As Coast Guard responsibilities continue to grow in the Cyber domain, one way the Academy is doing its part to support a Ready Workforce is through the Cyber Systems major and CGA Cyber Team. As the Academy prepares to graduate the fourth cohort of Cyber Systems majors in 2024, the CGA Cyber Team offers an opportunity for cadets from all CGA majors to push their technological skills. One of most exciting annual events that the Team competes in is the NSA’s National Cyber Exercise (NCX). The CGA Cyber Team finished in 5th place this year, competing against other colleges comprised of senior students, with a team made up of freshmen (4/c) and juniors (2/c).
“We finished in 5th place overall, and 2nd place in the active attack module,” said Team Captain Connor Fulbright. “Our competition team rotated in different 4/c in every module.”
4/c Max Eisenbeiser competed in all four events—Active Attack, Malware, Software Development, and Cyber Combat Exercise. In only his first year on the Team, he sees the long-term value in career applicability.
“Placements in cyber competitions can go on your resume. The Cyber Team also allows for the opportunity to get industry-standard cybersecurity certifications,” said Eisenbeiser.
The small and skillful team was the only school that had two teams competing.
“In general, schools will have specialized teams for the individual events, however because of CGA’s small size the Team had to train to be ‘Jacks of all trades’ and learn a little bit of everything,” said Fulbright.
For 4/c Jadon Koa Dumlao, Team size didn’t matter. He remained focused on his competition modules and is optimistic about the bright future ahead for the Team.
“Looking back on our accomplishments, I feel excited looking into the future because right now we have a large group of 4/c (transitioning 3/c) that are high performing and incredibly intelligent and a base of upperclassmen with the necessary knowledge and experience to lead the Team,” said Dumlao.
“Your first month of practice on the Cyber Team will be a lot of learning. That first learning period can be frustrating for a lot of people because there is an initial learning curve to overcome, but once you begin to understand the concepts, you can get into the fun stuff and it’s extremely rewarding,” said Eisenbeiser.
For all things CGA Cyber Team, visit https://cyberteam.uscga.edu/.
