WEBVTT 00:04.500 --> 00:07.380 And welcome back to the Career Hacking Village. 00:07.380 --> 00:19.860 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. 00:19.860 --> 00:30.620 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. 00:30.620 --> 00:37.900 I would like to turn this over now to Joe Billingsley, the founder of the Military Cyber Professionals Association. 00:37.900 --> 00:38.820 Joe? 00:43.190 --> 00:45.330 Hi Kathleen and everybody. 00:45.330 --> 00:53.530 I really appreciate the opportunity to lead the very first national security panel at the Career Village. 00:53.530 --> 01:06.790 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. 01:06.790 --> 01:14.590 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. 01:14.590 --> 01:18.190 government who can tell you about different organizations and programs. 01:18.190 --> 01:25.510 And it's just really exciting all the different stuff that's happening across the government and different opportunities to serve. 01:26.230 --> 01:28.990 First, a quick introduction of myself. 01:28.990 --> 01:41.830 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. 01:41.830 --> 01:55.610 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. 01:55.610 --> 02:04.550 In addition to that, my day job, I'm a government civilian employee over at a school called the College of Information and Cyberspace. 02:04.550 --> 02:07.010 It's a really exciting place to work. 02:07.010 --> 02:20.090 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. 02:20.090 --> 02:23.950 A really fun and exciting place to work that's also part of the U.S. 02:23.950 --> 02:24.510 government. 02:25.090 --> 02:30.290 Now I'd like to quickly go down the list of panelists that we have here today. 02:30.290 --> 02:40.490 We have John Felker, who's the Assistant Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, over at the Department of Homeland Security. 02:40.590 --> 02:48.990 We have Diane Janicek, the Commandant of the NSA's National Cryptologic School and also President of the Women in Cybersecurity Mid-Atlantic Affiliate. 02:48.990 --> 02:53.010 We have Chris Pimla, an engineer over at the U.S. 02:53.010 --> 02:54.050 Digital Service. 02:54.110 --> 02:59.450 We also have Roman Vitkovitsky, who's from the U.S. 02:59.450 --> 03:01.590 Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary. 03:01.590 --> 03:08.610 And finally, we have Liz Popiak, the recently retired Lieutenant Colonel who helped create the U.S. 03:08.610 --> 03:11.770 Army Cyber Specialty Direct Commissioning Program. 03:12.030 --> 03:24.110 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. 03:24.110 --> 03:25.950 And we'll get started with John. 03:25.950 --> 03:27.050 Go ahead. 03:28.370 --> 03:29.370 Thanks, Joe. 03:29.370 --> 03:41.770 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. 03:42.070 --> 03:44.270 So a little bit about CISA. 03:44.270 --> 03:46.910 CISA is a relatively new organization. 03:47.710 --> 04:01.370 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. 04:01.830 --> 04:16.690 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. 04:16.690 --> 04:19.210 So a lot of people don't know what we do. 04:19.210 --> 04:20.750 That's it in a nutshell. 04:21.030 --> 04:35.710 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. 04:35.710 --> 04:42.930 If you keep in mind, probably 80% of the critical infrastructure in our country is privately held. 04:42.930 --> 04:46.530 And so almost everything we do is voluntary. 04:46.530 --> 04:59.630 And in that five-level priority list, election security, maintaining supply chain risk awareness, and countering, particularly from China. 04:59.630 --> 05:05.690 And that's most apropos now because of the rollout of 5G technologies. 05:05.710 --> 05:15.370 Protecting federal networks, securing soft targets, so stadiums, churches, those kinds of things. 05:15.630 --> 05:25.030 And then recently evolving but always been important is critical infrastructure protection for industrial control systems. 05:25.030 --> 05:32.590 So all those systems that operate the electric grid and water stations and wastewater facilities and all those kinds of things. 05:32.590 --> 05:34.350 So it's a big mission. 05:34.350 --> 05:36.990 We are a nationwide organization. 05:36.990 --> 05:59.110 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. 05:59.350 --> 05:59.970 That it? 06:01.950 --> 06:02.570 Great. 06:02.570 --> 06:03.410 Thanks a lot, John. 06:03.410 --> 06:04.670 How about you, Diane? 06:10.920 --> 06:12.800 Well, hello, everyone. 06:12.860 --> 06:29.080 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? 06:29.080 --> 06:31.060 Rests upon a secure digital foundation. 06:31.060 --> 06:34.160 So really a pleasure to be here. 06:34.160 --> 06:38.460 So the National Security Agency is a fabulous federal agency where I currently work. 06:38.460 --> 06:45.520 I also worked at a number of other federal agencies, and they've all been equally rewarding and professionally satisfying. 