM

PO2 Michael Edgar — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 15:25:07 -0400

Cyber is the next warfront. Unfortunately, the military can't compare to the private sector (and the government contractors). I got out in 2014 as an IT2 (E5 for you non Navy guys) and on average turn down 2-3 100k+ jobs a months.
At current military payrates they would have to bring me in as an O6 to compete with my current pay (that's including the military benefits as well).

There's simply no way the military (or the GS system) is able to recruit (and keep) good cyber candidates.