Cyber Systems Major Now Offered at CGA

Alaskan said:
No guarantees.
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If they made it sound like I wouldn’t be able to pursue cyber systems if I got in I would go a different route to service then; whether it be NROTC, ROTC, USNA.... I want nothing more than to serve my country, but I want to be able to do what I’m good at and enjoy.
 
LurkingQuietly said:
You do understand that if you get commissioned, you probably would be spending the next 5 years on a cutter?
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AuxNoob said:
It is not common for an officer out of the Academy to do his or her five years consecutively on a cutter. Usually 2 years afloat, 2 years ashore, then afloat again. This doesn't include those who go to flight school at some point, or start at sectors. Two ensigns from 2017 and from 2018 went directly to Cyber Command.
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@AuxNoob is correct - it is not common and there is no "probably" that someone would spend 5 straight years on a cutter. The Academy is not entirely designed to produce cuttermen - contrary to the sometimes popular belief. The CG needs officers with other skills and the number of Academy graduates in a transfer cycle outweighs the number of cutter billets appropriate to their rank. Yes, the majority of graduates go to a cutter for two years. After that, people go to Flight School, Sector Response, Sector Prevention, Intelligence, Cyber, Search and Rescue Command Centers, Deployable Specialized Forces, Staff Tours in Finance, Logistics, Planning - there are a plethora of options out there and JOs are given the opportunity through the available job "shopping list" to explore their options.

Is it possible to spend 5 years straight on a cutter? Absolutely. Is it mandatory that you do so? Absolutely not. People perform better when they get to explore their interests - the detailers, for the most part, do attempt to align a member's interests w/ the needs of the service. I have a friend who is going into their fifth year underway - 2 years on a larger cutter and 3 years pre-commissioning as an Executive Officer. Other ways are 2 year first tour, one year tour in Bahrain, and then a 2 year tour in Command of a patrol boat. Those require high performance and high interest.

Alaskan said:
No guarantees.
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Certainly, there are no guarantees. Cyber is a growing field and the USCG would not authorize USCGA to introduce a new major like Cyber unless they had a vested interest in expanding that specialty for future and current officers. There are a decent number of Cyber jobs on this year's shopping list - CG Officers have the opportunity to apply for jobs at both CG and US Cyber Command. If @CyberSecurity17 is interested in both the Coast Guard and Cyber - he can put the two together.

HOWEVER, he cannot do Cyber for every tour. CyberSecurity, if you are accepted and eventually commissioned, there is a high probability your first tour will be on a cutter. After that, you can apply for Cyber - do well on your first tour and make yourself competitive to get your first pick by focusing on the job you're in at the time - whether its Cyber or something else. The CG expects officers to diversify - you cannot do Cyber every tour for 20+ years. You will need to do other jobs, other specialties. If you're interested in the CG, research the various CG Officer Specialities. The other side is competing with your fellow officers - there are only so many leadership positions an officer in Cyber can hold. You can do cyber - but your primary goal is to lead and manage others. The Officer Corps is a pyramid - the number of jobs get smaller as you rise to the top.
 
CyberSecurity17 said:
I understand I could be put on a cutter, obviously I would prefer to be on land working at a cyber command center but as long as I can do what I love (cyber security) then life will be fine.
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Given what you have indicated here, your preference for cyber work ashore, have you considered serving the country at one of the Federal “ABC” agencies? Most of them offer college programs and summer internships that give a boost toward employment in a Federal Agency doing important work. Most definitely ashore, likely all cyber all the time, and you have much more control over your career.

