And welcome back to the Career Hacking Village. One of the things that is always of interest to
many people are the various different career paths that are available in government agencies
and various different agencies that are part of national service. It is our honor and pleasure
to have a group of people here to share with us the various different opportunities where
talented professionals can work to support our country. I would like to turn this over now to
Joe Billingsley, the founder of the Military Cyber Professionals Association. Joe?
Hi Kathleen and everybody. I really appreciate the opportunity to lead the very first
national security panel at the Career Village. It's really inspiring the intent behind this
village and also Jeff Moss's words about connecting people with knowledge about different
career opportunities for folks across the community here. So really excited to be part of
that and to introduce you to a number of friends and partners from different parts of the U.S.
government who can tell you about different organizations and programs. And it's just
really exciting all the different stuff that's happening across the government and different
opportunities to serve. First, a quick introduction of myself. Joe Billingsley, founder of the Military
Cyber Professionals Association, a 501c3 charity that supports STEM education for K-12 and also
active duty military and veterans. I founded that with the motivation of us doing a better job as a
community for those who are in the service today and who might want to serve in military capacities
in the future. In addition to that, my day job, I'm a government civilian employee over at a school
called the College of Information and Cyberspace. It's a really exciting place to work. It has a
really long history going back to the 1960s when it was the DoD Computer Institute or the Department
of Defense Computer Institute and had faculty like the legendary Grace Hopper working there.
A really fun and exciting place to work that's also part of the U.S. government.
Now I'd like to quickly go down the list of panelists that we have here today. We have
John Felker, who's the Assistant Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency,
CISA, over at the Department of Homeland Security. We have Diane Janicek, the Commandant of the NSA's
National Cryptologic School and also President of the Women in Cybersecurity Mid-Atlantic Affiliate.
We have Chris Pimla, an engineer over at the U.S. Digital Service. We also have Roman Vitkovitsky,
who's from the U.S. Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary. And finally, we have Liz Popiak,
the recently retired Lieutenant Colonel who helped create the U.S. Army Cyber Specialty
Direct Commissioning Program. So with that, I'd like to start off and give each of you an
opportunity to introduce yourselves and tell us about your organization or program that you're
here to talk about today. And we'll get started with John. Go ahead. Thanks, Joe. I appreciate the
opportunity to be here today and to be with some really great people that are interested in this
this effort, particularly the effort surrounding workforce. So a little bit about CISA. CISA is a
relatively new organization. It's been in a transition from a DHS headquarters element to
an operating component since legislation was signed in late 2018 that created CISA as an agency.
Our major role is we serve as the nation's risk advisor and risk in terms of both cyber,
physical, and emergency communications aspects of critical infrastructure and the federal
government. So a lot of people don't know what we do. That's it in a nutshell.
We have basically five priorities that are the focus of what we do,
all related around the federal.gov space and the critical infrastructure of the United States.
If you keep in mind, probably 80% of the critical infrastructure in our country is
privately held. And so almost everything we do is voluntary. And in that five-level
priority list, election security, maintaining supply chain risk awareness, and countering,
particularly from China. And that's most apropos now because of the rollout of 5G technologies.
Protecting federal networks, securing soft targets, so stadiums, churches, those kinds of things.
And then recently evolving but always been important is critical infrastructure protection
for industrial control systems. So all those systems that operate the electric grid and water
stations and wastewater facilities and all those kinds of things. So it's a big mission.
We are a nationwide organization. We obviously have a headquarters element
in the Washington DC area, but we have folks out in the real world too, all over the nation
in 10 different regions, supporting those basic mission areas of security for cyber,
critical infrastructure, and communications. That it?
Great. Thanks a lot, John. How about you, Diane?
Well, hello, everyone. So I work for the National Security Agency, and it is an honor to be on
this career village focusing on national security because, as we all know, cyber security is
definitely a huge factor in our nation's national security and our economic security, right? Rests
upon a secure digital foundation. So really a pleasure to be here. So the National Security
Agency is a fabulous federal agency where I currently work. I also worked at a number of
other federal agencies, and they've all been equally rewarding and professionally satisfying.