06:45.520 --> 06:50.080 I've had experience at the White House twice, the Pentagon, the Department of Justice. 06:50.080 --> 06:51.460 I've worked on Capitol Hill. 06:51.460 --> 06:56.660 I worked for the Judiciary Branch and then in multiple elements in the Department of Defense. 06:56.660 --> 07:05.340 So fabulous, fabulous place to really spend your career or just spend a few years working on the federal service side. 07:05.340 --> 07:06.960 It's extremely rewarding. 07:06.960 --> 07:10.020 The National Security Agency has an incredible mission. 07:10.020 --> 07:13.260 As we know, it really is there to protect our nation. 07:13.260 --> 07:14.620 So we have both a cyber... 07:14.620 --> 07:19.620 we have a cyber security mission, and we also have a signals intelligence mission. 07:19.760 --> 07:22.500 And so I think a little bit further, we're going to hear from Joe. 07:22.500 --> 07:28.580 He's going to ask us what jobs are available , and we have phenomenal opportunities to learn. 07:28.920 --> 07:34.060 And they really are very professionally rewarding, and the people that you work with love what they do. 07:34.060 --> 07:39.940 You know, you want to work in an environment where people enjoy coming to work, enjoy working with you, and enjoying keep learning. 07:39.940 --> 07:54.580 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, 07:54.580 --> 07:56.420 cyber language, and leadership and business. 07:56.420 --> 08:03.820 So I've enjoyed every step of the way along my federal career, and just really appreciate the opportunity to be on the panel. 08:06.080 --> 08:07.380 Thanks so much, Diane. 08:07.380 --> 08:08.540 How about you, Chris? 08:17.900 --> 08:19.620 You want to unmute, Chris? 08:23.110 --> 08:24.590 Got to focus right thing. 08:24.650 --> 08:25.190 All right. 08:25.190 --> 08:28.490 Hey, I'm Chris. 08:28.490 --> 08:29.650 I'm an engineer from the U.S. 08:29.650 --> 08:30.730 Digital Service. 08:30.830 --> 08:32.490 We are a group of technologists. 08:32.490 --> 08:46.090 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. 08:46.450 --> 08:48.550 What's really great about U.S. 08:48.550 --> 08:53.490 Digital Service is we have an opportunity to work all across government with lots of different agencies. 08:53.710 --> 09:03.810 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. 09:04.390 --> 09:13.490 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. 09:13.830 --> 09:15.570 Working with U.S. 09:15.570 --> 09:22.870 Citizenship and Immigration Services to help people get green cards and their naturalization status is faster. 09:23.010 --> 09:29.790 Small Business Administration, helping to help people get investments and start businesses and grow their community. 09:30.190 --> 09:31.890 All sorts of things across the board. 09:31.890 --> 09:35.290 It's a really great group of opportunities. 09:38.350 --> 09:41.450 No, thanks a lot, Chris, and especially thank you as a veteran. 09:41.450 --> 09:44.050 I really appreciate the work that the U.S. 09:44.050 --> 09:46.830 Digital Service has done in that department. 09:47.410 --> 09:48.830 Now on to you, Roman. 09:50.010 --> 09:50.670 Sure. 09:50.930 --> 09:52.850 Thanks, Joe, and thank you, Chris, for your help. 09:52.850 --> 10:02.510 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. 10:02.590 --> 10:05.890 Since then, I've now come in to join the Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary. 10:05.970 --> 10:18.490 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. 10:18.870 --> 10:19.730 Thanks, Joe. 10:22.480 --> 10:23.240 Wonderful. 10:23.240 --> 10:24.480 And how about you, Liz? 10:26.820 --> 10:40.440 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. 10:41.280 --> 10:50.760 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. 10:50.880 --> 11:07.100 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. 11:07.100 --> 11:13.240 For example, maybe they want to exercise and project power in and through the networks and through cyberspace. 11:13.240 --> 11:17.100 And as a civilian, that can be something that maybe is not necessarily illegal. 11:17.320 --> 11:25.660 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. 11:25.660 --> 11:29.300 As you mentioned, Joe, most of the infrastructure belongs to private sector. 11:29.500 --> 11:37.460 So leveraging those public-private partnerships, especially in some of the Title 32 National Guard organizations, they can do some of those things. 11:37.620 --> 11:44.820 So for people who maybe have made their fortune, but maybe they want to come and serve, they can participate in this program. 11:44.920 --> 11:46.660 There are many requirements. 11:46.740 --> 11:51.500 For example, there's a background check they needed to pass to earn a top secret clearance. 11:51.500 --> 11:53.840 So that's something people need to keep in mind. 11:56.160 --> 11:59.440 This is something that I'm very proud to help build. 