The civilian sister of one of our USNA sponsor family mids, majored in math at a well-known university, and spent her summers working for an instantly-recognizable ABC agency. She graduated, has an ultra-spooky clearance for her GS-12 job with them, and they are paying for her Master’s. She has an excellent career path in her field ahead of her. She is most definitely serving her country, just not in uniform.

https://www.intelligencecareers.gov/icstudents.html


https://www.nsa.gov/resources/students-educators/

https://www.fbijobs.gov/students/undergrad

https://www.fbijobs.gov/students

https://www.cia.gov/careers/student-opportunities/undergraduate-students.html



And many, many more...just use a “Federal Agency name” + “for students. “ You can also narrow the search and add “+cyber. “
 
alaska66 said:
Regarding the class ranking, the "anchor" of the class is always recognized at graduation. As for exact class rankings, those are confidential, but cadets know in general where their shipmates are in the class ranking. Regarding the 5 years on a cutter, it seems more recently that most first and second billets are afloat, with the third being ashore. However, as AuxNoob said, there are exceptions, such as flight school, sector, etc.. The billets of course are subject to change with the needs of the service, so future billets may be different.
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I don’t think class rank is confidential. I’m pretty sure I knew has far down I was. I’m not sure how I knew, but it was present as a xxx/216 or something like that.
 
LineInTheSand said:
I don’t think class rank is confidential. I’m pretty sure I knew has far down I was. I’m not sure how I knew, but it was present as a xxx/216 or something like that.
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Yes, cadets know their class rank, as they have to report it many times when they apply for leadership positions, etc.. My meaning by "confidential" is that there is no list published for those outside of CGA.
 
alaska66 said:
Yes, cadets know their class rank, as they have to report it many times when they apply for leadership positions, etc.. My meaning by "confidential" is that there is no list published for those outside of CGA.
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Oh ok!

I just remembered I was painfully aware of how low my rank was...
 
trackandfield08 said:
The CG expects officers to diversify - you cannot do Cyber every tour for 20+ years. You will need to do other jobs, other specialties. If you're interested in the CG, research the various CG Officer Specialities. The other side is competing with your fellow officers - there are only so many leadership positions an officer in Cyber can hold. You can do cyber - but your primary goal is to lead and manage others. The Officer Corps is a pyramid - the number of jobs get smaller as you rise to the top.
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This raises a question. How do pilots rise in rank and continue to fly?
 
LurkingQuietly said:
This raises a question. How do pilots rise in rank and continue to fly?
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Simple: As aviators rise in rank they take over logistical jobs at Air Stations. OPS, EO, XO, CO, LOGS, as well as do staff tours at districts, HQ, and area commands. It's important to remember that regardless of specialty an Officer is an Officer first and an aviator/cutterman/marine inspector second.

And just as in every other specialty, there is a certain level of natural attrition as you rise through the ranks.
 
alaska66 said:
Yes, cadets know their class rank, as they have to report it many times when they apply for leadership positions, etc.. My meaning by "confidential" is that there is no list published for those outside of CGA.
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Not quite true. With a few exceptions, class rankings are directly tied to where you are in the Order of Succession. Especially for your first two to three years out of the Academy these will line up almost perfectly.

https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Portals/1...FFICERS - FINAL.pdf?ver=2018-04-09-113820-763

Obviously the longer you are out of the Academy the more opportunity you have to see your SIGNO differ from your class rank... but for those first year(s) they should match pretty much exactly.
 
USCGA13STN said:
Not quite true. With a few exceptions, class rankings are directly tied to where you are in the Order of Succession. Especially for your first two to three years out of the Academy these will line up almost perfectly.

https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Portals/1...FFICERS - FINAL.pdf?ver=2018-04-09-113820-763

Obviously the longer you are out of the Academy the more opportunity you have to see your SIGNO differ from your class rank... but for those first year(s) they should match pretty much exactly.
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USCAG13StN....you are the "Answer Man" !
 
USCGA13STN said:
Not quite true. With a few exceptions, class rankings are directly tied to where you are in the Order of Succession. Especially for your first two to three years out of the Academy these will line up almost perfectly.

https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Portals/10/CG-1/psc/opm/docs/2018 REGISTER OF OFFICERS - FINAL.pdf?ver=2018-04-09-113820-763

Obviously the longer you are out of the Academy the more opportunity you have to see your SIGNO differ from your class rank... but for those first year(s) they should match pretty much exactly.
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Yes, once they are officers this list exists, however, as cadets there is not a public list. Perhaps I should have clarified that. I deal with parents of cadets, and I can just imagine what would occur if parents had access to the class rank while their child is at CGA...
 
