Army identifies Soldiers for new Cyber Branch

AA2
February 5, 2015
ACROSS DOD
www.FortHoodSentinel.com
Army identifies Soldiers for new Cyber Branch
This week, all Soldiers who
applied were notified if they were
selected or not, he said.
WASHINGTON — Shortly after
“Those who were selected really
the secretary of the Army made deserve our congratulations,” said
Cyber a branch in September 2014, Col. Jennifer Buckner, commana Cyber Voluntary Transfer Incen- dant of the Cyber School at the
tive Program was announced, asking U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excelfor applications from
lence, Fort Gordon,
active-duty officers,
Georgia. “We consecond lieutenant
sidered a very large
through colonel.
application
pool,
“The response was
and the talent level
overwhelming,” said
among the applicants
Lt. Col. Tim Groves, This historic
was very, very high.
Cyber Branch chief,
think it was a very
evolution signals Isuccessful
Officer
Personfirst selecnel
Management cyber as a
tion process, and
Directorate, Human
it resulted in some
Resources
Com- growing and
great officers joining
mand, Fort Knox, vital operational
our branch.”
Kentucky.
But that’s not the
More than 1,500 capability... We
end of it for those
emails and phone know we have
who weren’t acceptcalls came in to HRC
ed, Groves said.
inquiring about a within our ranks
Many not accepted
transfer to Cyber
were still highly qualBranch, Groves said. — active, Guard
ified, with careers or
About 700 trans- and Reserve — a
degrees in science,
fer request packets
technology, math or
were received and vast talent pool
engineering; prior
reviewed by a board that possesses
service in cyber jobs
of officers from HRC
within signal or miliand from within the the intellect,
tary intelligence; or
cyber field, and 20
aptitude and skill sets
experience and
percent were selectthat would indicate
ed.
future success in the
enthusiasm
“This historic evocyber branch.
lution signals cyber needed to build
“Obviously, we
as a growing and vital our cyber force.
did not completely
operational capability
fill the branch on
for our Army,” said This is only the
this first round of
Lt. Gen. Edward C. beginning.
selections, so those
Cardon, commander
who weren’t selectof U.S. Army Cyber
ed will have other
Command.
“We –Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon
chances to join our
know we have within
branch,” Buckner
our ranks – active,
said. “I’d encourage
Guard and Reserve
them to apply again.
– a vast talent pool
There are enormous
that possesses the
opportunities and
intellect, experience
enormous challenges
and enthusiasm needed to build our ahead of us, and we’ll continue to
cyber force. This is only the begin- fill our branch with the talented
ning.”
people who can help us meet them.”
BY DAVID VERGUN
Army News Service
Photo by David Vergun, ARNEWS
Shortly after the secretary of the Army made Cyber a branch in September 2014, a Cyber Voluntary Transfer Incentive
Program was announced in Military Personnel message 14-298, asking for applications from active-duty officers, second
lieutenant through colonel. Pictured here is a Cyber JUICE exercise at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., open to the media.
Another military personnel message is expected to come out next
month, announcing more openings
for officers. The strategy of staggering the buildup of the Cyber
Branch from zero to full capacity is
to adjust the accession process and
ensure the selections come from the
best talent pool, Groves said.
Later this year, Groves expects
there will be announcements for
warrant officers and enlisted who
may wish to apply for the new
branch.
“We here in EP (the U.S. Army
Human Resources Command’s
Enlisted Personnel Management
Directorate) are taking an active
and aggressive role in the development of a Military Occupational
Specialty ... 17-Charlie, which is the
enlisted component of the Army’s
cyber units,” said Col. Douglas
Stitt, the directorate’s director.
The MOS should come online
in the fall of this year, he said. In
the meantime, HRC’s Signal and
Intelligence Branches, along with
the newly created Cyber Branch,
are working to identify enlisted
men and women to classify into
the MOS, establishing career plans
and maps, looking at retention
and determining how to assess new
Soldiers and bring them into the
force.
Standing up a new branch is not
a common undertaking, Groves
said. The last major branch the
Army stood up was Special Forces
in 1987.
The advantages to Soldiers working in cyber and having their own
branch are substantial, he said.
For example, they now get to
have their own career path, complete with professional military education. They also get
more stability in their field,
meaning they won’t be assigned
other duties like military intelligence
or signal, which would mean their
cyber skill set would atrophy over
time.
The career path for officers being
developed by the Cyber Center of
Excellence will be similar to any
other officer career path, he added,
meaning advancement through
Basic Officer Leadership Course,
Captain’s Career Course, Command and General Staff College
and so on.
Additionally, there will be broadening opportunities to train with
industry and degree programs for
masters and doctorates in cyberrelated fields. It’s an exciting time
to be in cyber, he said.
“This absolutely signals a very
bright future for Army cyber,”
Buckner said.
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