Information about Army Cyber Operations Officer MOS
- Thread starter Padre101
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Do you know where USMA cadets go to grad school in CS?
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They can go to a lot of places like MIT or Stanford. Despite acceptances to other prestigious programs, my #1 was sort of strong armed into using his scholarship at Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. There were ROTC and USMA cadets in the program. The first year started in the summer of 2016.
I can see the advantages of the Army using the well established Navy Cyber masters program to quickly build capacity from an existing program. The NPS program was 1 year. Now BOLC at Ft Gordon. Also by going to the military school, there may be some advantage in learning how to do things in a very internal and DoD focused manner. That is my take on it, not my #1's.
I can see the advantages of the Army using the well established Navy Cyber masters program to quickly build capacity from an existing program. The NPS program was 1 year. Now BOLC at Ft Gordon. Also by going to the military school, there may be some advantage in learning how to do things in a very internal and DoD focused manner. That is my take on it, not my #1's.
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Wow, very interesting. I guess NPS costs the military less money versus a civilian graduate school. Still a very awesome opportunity. Congrats to your DS.
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Is being on the USMA Cyber Team still an unofficial prerequisite to be selected for the Cyber Branch?
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Actually I think it is the content. These kids are not going to work at Microsoft or Palo Alto Networks. These kids are going to do National Security relevant cyber operations. You train for that at NPS.
emwvmi01
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A few thoughts on this as someone who has some visibility on these issues though not a cyber officer.
1. There are a variety of programs for advanced education for Cyber officers including through Carnegie-Mellon. I am not tracking we're utilizing the NPS route as much though I suppose it is an option.
2. Ranger slots are available for cyber officers. There are places where both skillsets would apply.
3. No branch detail that I am aware of because the inverse pyramid doesn't apply as much right now in cyber. There are lots of junior officer positions on cyber teams and it is a growing branch. There are opportunities to VTIP in now but that is really to build the branch in the mid/senior grade levels mainly from the signal and intel community. However, I don't know if that will be a continued thing in 5-10 years when cyber officers who came in from pre-commissioning start reaching the field grade levels.
1. There are a variety of programs for advanced education for Cyber officers including through Carnegie-Mellon. I am not tracking we're utilizing the NPS route as much though I suppose it is an option.
2. Ranger slots are available for cyber officers. There are places where both skillsets would apply.
3. No branch detail that I am aware of because the inverse pyramid doesn't apply as much right now in cyber. There are lots of junior officer positions on cyber teams and it is a growing branch. There are opportunities to VTIP in now but that is really to build the branch in the mid/senior grade levels mainly from the signal and intel community. However, I don't know if that will be a continued thing in 5-10 years when cyber officers who came in from pre-commissioning start reaching the field grade levels.
Congrats to your son. Our DS will be heading to Ft. Gordon as well for Signal. He is also a computer science major
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He chose Signal because it sparked his interest at BC along with Cyber. He was looking for something that went along with his Major of Computer Science and that seemed to be a perfect fit. However, he will be okay with doing anything he is assigned to do. He wants to defend his Country anyway that he can.
Congratulations indeed @spice3389 !
Another take from 20 months post SBOLC at Ft. Gordon.
I posted this in response to a Cadet's inquiry about Signal earlier this year. I would only add two things. First, Ranger School and Special Forces are open to Signal Officers, though they would go into qualification at a distinct disadvantage to Infantry soldiers, requiring quite a bit of self-directed PT. Second, my DS's level of challenge and and satisfaction has only grown since the time of this post.
My DS's first choice was Cyber, when it was a new branch and only took a couple of USMA CS majors. He was AROTC. Cyber is more Mark Zuckerberg. Signal is more Verizon Guy that hooked your house to fiber.
"It is a fair assumption that you are comfortable with all things math/science related, you like being active and like seeing the fruits of your labor. This was a description of my DS, a 1Lt. in the Signal Branch. He thought neither in terms of 5 and dive nor serving 20 years. It was always serving until it was no longer fun and "what will I be qualified to do when I leave--at whatever age?"
Signal does not get the respect (for lack of a better term), of other branches. It is associated more with the pocket protector crowd so you have to have the technical skills. However, if you are a practical, can do type with good communication skills and can PT like a mother, then you can differentiate yourself and become a valuable commodity for the combat arms branches. You can even do some cool guy stuff. As with any branch, one's duty station can make a whole lot of difference to your level of satisfaction. My son's first duty station was/is a place where he is constantly being asked to solve problems and direct soldiers in executing plans. His soldiers tend to be a little more educated and/or technically skilled.
He commented recently that this is the first time in his life his intellect and skills are not just being recognized, but also being specifically called upon. In other words he is very happy.
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Thank you so much for this insight.