I've had experience at the White House twice, the Pentagon, the Department of Justice. I've
worked on Capitol Hill. I worked for the Judiciary Branch and then in multiple elements in the
Department of Defense. So fabulous, fabulous place to really spend your career or just spend a few
years working on the federal service side. It's extremely rewarding. The National Security Agency
has an incredible mission. As we know, it really is there to protect our nation. So we have both a
cyber... we have a cyber security mission, and we also have a signals intelligence mission.
And so I think a little bit further, we're going to hear from Joe. He's going to ask us what jobs
are available, and we have phenomenal opportunities to learn. And they really are very professionally
rewarding, and the people that you work with love what they do. You know, you want to work in an
environment where people enjoy coming to work, enjoy working with you, and enjoying keep learning.
So I have the tremendous opportunity to lead one of a premier learning institution for the
national security cryptologic enterprise, a global enterprise around the world with tens of thousands
of students across multiple disciplines, including cryptology, cyber language, and leadership and
business. So I've enjoyed every step of the way along my federal career, and just really
appreciate the opportunity to be on the panel. Thanks so much, Diane. How about you, Chris?
You want to unmute, Chris? Got to focus right thing. All right. Hey, I'm Chris. I'm an engineer
from the U.S. Digital Service. We are a group of technologists. We work across the government
on a tour-de-duty model, so anywhere from like six months to four years, and we bring together
engineers, designers, product managers, and direct-to-see hackers to improve government
services for the American people. What's really great about U.S. Digital Service is we have an
opportunity to work all across government with lots of different agencies. So we have worked
on a lot of great public-facing services, making sure that we are trying to do the greatest good
for the greatest number of people and the greatest need. So projects like VA.gov, creating
a new portal that is user-focused for veterans to be able to get the services and benefits that
they have earned through their service. Working with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
to help people get green cards and their naturalization status is faster. Small Business
Administration, helping to help people get investments and start businesses and grow their
community. All sorts of things across the board. It's a really great group of opportunities.
No, thanks a lot, Chris, and especially thank you as a veteran. I really appreciate the work
that the U.S. Digital Service has done in that department. Now on to you, Roman.
Sure. Thanks, Joe, and thank you, Chris, for your help. As a recent veteran of the Marine Corps
myself, after serving about 30 years, I was about nine years enlisted and spent the remaining time
as an officer working in cyber and communications. Since then, I've now come in to join the Marine
Corps Cyber Auxiliary. And with the Cyber Auxiliary, we permit, we facilitate public-private
partnerships with the Marine Corps so that we can advance our national interests while keeping in
mind the fact that people would provide national service in a context which is safe for all of us.
Thanks, Joe. Wonderful. And how about you, Liz?
Well, as you mentioned earlier, I recently retired from the Army, a 20-year Army officer
as a cyber warfare professional, and most recently was the chief of the branch at the Office of the
Chief of Cyber at Fort Gordon, Georgia. The purpose of being on the panel today is to talk about the
program that I helped create in my last few years of service called the Army Cyber Specialty
Direct Commissioning Program. And this program was kind of the genesis of which was the Army
the recognition that there are concerned and talented civilians throughout our nation that
want to serve in a capacity of which they can't do in their private sector. For example, maybe
they want to exercise and project power in and through the networks and through cyberspace. And
as a civilian, that can be something that maybe is not necessarily illegal. So the cyber program
here was created to find a way for them to come and do that on behalf of their nation,
on behalf of their fellow citizens, also to defend our networks. As you mentioned, Joe,
most of the infrastructure belongs to private sector. So leveraging those public-private
partnerships, especially in some of the Title 32 National Guard organizations, they can do some of
those things. So for people who maybe have made their fortune, but maybe they want to come and
serve, they can participate in this program. There are many requirements. For example,
there's a background check they needed to pass to earn a top secret clearance. So that's something
people need to keep in mind. This is something that I'm very proud to help build. So I was able
to leverage my connections inside the National Security Agency, people in the Pentagon, Army
staff, and other services to help bring this program to fruition. Thanks. Awesome. Thank you
so much, Liz. Now, with the typical DEF CON attendee in mind, somebody with serious technical
skills, but somebody who also may not have ever worked for or with the government, can you please
talk about some of the opportunities provided by those organizations or programs that you're here
to discuss today? And if you want to talk about some of the benefits of serving through those
programs and some of the challenges, feel free to discuss those too. We'll get started with you,
same order, please. Okay, I didn't want to step on anything there, Joe. So, you know, you talked
about technical capability, and obviously, with a focus on cyber, that's something
that's inherent in what we do in CISA. We have, as I said earlier, a lot of the work,
how different things work, and being able to link those things together, create partnerships to
help critical infrastructure better defend themselves is essentially one of the core
things that we do. So, if you've got a lot of really high-priced talent, like we do,
everything from intelligence analysts to incident responders to threat hunters who go online,
both externally and internally, in the typical red team types, looking through
vulnerability management processes, and all the things you might expect from a technical
perspective. And by the way, we're hiring, and I'm going to say that probably six times today.