CyberSecurity17. For your career and to get an excellent leadership experience you definitely want to serve afloat FIRST. You cannot do it the other way. At least First 2 years underway so you get your Platoon time with men and women on a cutter so you learn to be a leader first. CG is the only force that will get you to command a boat so early in your career. And you will get more respect in the CG if you do.

Cyber can come later later in your career. It’s better even for your Cyber Career to know what goes on in Ops first. The demand is growing every year and with a major in Cyber you’ll get attention. I believe you can request to be Cyber on your collateral. Although not guaranteed. If you start on land you can never do sea duty commanding on a cutter or a boat. Then you’ll miss the boat for good.

In the Navy same thing. Most will not go Cyber first unless you were injured and that’s all you wanted and were ranked relatively high in class. In the army they encourage you to start somewhere else’s before going Cyber. Army normally likes to hire Captain and above O3 and above grade. Air Force is the only exception encouraging to come directly into Cyber. And that’s because their force is made up that way. Either Pilot / Aviation or non Aviation.

My DS did his full due diligence and considered Cyber Major at USCGA and we talked to the department faculty, current Cyber officers and did a full day with Aviation flying UH60 in a training mission to get the CG experience. CG was very generous and he was the only one on that training mission with a crew of 4, 2 Pilots and 2 Crew. Bottom line, you can major anything and can end up in a career in anything. But the consensus is that unless you start in Aviation, you will want to start in a cutter to get your Ensign leadership time otherwise you can never go to sea duties and maybe on land all your career. And that career is not Cyber but something else. You may get Cyber from the start if you are at the top of your class and you are one of the 2 competing for it. I wouldn’t bet on this latto!

And in the military, you have to demonstrate that you can be good at more than ONE THING! The military like leaders who are multi-dimensional. Same is true in the civilian world. People who are one dimensional work for people who can take on many different tasks throughout their career. Military Commanders, CEOs, COO, CFO, CMO, CSO, CIO all have taken multidimensional responsibilities to get there. I would not trust someone who is narrow and one dimensional. That’s not what the battle space is like and how we fight battles in the real and virtual worlds.

My DS is a Plebe now at the USNA. Coming Spring, he plans on declaring major in Cyber Operations with History and Economics as Minors. Cyber is not Comp Sci, it is a mix of Comp Sci, Network, Law, Policy, Politics, and Strategy. It’s actually a great Major for Social Science and STEM minded person. Again for people who are multi-dimensional even in academics. You want to be good in both Humanities, Social Science, and STEM. And many schools are now offering this discipline at the college and grad school levels. Still only few Offer at the college level.

For Cyber major in college, my picks are:

USNA
USCGA
USAFA
NORWICH
STANFORD
 
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alaska66 said:
Yes, once they are officers this list exists, however, as cadets there is not a public list. Perhaps I should have clarified that. I deal with parents of cadets, and I can just imagine what would occur if parents had access to the class rank while their child is at CGA...
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Oh god that makes me shudder just thinking about it.
 
I would hesitate on Stanford for a bit. Last I looked Stanford had not earned a center of excellence rating from either DOD or NSA and DS' overtures their program was still very heavily research and graduate level.
If I had to pick another California school, I would pick the University of California at Davis. If I had to pick just another school, I would pick Worcester Polytechnic University in Massachusetts. Known as Little MIT, they have an incredible program and Fortune 100 business investment and internships. Several students went straight to Microsoft holdings making 6 figures immediately after last semester internships. Plus, still have ROTC ;)


https://www.cybersecuritymastersdegree.org/dhs-and-nsa-cae-cd-designated-schools-by-state/
 
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