11:59.440 --> 12:10.020 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. 12:10.020 --> 12:10.740 Thanks. 12:13.300 --> 12:14.020 Awesome. 12:14.020 --> 12:15.580 Thank you so much, Liz. 12:15.740 --> 12:36.200 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? 12:36.200 --> 12:44.540 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. 12:49.020 --> 12:52.120 We'll get started with you, same order, please. 12:53.340 --> 12:56.260 Okay, I didn't want to step on anything there, Joe. 12:56.600 --> 13:07.680 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. 13:08.460 --> 13:39.000 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. 13:39.000 --> 14:01.800 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, 14:01.800 --> 14:06.080 and all the things you might expect from a technical perspective. 14:06.080 --> 14:11.340 And by the way, we're hiring, and I'm going to say that probably six times today. 14:12.160 --> 14:28.080 There are also less technical roles that we have in CISA that revolve around things like governance, policy, practice, partnerships, and things like that. 14:28.080 --> 14:39.540 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. 14:39.620 --> 14:49.920 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. 14:50.080 --> 14:57.860 And one of the big things that Director Krebs has been pushing has to do with personnel development. 14:57.860 --> 15:01.220 How do we develop our folks from start to finish? 15:01.220 --> 15:09.540 What opportunities do we provide them for training, for education, opportunities to actually practice their craft? 15:10.000 --> 15:15.100 We have folks that get to do really cool stuff every single day. 15:15.160 --> 15:17.600 And that's one of the great things about it. 15:17.600 --> 15:22.480 And if you want to encapsulate that all into one word, it's about mission. 15:22.540 --> 15:24.380 We have a great mission. 15:24.380 --> 15:27.400 We have some great people to work on that mission. 15:27.400 --> 15:39.540 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. 15:39.540 --> 15:43.480 And then work you into our structure and get on with it. 15:43.500 --> 15:57.480 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. 15:57.480 --> 16:00.960 And I think that there's a lot of there's a lot of value in that. 16:01.040 --> 16:06.360 And by doing that, I think we create a cycle of development. 16:06.600 --> 16:15.140 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. 16:16.640 --> 16:19.400 I have no problem with people leaving CISA. 16:19.420 --> 16:20.780 I like to keep them. 16:20.780 --> 16:30.640 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. 16:30.640 --> 16:41.620 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. 16:41.620 --> 16:52.960 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. 16:56.770 --> 16:58.250 Well, thank you, John. 16:58.250 --> 17:03.130 And so the National Security Agency partners really closely with DHS and CISA. 17:03.330 --> 17:07.350 And so a lot of what John said definitely applies to my mission space. 17:07.350 --> 17:15.650 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. 17:15.650 --> 17:18.990 And then I'll give you a couple of examples of things that you can do. 17:18.990 --> 17:25.210 The nice thing about the National Security Agency and the Department of Defense is that they are truly committed to lifelong learning. 17:25.210 --> 17:34.910 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. 17:34.910 --> 17:37.690 So you have to stay, you know, very active in your learning. 17:37.690 --> 17:42.990 And that's on the job learning, formal training, and informal training, and just a lot of opportunities. 17:42.990 --> 17:50.550 That's the enterprise that I work run is the learning enterprise for so many intelligent, brilliant people. 17:50.550 --> 17:58.370 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. 17:58.370 --> 18:01.570 So the National Security Agency is a unique asset for our country. 18:01.570 --> 18:05.410 We save lives, defends vital networks, and we advance U.S. 18:05.410 --> 18:06.950 goals and alliances. 18:06.950 --> 18:11.170 So we're a member of the Department of Defense and the intelligence community. 18:11.170 --> 18:15.030 So it makes it pretty interesting because your mission is so incredibly rewarding. 18:15.110 --> 18:20.870 And to mention what John said about going in and out of the government sector and the private sector coming back. 18:21.130 --> 18:30.210 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. 18:30.490 --> 18:36.690 So the National Security Agency is a world leader in cryptology, the art and science of making and breaking codes. 18:36.690 --> 18:40.110 And it's an expertise that we get from people and technology, right? 18:40.110 --> 18:42.470 It's got, we really need that people component. 