There are also less technical roles that we have in CISA that revolve around things like
governance, policy, practice, partnerships, and things like that. So, it's a combination of
technical and non-technical with a technical sort of a slant to help us do the mission that
we are charged with doing. And I think one of the things that's important to remember is,
with the stand-up of the agency, we've had an opportunity to sort of reset the culture.
And one of the big things that Director Krebs has been pushing has to do with
personnel development. How do we develop our folks from start to finish? What opportunities
do we provide them for training, for education, opportunities to actually practice their craft?
We have folks that get to do really cool stuff every single day. And that's one of the great
things about it. And if you want to encapsulate that all into one word, it's about mission.
We have a great mission. We have some great people to work on that mission. And our objective is to
train you, to develop you, and to help make you as professional and as solid as you can be
to do what you're charged to do. And then work you into our structure and get on with it.
The biggest thing, and this is a personal philosophy of mine, is train them, watch over
them so they become good, help them develop, and then turn them loose and let them do their job.
And I think that there's a lot of there's a lot of value in that. And by doing that, I think we
create a cycle of development. And one thing to point out too, and I think Liz might have said
this earlier, it relates to in government and out of government. I have no problem with people
leaving CISA. I like to keep them. But when they go out into the private sector, or they go into
a different federal agency, or a state and local agency for that matter, we always tell them you're
always welcome back. Because they bring another wealth of experience with them if we provide them
the opportunities to do that and encourage them to grow and to build on their skills. So that's
sort of how we look at it from my perspective, particularly if we're going to point right at
some of the typical participants at DEFCON. Well, thank you, John. And so the National Security
Agency partners really closely with DHS and CISA. And so a lot of what John said definitely applies
to my mission space. So to answer Joe's question, kind of, you know, what opportunities are available,
I thought I might just mention a little bit more about what NSA does. And then I'll give you a
couple of examples of things that you can do. The nice thing about the National Security Agency and
the Department of Defense is that they are truly committed to lifelong learning. As we know, the
cyber arena is so incredibly complex, changes every single day, the threats are different,
the nation state adversaries keep using different techniques. So you have to stay, you know, very
active in your learning. And that's on the job learning, formal training, and informal training,
and just a lot of opportunities. That's the enterprise that I work run is the learning
enterprise for so many intelligent, brilliant people. You know, we have PhDs will continue to,
you know, you have to, no matter what your grade level is, in terms of your academics,
you keep going further. So the National Security Agency is a unique asset for our country. We save
lives, defends vital networks, and we advance U.S. goals and alliances. So we're a member of the
Department of Defense and the intelligence community. So it makes it pretty interesting
because your mission is so incredibly rewarding. And to mention what John said about going in and
out of the government sector and the private sector coming back. We love that and it's valued
and celebrated because the more talents and knowledge that you have, you're going to help us
be better and help our country be better and really, really grow. So the National Security
Agency is a world leader in cryptology, the art and science of making and breaking codes. And it's
an expertise that we get from people and technology, right? It's got, we really need that people
component. So if you find that, you know, the mission interesting, you know, definitely consider
it. And so the reason why it makes it a little bit different is because for us to do our jobs
well and really help our nation be strong, we need to understand what our adversaries are doing,
what the capabilities are, and we also need to be able to communicate and exchange some of our
information with our own allies and our senior leaders. So we need to understand what's going
on and then also provide for secure communications. So it's pretty exciting with SIGINT and
cybersecurity. So the opportunities are tremendous at NSA.gov. We have developmental programs.
