Cyber Operations major to Naval Aviation

[top_usna2025]

I've seen a lot of posts saying that your major doesn't define your selection, but I was curious to see if anyone had any thoughts or knowledge about majoring in cyber ops then trying to go the aviation route. Does it make sense to stop cyber for two years while in flight school? Or is there cyber security related to the aviation field? Thank you in advance!

 

[nuensis]

It's a stretch at best. If you want cybersecurity, information professional is the community.

If you want to be a pilot or NFO, the major really doesn't matter. But you won't be doing much with the technical skills (unless you choose to maintain them in your free time).

 

[Capt MJ]

One of our USNA sponsor family alumni was a cyber major who became a submarine officer, and also did his M.S. at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey at the Center for Cybersecurity and Cyber Operations as a full-time student. When he separated from the Navy, he was hired by Microscoft into a role where they value his security clearance. He affiliated with the Navy Reserve and was quickly invited to transfer from the sub community into the information professional restricted line community, where his Navy career is continuing.

The Naval Postgraduate School also offers distance learning with some certificates in certain cyber topics.

The key to building cyber career skills - if you are not originally designated an info warfare officer - is to stay as connected as possible in the assigned warfare community while being a strong performer there, so as to get the most leverage to compete successfully for a full-time Master’s program in the cyber field. Or, take advantage of Tuition Assistance and do a remote Master’s or after-hours program at a local university. It’s hard to do it that way, but many enlisted and officers take advantage of that degree tuition program and prioritize accordingly.

Assuming all other factors are positive, a cyber major should not hinder pilot selection.

Now, down the road, there is usually a small couple-year window where officers can request to laterally transfer into another officer community and get re-designated, say from an aviator to an information warfare officer. This is a highly competitive process, which is handled by a board. The officer must prepare an application package, meet all eligibility requirements and gain the endorsement of his or her chain of command. Eligibility usually includes earning the warfare qualification of the current officer community, meeting the timing requirement, having the appropriate education, experience and motivation. Stellar performance is a given. The governing factor will ALWAYS be needs of the Navy. The aviation community must be healthy enough in aviator endstrength in a particular year group to afford to lose a warm body, and the IW community must need a warm body to make up endstrength in that year group. I sat on a few of these boards, and it was an eye-opening experience. This link may be incomprehensible to you, but here is this year’s lateral board announcement:

FY-21 ACTIVE DUTY OFFICER LATERAL TRANSFER AND REDESIGNATION BOARDS

UNCLASSIFIED//ROUTINER 142057Z DEC 20 MID600050083992UFM CNO WASHINGTON DCTO NAVADMININFO CNO WASHINGTON DCBTUNCLASNAVADMIN 323/20PASS TO OFFICE CODES:FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//INFO CNO WASHINGTON

www.navy.mil

 

[Usnavy2019]

As said prior, your major does not factor into your service selection. A companymate was Poli Sci and they went Subs. The only way I can see a particular major helping someone is officer exposure. Ex. An Aero guy/girl will not have to work as hard to get exposure to pilot/NFO profs as others. Same goes for cyber/CS/CE/IT majors and Intel/IP officers.

If you end up going Pilot/NFO, cybersecurity studies would probably be limited outside of graduate studies either worked in after your commission or on a shore tour (either on your own or via the Navy). One's priority as a pilot/NFO is learning the aircraft and how to operate/employ it. However, there are some communities that will expose you to cyber-esque operations. Those communities are the Growler (VAQ) and the EP-3 (VQ). The Growler does electronic attack, which denies, degrades, and sometimes destroys the enemy's use of the electromagnetic spectrum. The EP-3 conducts signals intelligence (SIGINT) and does some cool stuff. The Growler is a relatively new aircraft and since it is the only DoD asset that currently does electronic attack, there is a high demand and the future is bright. The EP-3 has no current replacement, so the future is unknown, but SIGINT is a vital capability.

Now Pilot vs. NFO: Pilots are primarily focused on flying the aircraft while the NFOs are mission-focused. There are many nuances to this and that's not to say the pilots and NFOs aboard an aircraft aren't fully integrated with each other. Quite the contrary. While NFOs are working their absolute magic making the mission happen, pilots are putting the plane in the right piece of sky and on profile to enable the NFOs to do their thing. That doesn't just happen. Both types are knowledgeable about the mission and they use a whole lot of teamwork. In a sentence: NFOs need pilots so they can make missions happen, Pilots need NFOs to have a job (helos/single seat jets notwithstanding).