18:42.510 --> 18:47.730 So if you find that, you know, the mission interesting, you know, definitely consider it. 18:47.730 --> 19:06.510 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. 19:06.670 --> 19:12.150 So we need to understand what's going on and then also provide for secure communications. 19:12.150 --> 19:15.190 So it's pretty exciting with SIGINT and cybersecurity. 19:15.230 --> 19:18.950 So the opportunities are tremendous at NSA.gov. 19:18.950 --> 19:21.090 We have developmental programs. 19:21.090 --> 19:27.050 You'll even get, you know, you'll be paid to get to continue your education while you're going through it. 19:27.050 --> 19:29.750 We have tremendous opportunities for physicians. 19:29.750 --> 19:35.710 There's computer network defense analysts, computer network operators, capabilities development specialists. 19:35.710 --> 19:44.290 So folks that understand and provide real-time sensitive mission support by maintaining situational awareness of potential cyber threats. 19:44.290 --> 19:49.270 They leverage technical methods to manage and monitor and execute large-scale operations. 19:49.510 --> 19:55.670 So if you're, if that sounds remotely interesting to you, and as I said, we really just, we just want the best talent. 19:55.670 --> 20:06.650 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. 20:06.650 --> 20:12.430 And what you'll find is people have a profound sense of contribution and service to the nation. 20:12.430 --> 20:24.970 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. 20:24.970 --> 20:32.570 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. 20:36.770 --> 20:37.970 Thank you. 20:38.150 --> 20:42.990 And yeah, so it's, USDS, I feel, is a pretty unique position. 20:42.990 --> 20:46.750 So as an engineer at USDS, we touch on so many different projects. 20:46.750 --> 20:51.150 There's so many different opportunities that we have to serve and make an impact. 20:51.210 --> 21:02.790 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. 21:02.790 --> 21:05.850 And some of that is very technical work. 21:06.010 --> 21:08.530 We develop and ship applications. 21:08.530 --> 21:11.530 We get websites working that crash. 21:11.810 --> 21:14.050 We do security audits. 21:14.050 --> 21:26.490 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. 21:26.810 --> 21:33.530 But they all have in common is a big impact, a big real-world impact on the public. 21:34.070 --> 21:40.410 Like the others have said, the mission is really something that is just hard, hard to beat. 21:40.410 --> 21:46.670 And it's also something that really resonates with me, but it's just everyone that we work with. 21:46.670 --> 21:48.370 We're all here because of that. 21:48.370 --> 21:53.610 We're here because we're we want to, we are aligned in that mission to help people. 21:53.830 --> 21:55.350 I come from the private sector. 21:55.350 --> 21:57.130 A lot of folks in the USDS do. 21:57.130 --> 22:02.250 And for a lot of folks, this is our first job in the private, in the public sector. 22:02.690 --> 22:19.410 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. 22:19.930 --> 22:23.390 Pour my heart into all this work and to have it really be meaningful. 22:24.490 --> 22:27.710 But I would also say that, you know, engineers, I'm an engineer. 22:27.710 --> 22:28.750 I love engineering. 22:28.750 --> 22:33.950 I love talking about tabs and spaces and crypto and what language is better and which editor to use. 22:33.990 --> 22:35.990 But it's also not just about engineers. 22:35.990 --> 22:42.330 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. 22:42.330 --> 22:44.930 So we're also looking for great designers. 22:44.930 --> 23:07.830 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. 23:07.830 --> 23:14.910 It's got to be thought through from start to finish as an experience for the user that really works for them. 23:17.230 --> 23:18.370 Thanks, Chris. 23:18.370 --> 23:20.850 You know, the Marine Corps Sub-Auxiliary is a unique organization, right? 23:20.850 --> 23:23.590 Like some of us here, it's a volunteer organization. 23:23.670 --> 23:27.850 And what we're trying to do then is enhance the Marine Corps' ability to operate in cyberspace. 23:28.010 --> 23:35.330 So we recently came across a situation where we didn't have formally trained and designated Marines in cyberspace. 23:35.330 --> 23:40.990 And it's only been within the last couple of years that we've had an occupational field for cyberspace operations. 23:40.990 --> 23:50.190 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. 23:50.190 --> 23:56.970 We've had people operating the Marine Corps in cyber for 30 years, of course, but we've always been organized somewhat differently. 23:56.970 --> 24:03.310 Now we've come together formally on the 1700 MOS field, and we are working together to move forward. 24:03.310 --> 24:18.270 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. 