You'll even get, you know, you'll be paid to get to continue your education while you're going
through it. We have tremendous opportunities for physicians. There's computer network defense
analysts, computer network operators, capabilities development specialists. So folks that understand
and provide real-time sensitive mission support by maintaining situational awareness of potential
cyber threats. They leverage technical methods to manage and monitor and execute large-scale
operations. So if you're, if that sounds remotely interesting to you, and as I said, we really just,
we just want the best talent. If that sounds remotely interesting to you, I recommend you,
you know, go to intelligencecareers.gov, take a look at that, and it might just be the time for
you to take a look at it and really jump in. And what you'll find is people have a profound
sense of contribution and service to the nation. We've had a number of incredibly brilliant people
leave, do startups, then actually want to come back to the agency, not for the money, but because
the mission and how incredibly rewarding it is to just be, you know, really putting Americans first.
So thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk about what we do, because it's really,
I hope you'd join us. Thank you. And yeah, so it's, USDS, I feel, is a pretty unique position.
So as an engineer at USDS, we touch on so many different projects. There's so many different
opportunities that we have to serve and make an impact. So I would say just to someone coming
to USDS, there's, you really have a wide range of opportunities to find ways to make a great
impact on the public. And some of that is very technical work. We develop and ship applications.
We get websites working that crash. We do security audits. We, you know, we do discovery sprints
and dig through systems and give recommendations to help an agency make improvements and make
investments in technology. But they all have in common is a big impact, a big real-world impact
on the public. Like the others have said, the mission is really something that is
just hard, hard to beat. And it's also something that really resonates with me, but
it's just everyone that we work with. We're all here because of that. We're here because we're
we want to, we are aligned in that mission to help people. I come from the private sector. A lot of
folks in the USDS do. And for a lot of folks, this is our first job in the private, in the public
sector. And so, you know, I've worked around places and I've enjoyed my opportunities, but
you know, I was looking for something more and I was looking for a way that I could use my skills
to really do the most that I could, that really was worth spending the time and the effort to do.
Pour my heart into all this work and to have it really be meaningful. But I would also say that,
you know, engineers, I'm an engineer. I love engineering. I love talking about tabs and spaces
and crypto and what language is better and which editor to use. But it's also not just about
engineers. It's also, technology is important, but it's also about solving the right problems and
solving in a way that actually works for people. So we're also looking for great designers. We're
looking for great product managers, people who understand the way that technology is not a tool
and a website is not just a tool, but it's a service that needs to be designed with the user
in mind and designed in a way that works for them and isn't just kind of made to tick off some
requirements or some boxes. It's got to be thought through from start to finish as an experience for
the user that really works for them. Thanks, Chris. You know, the Marine Corps Sub-Auxiliary
is a unique organization, right? Like some of us here, it's a volunteer organization. And what we're
trying to do then is enhance the Marine Corps' ability to operate in cyberspace. So we recently
came across a situation where we didn't have formally trained and designated Marines in
cyberspace. And it's only been within the last couple of years that we've had an occupational
field for cyberspace operations. And we've now had the first Marines cross the yellow footprints at
boot camp, graduate and enter the field to become cyberspace operators in the Marine Corps. We've
had people operating the Marine Corps in cyber for 30 years, of course, but we've always been
organized somewhat differently. Now we've come together formally on the 1700 MOS field,
and we are working together to move forward. What the Sub-Auxiliary does is it takes volunteers
from civil service, excuse me, volunteers from the private sector, and allows people who currently
might serve billets in civil service or augmented through contractors who perhaps previously served
and have been honorably discharged. And it permits those people who are U.S. citizens,
who have a minimum of three years experience in the cyber industry, who are highly regarded in
their field, and are enthusiastic volunteers. And it takes them, brings them forward to help shape,
to train, to educate, to advise, and to mentor the young Marines moving forward in cyber. And we'll
talk a little bit more about some of those opportunities that have come across and where
people have made a huge impact. Suffice it to say that the Cyber-Aux is part of that larger
Marine Corps effort to posture our forces to operate in the information environment
more effectively and were managed by highly qualified talent in uniform. And to wrap it
all up, frankly, like Liz can point out, if you are interested in wearing a uniform and popping
back in, you've got an opportunity through her program. However, if you do not need to wear a
uniform, and if you are not particularly interested in crossing those physical security, those physical
fitness standards of a Marine Corps, of the military, you'll still be welcome to join us
here at the Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary. Go ahead, Liz. Thanks, Roman. So people who wish to wear a
uniform, the Cyber Specialty Direct Commissioning Program might be for you. If it's something you've
considered, at least consider applying. You never know when your particular skills may be in