If you really want to fly planes, become a pilot and do the cyber thing a bit later. Just realize your primary job is controlling the aircraft. Now if you want to fly, but want to be more mission focused, NFO is the right gig. In a Growler, the Electronic Warfare Officer (NFO/backseater) is really looking at the beeps and squeaks and is making a lot of tactical decisions on how to approach enemy electronic threats/capabilities. In the EP-3, NFOs are rubbing elbows with the IntelOs, cryppies, and all the other incredibly talented and intelligent people that go flying with you. My 2/C Cyber teacher was an EP-3 NFO and he absolutely loved his job.

There are no losers in Naval Aviation... or in the Armed Forces. Good on you for doing your research early and don't buy into the narrative about majors. What matters is your QPR. No such thing as stuff as like "A Mech E major with a 3.0 is looked upon as 3.5" or anything like that. Pick something you enjoy, something your good at, and/or something you'd not hate doing at 0200.

This will be my last bit of unsolicited advice, but as much as the military is a meritocracy, it is still like every other industry: it is who you know, not what you know. If you go cyber, but still want to fly, go hit up as many pilots/NFOs as you can. Get a mentor. It does nothing but help you. It shows interest and interest/motivation can take you farther than sheer talent. Showing how much you care can help overcome a less than stellar package when service selection comes around. Nobody's gonna want to take someone who has a not so good record and unknown intangibles/alibies. This advice goes for every community. Don't feel bad reaching out to a SWO if you have a temporary/casual interest in SWO, for example. They love talking about their jobs and they know the decision you have to make. Almost every officer wants to see you go for the community that is right for you, even if it's not there. At the minimum, you learn more about the Navy, and that's never a bad thing.

Buckle up, enjoy the ride!

 

[MidCakePa]

it is who you know, not what you know. If you go cyber, but still want to fly, go hit up as many pilots/NFOs as you can. Get a mentor. It does nothing but help you. It shows interest and interest/motivation can take you farther than sheer talent.

Such fantastic perspective from @Usnavy2019.

Underlining what they said about “who you know”: So much of where you end up in life is about who you surround yourself with, either intentionally or unintentionally. People in our immediate spheres have so much impact on who we are, how we think and what we do. At USNA, you’ll be surrounded by professors, company officers, battalion officers, NCOs and many active-duty others who are eager and willing to share their perspective on their respective warfare communities. Some mentorships will be official, most will be unofficial. You’ll gain interest, learn a lot and check your fit based largely on your interactions with these invaluable resources.

As DD begins her firstie year, she’s homing in on her preferred community. She’s at this point thanks in large part to her company NCO, the officer sponsor of her club team, an informal alumni mentor, a senior officer she works with for a billet, and so forth. In the end, her major has given her great knowledge and critical thinking and analytical ability. But it’s her personal interactions that are pointing her to a specific warfare community.

 

[nuensis]

I replied from the perspective of you wanting aviation but to add to above re: getting involved with desired community at USNA.

Bottom line, if you want CW/IP, I absolutely recommend picking Cyber, CS/IT, or EE/CE over any other major. It is a package to build upon from plebe year onwards.

In addition to necessary technical knowledge, those majors provide maximum interaction with the CW/IP officers on the yard, and maximum opportunity for relevant summer training (NSA, national labs, NCWDG, and the "new" IW 1/C cruises). Officer reps for the IW-related ECAs are commonly within those departments as well.

Competition is tight for slots out of USNA if you're qualified for URL. Being competitive will start with major selection, then performance in that major, feasibility of a technical masters later on (i.e. grades meet the mark for NPS), and perhaps a technical screen using those skills (for CWE).

Lateral transfer can be even more competitive, based on in-quotas (to desired community) or out-quotas (from current community). For example, the last lateral transfer board only transferred three officers from the SWO community in YG 16--the list is deceptively several pages long, but selectees are few if you filter out an individual year group. The LOI has specific wickets to hit: https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Porta...ignation/Lateral_Transfer_LOI_2021-08_Aug.pdf

I distinctly remember a bunch of LTs at USNA telling me during 1/C year, "Oh yeah, don't worry, you can definitely go SWO and apply for lateral transfer later." Not so simple.

 

[WolfPackGrunt]

I have a couple family members that leveraged their security clearance (6 yr enlistments in an intel community) into post-separation NSA-affiliated cyber careers. They are both in advanced/senior positions in their respective organizations. Both have post-separation IS/CompSci degrees as well. When asked, they will indicate that the security clearance opened the door.