24:18.270 --> 24:19.910 And it permits those people who are U.S. 24:19.910 --> 24:28.210 citizens, who have a minimum of three years experience in the cyber industry, who are highly regarded in their field, and are enthusiastic volunteers. 24:28.210 --> 24:37.390 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. 24:37.390 --> 24:43.890 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. 24:44.110 --> 24:58.010 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. 24:58.230 --> 25:07.390 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. 25:07.390 --> 25:20.250 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. 25:20.630 --> 25:21.530 Go ahead, Liz. 25:25.160 --> 25:26.220 Thanks, Roman. 25:26.460 --> 25:32.500 So people who wish to wear a uniform, the Cyber Specialty Direct Commissioning Program might be for you. 25:32.500 --> 25:36.000 If it's something you've considered, at least consider applying. 25:36.020 --> 25:43.040 You never know when your particular skills may be in high demand to help your nation accomplish their goals. 25:43.760 --> 25:47.800 And if you also have a leadership, you know, streak, you say, yeah, I want to be a leader. 25:47.800 --> 25:52.680 I want to help coach, train, and mentor others and put my skills to work. 25:52.840 --> 26:06.120 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. 26:06.420 --> 26:08.540 I know John knows that's in high demand. 26:08.700 --> 26:10.400 AI expertise as well. 26:10.400 --> 26:15.160 So there's, for example, there's a whole center the DOD has built for artificial intelligence. 26:15.160 --> 26:27.320 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. 26:28.420 --> 26:39.560 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. 26:39.560 --> 26:50.640 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. 26:50.740 --> 27:05.960 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. 27:05.960 --> 27:11.720 And I think people probably, Diane at the agency, may also use this persistent training environment that was built. 27:11.860 --> 27:15.460 So you never know when you'll be able to have an impact until you try. 27:15.580 --> 27:19.880 And so I highly encourage everyone to consider serving in a uniform . 27:20.940 --> 27:26.400 You can find more information about the current requirements at goarmy.com forward slash cyber . 27:26.460 --> 27:27.800 That's the website you can go. 27:27.800 --> 27:34.240 There's a link there for the direct commissioning program and the current requirements should be listed there for you to review. 27:34.240 --> 27:36.420 There's also instructions on how to apply. 27:37.360 --> 27:39.460 So benefits of serving in a uniform. 27:39.460 --> 27:42.800 So there are many benefits I think for uniform service. 27:42.800 --> 27:48.320 The minimum number of years to achieve some of these benefits is three years and I think 90 days. 27:48.320 --> 27:53.660 So given a tour, you don't need to sign up for any longer than your first tour to achieve some of these. 27:53.660 --> 28:04.280 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. 28:04.300 --> 28:10.860 So that provides money for graduate level and undergraduate degree programs for them. 28:10.860 --> 28:14.820 Also access to a VA loan program, home loan program. 28:14.820 --> 28:19.180 So we're able to afford a home with a zero percent down zero down payment on the home. 28:19.180 --> 28:22.500 That's something that uniform members of all services have access to. 28:22.500 --> 28:26.060 That might be attractive to somebody who's interested in buying a home. 28:26.360 --> 28:34.660 You should also know for SARBRI Army Cyber Warfare Officers, most of our assignments are at Fort Gordon, Georgia and Fort Meade, Maryland. 28:35.000 --> 28:41.720 So if you like Fort Meade and you like Fort Gordon, please consider Cyber Warfare might be the branch for you. 28:41.760 --> 28:45.320 We don't have many positions in places like say Fort Hood, Texas. 28:45.320 --> 28:46.760 That's not someplace you send people. 28:46.760 --> 28:53.660 You don't have to be worried about going to Antarctica or Alaska or places that, I mean, we're far from locations. 28:54.040 --> 29:00.220 And we also now have Army Cyber Headquarters is moving to Fort Gordon, I anticipate in the next year. 29:00.220 --> 29:04.360 And also Cyber Command Headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland. 29:04.360 --> 29:06.740 That's another place we have a lot of assignments there. 29:06.740 --> 29:12.820 But that's part of the requirements and there's developing locations where you can see future service. 29:12.820 --> 29:20.960 So some other benefits are listed at militaryonesource.mil as a website. 29:20.960 --> 29:30.820 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. 29:30.880 --> 29:40.060 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. 29:40.060 --> 29:47.080 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. 