high demand to help your nation accomplish their goals. And if you also have a leadership,
you know, streak, you say, yeah, I want to be a leader. I want to help coach, train, and mentor others
and put my skills to work. Some of the skills that are in demand as of when before I retired
are software engineers looking for data scientists, machine learning expertise, OpenStack engineers,
ICS data expertise. I know John knows that's in high demand. AI expertise as well. So there's,
for example, there's a whole center the DOD has built for artificial intelligence. And last I
checked, Army was working with them to build some requirements for uniformed Army Cyber
Warfare officers to come and work there with those folks at that joint artificial intelligence
center. A high-impact example of one of our direct commissionees was we had a civilian who felt like
he had made his fortune and was a prior service individual, applied for the program, and was
accepted. One of the first two people commissioned in the program helped build the virtual persistent
training environment for all of the Army's cyberspace operators to use. This was a program
that had been developing for many years but was really able to kick it into high gear and apply
their software engineering expertise and really get it built and out the door functional, fully
operationally capable for people to use. And I think people probably, Diane at the agency, may
also use this persistent training environment that was built. So you never know when you'll be
able to have an impact until you try. And so I highly encourage everyone to consider serving in a
uniform. You can find more information about the current requirements at goarmy.com forward slash
cyber. That's the website you can go. There's a link there for the direct commissioning program
and the current requirements should be listed there for you to review. There's also instructions
on how to apply. So benefits of serving in a uniform. So there are many benefits I think
for uniform service. The minimum number of years to achieve some of these benefits is
three years and I think 90 days. So given a tour, you don't need to sign up for any longer than your
first tour to achieve some of these. But if you're interested in say the post 9-11 GI Bill, for your
own professional education, master's degree, this can be transferred to your children or even to
your spouse. So that provides money for graduate level and undergraduate degree programs for them.
Also access to a VA loan program, home loan program. So we're able to afford a home with
a zero percent down zero down payment on the home. That's something that uniform members of
all services have access to. That might be attractive to somebody who's interested in
buying a home. You should also know for SARBRI Army Cyber Warfare Officers, most of our assignments
are at Fort Gordon, Georgia and Fort Meade, Maryland. So if you like Fort Meade and you
like Fort Gordon, please consider Cyber Warfare might be the branch for you. We don't have many
positions in places like say Fort Hood, Texas. That's not someplace you send people. You don't
have to be worried about going to Antarctica or Alaska or places that, I mean, we're far from
locations. And we also now have Army Cyber Headquarters is moving to Fort Gordon, I
anticipate in the next year. And also Cyber Command Headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland.
That's another place we have a lot of assignments there. But that's part of the
requirements and there's developing locations where you can see future service. So some other
benefits are listed at militaryonesource.mil as a website. So in lieu of listing all of them,
I encourage you to go visit militaryonesource.mil or goarmy.com forward slash cyber to get that
information there. And one other place you can get information if you have your pencils handy
is to, on your phone, text the word cyberspace, one word, to 22828. And that will put you in
contact with a recruiter at the Office of the Chief of Cyber, and they'll get in contact with
you about opportunities to serve. Cool. That was a really great rundown, everybody. Thank you so
much. With us running out of time, unfortunately, for this panel, I just wanted to go down the list
one more time, see if you had any closing thoughts and words and any tangible advice
that you'd like to share with the audience. Well, sure. Obviously, coming into government
service has its challenges. There is a challenge, obviously, between pay in the federal government
and other government and the private sector. There's the challenge of navigating the hiring
process, which can be very difficult in government. There's the challenge of getting a security
clearance if you haven't gotten one already. And if you're considering coming to work with us in
CISA, you can help us to push the envelope on all those challenges with the idea in mind that this
is about the mission. And if you come in with a mission focus, you're going to have some great
success. The collateral to that, in my mind, is we are trying to take what was a headquarters
component element, now an operational agency, and make a huge cultural change. And some of the
things that we're pushing are innovation, speed, partnerships, and keeping it all within
that mission focus. So if you have the desire, we're looking, we're hiring. We've got plenty
of positions, both in the D.C. area and around the nation, where we're looking for quality
cyber talent and people who have a mission focus. So I'll leave it at that, Joe, and I'll give it
over to the next in line, Diane. Great, thank you, John. And I just wanted to say, you know,
consider this opportunity for federal service if you have the remotest interest in working with
people that are innovative and passionate, love what they do, continual learners, commitment to
just partnering and collaborating. It's a great environment. You know, and also I wanted to
mention for, it is a little more male-dominated, as you know, but there are professional communities
like women in cyber security that give you a sense of community outside the workplace to really
help you, give you the skills that you might need inside the workplace to navigate that.
