Cyber Operations Officer (17A) vs. Cyber and Electronic Warfare Officer (17B)

Theodicious

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Jul 16, 2019
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I read with interest a thread about the role of a 17A. I have a few related (and unrelated) questions:

1. In brief, layperson terms, what is the difference between these. I read what is posted on the US Army website but it was not that clear how the roles differ.

2. I have the sense that 17A is very competitive. Is that true of 17B as well?

3. Does anyone know if both of these positions will hire (applied) math majors?

4. How would 17A differ from the same job title at the CIA: https://www.cia.gov/careers/opportunities/support-professional/cyber-operations-officer.html

5. Does anyone have a sense of what the pay would be for a second lieutenant?

6. If a ROTC graduate ended up in the Reserves, what is the likelihood of active duty for these posts?

Any thoughts gratefully received.
 
I can answer #5. Unless I'm mistaken it's the same base pay as every other 2nd Lt. Officer and enlisted pay scales are public and can easily be found with a simple google search.
 
A few answers
Cyber officers focus on conducting offensive and defensive cyber ops. Think breaking into networks and stopping others from breaking into military networks.

Electronic warfare is using electronic signals to either disrupt an enemy or protect friendly forces. There is some overlap in the area they operate in and how those ops are planned (the officer role) so some of the training will be merged.

The difference between intelligence and military cyber operations is one is used to gather information and the latter can be used to create an effect. For an example google Stuxnet.

For cyber operations math could be applicable if coupled with strong coursework in programming or computer science.

The salary for cyber is like other officers but cyber soldiers also can receive special bonuses and incentives that make it quite a bit higher.
 
3. Does anyone know if both of these positions will hire (applied) math majors?

So does Chem Corps. Nothing is guaranteed.

6. If a ROTC graduate ended up in the Reserves, what is the likelihood of active duty for these posts?

Does it matter?

Thanks very much for these helpful responses. All duly noted. Yes, it does matter because I've been told that active duty is more competitive in ROTC than reserves and so if my child ended up in Reserves, we would want to know the likelihood of possibly getting a deployment. On the other hand, maybe my child would prefer to stay in the Reserves while working and at least we would want to figure out what to expect in terms of deployments. He has expressed no reservations about deployment but we want to have eyes wide open going into this process. We are at the very early stages of information gathering so all data points are useful. :help:
 
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