29:49.680 --> 29:50.280 Cool. 29:50.280 --> 29:52.780 That was a really great rundown, everybody. 29:52.780 --> 29:54.060 Thank you so much. 29:54.400 --> 30:09.160 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. 30:10.700 --> 30:13.760 Well, sure. 30:14.420 --> 30:19.980 Obviously, coming into government service has its challenges. 30:20.540 --> 30:29.720 There is a challenge, obviously, between pay in the federal government and other government and the private sector. 30:29.720 --> 30:36.580 There's the challenge of navigating the hiring process, which can be very difficult in government. 30:36.580 --> 30:40.480 There's the challenge of getting a security clearance if you haven't gotten one already. 30:40.760 --> 30:54.540 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. 30:54.660 --> 30:58.920 And if you come in with a mission focus, you're going to have some great success. 30:58.920 --> 31:13.700 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. 31:13.700 --> 31:24.700 And some of the things that we're pushing are innovation, speed, partnerships, and keeping it all within that mission focus. 31:24.740 --> 31:28.580 So if you have the desire, we're looking, we're hiring. 31:28.580 --> 31:32.620 We've got plenty of positions, both in the D.C. 31:32.620 --> 31:40.380 area and around the nation, where we're looking for quality cyber talent and people who have a mission focus. 31:40.380 --> 31:45.860 So I'll leave it at that, Joe, and I'll give it over to the next in line, Diane. 31:46.200 --> 31:47.860 Great, thank you, John. 31:47.860 --> 32:01.760 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. 32:01.760 --> 32:03.420 It's a great environment. 32:03.920 --> 32:19.560 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. 32:19.660 --> 32:23.460 So love to see you, and thank you so much. 32:27.300 --> 32:34.260 Yeah, I would just say definitely, I never really thought that I would necessarily end up being a federal employee. 32:34.340 --> 32:47.960 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. 32:48.920 --> 32:53.440 So USDS, we have a unique model where we do terms of service. 32:53.440 --> 32:56.320 So it doesn't have to be a lifelong commitment. 32:56.640 --> 33:00.280 We can do as short as like three to six months and up to four years. 33:00.300 --> 33:08.400 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. 33:08.780 --> 33:11.120 usds.gov is our website. 33:11.540 --> 33:25.720 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. 33:26.740 --> 33:40.040 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. 33:42.580 --> 33:43.260 Thanks, Chris. 33:43.260 --> 33:45.480 We've all heard that advice, you should bloom where you're planted. 33:45.480 --> 33:47.860 And there have been many, many opportunities to do that here. 33:47.860 --> 33:51.540 If you'd like to be a Marine, there is a path in cyber if you want to wear a uniform. 33:51.660 --> 34:04.460 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. 34:04.640 --> 34:17.860 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. 34:18.120 --> 34:29.860 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. 34:29.860 --> 34:31.500 And that brings us to Liz. 34:34.660 --> 34:35.880 Thanks, Roman. 34:36.660 --> 34:47.860 So the things to keep in mind with uniform service that may not be as comfortable is the physical training requirements. 34:47.960 --> 34:58.520 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. 34:58.520 --> 35:07.380 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. 35:07.560 --> 35:11.480 So that's really very important to understand. 35:11.700 --> 35:19.820 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. 35:19.900 --> 35:25.820 So and you'll be a leader of soldiers in the Army, in the Air Force. 35:25.820 --> 35:31.500 I understand it started as a community program as well. 35:37.230 --> 35:37.910 Great. 35:37.910 --> 35:45.850 Well, thank you very much, Liz, and everybody on the panel, and Kathleen, and also Travis, and the other folks behind the scenes. 35:45.850 --> 35:57.870 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. 35:57.870 --> 35:58.610 government. 35:58.610 --> 36:10.830 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. 36:10.990 --> 36:13.450 And with that, I'm going to hand it back over to Kathleen. 36:13.450 --> 36:15.190 Thank you so much, everybody. 36:15.450 --> 36:17.270 So great panel, everyone. 36:17.270 --> 36:18.290 Thank you so much. 36:18.290 --> 36:24.710 I know that you opened everyone's eyes to new opportunities for their careers. 36:24.750 --> 36:44.030 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. 36:44.030 --> 36:52.330 We also do have resume reviewers, recruiters who are familiar with recruiting for federal agencies and for government contractors. 36:52.330 --> 36:55.510 Thank you so much, everyone, and thank you to all of our panelists. 36:55.510 --> 36:57.230 We'll see you for the next session.