So love to see you, and thank you so much. Yeah, I would just say definitely, I never really
thought that I would necessarily end up being a federal employee. You never really know what's
going to happen, but you know, we, as technologists, we have a really incredible amount of power with
the skills that we have, and government is a really great place to make a huge impact with
that power. So USDS, we have a unique model where we do terms of service. So it doesn't
have to be a lifelong commitment. We can do as short as like three to six months and up to four
years. So if you want to do that and then go back to private sector, then we are very happy to have
you and have your impact. usds.gov is our website. And if you want to see also more information
about some of the work we do, at the bottom of the page, we have our impact report we just listed
talking about some of the big projects that we've done in the last year, including some of the
things that I've been lucky enough to work on. But yeah, we really are trying to break down that
bridge, build bridges and break down those walls between private and public sector and bring the
best of private sector technology into government and improve everything for the American people.
Thanks, Chris. We've all heard that advice, you should bloom where you're planted. And there have been
many, many opportunities to do that here. If you'd like to be a Marine, there is a path in cyber if
you want to wear a uniform. If you find that you have other skills, and perhaps you've held a career
elsewhere in life, you can still affect Marines who serve by shaping Capture the Flag exercises
and developing other tools that might help Marines in uniform. You can also assist
with our summer programs, helping with the young Marines and helping with those who
provide STEM education for young people in our country who are then shaped to serve themselves
better through a cyber career path. As you move forward, one thing that I'd like to leave you with
is you could follow us on LinkedIn, and you can help to serve wherever you are in the nation today
without having to wear a uniform, but with having your heart in the right place. And that brings us
to Liz. Thanks, Roman. So the things to keep in mind with uniform service that may not be as
comfortable is the physical training requirements. So if you're not familiar with some of the
requirements for the different services, in particular my experience with the Army,
you can find that on GoArmy.com. So the physical fitness test, you'll need to take that twice a
year, and then you'll need to be able to pass those standards to pass your basic school. So that's
really very important to understand. And also keep in mind that you're a technologist, like as
Chris was describing, you know, a technologist focused, but you're also a leader. So and you'll
be a leader of soldiers in the Army, in the Air Force. I understand it started as a community
program as well. Great. Well, thank you very much, Liz, and everybody on the panel, and Kathleen,
and also Travis, and the other folks behind the scenes. The only things that I'm going to leave
you with is a reminder about USAjobs.gov, which is a huge database of a lot of opportunities for
employment across the U.S. government. And also because I didn't mention it earlier, as a disclaimer,
everybody's opinions expressed in this panel were their own and not necessarily those of any
government entity. And with that, I'm going to hand it back over to Kathleen. Thank you so much,
everybody. So great panel, everyone. Thank you so much. I know that you opened everyone's eyes to
new opportunities for their careers. I want the audience to know that also within the career
coaches, we do have at least 40 percent of the career coaches have had some kind of government
service or military service, so they are open to be able to provide you their perspectives
and their tips on how to fulfill your career within national service. We also do have resume
reviewers, recruiters who are familiar with recruiting for federal agencies and for government
contractors. Thank you so much, everyone, and thank you to all of our panelists. We'll see you for the
next session.