Public sentiment regarding military technology and cyber warfare is mixed; while many celebrate advancements as essential for national security, significant concerns about ethical implications, costs, and potential over-reliance on technology are prevalent. Commenters urge a balanced approach to military spending, highlighting a wariness about the consequences of rapid technological development.

Military Contractors

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I can’t answer all your questions but bro if there was a role you could get in the military that could get you minimum 100k a year when you separate then there wouldn’t be a need for recruiters.

Hungry_Hippo00

1) subjective. The roles won’t automatically get you money btw. 4 years minimal experience with a low level IT certification isn’t much in this economy. You need to get a degree and additional certs if you want to actually be competitive in the current tech job markets. My civvy bosss and I were discussing the other day that a bachelors is literally bottom level requirement. Masters are what actually make people competitive. (Also adding 100K is well below the median income for your tech hotspots) 

2) again, subjective. You gotta figure out what you want to do. Both career paths can lead to good careers if you play your cards right

3) depends. Could be a 9-5’er, could be a shiftworker. Could be in a remote environment. Could be in a data center. Too broad to give an exact

4) Yep. Look up AFCOOL

5) depends, I’ve worked out of shipping containers, tents, multi-million dollar watch floors, a crummy building, SCIF’s. 

6) AirForce.com/careers has it right on the job pages. As does the r/AirForce job wikis

7) if you by the very rare chance get 1B4, it’s decided for you

You can’t be pigeonholed into a career field before you’re already in. You’re going to need to make a list of jobs like everyone else. Additionally, you are always allowed to *apply* to cross train, but it doesn’t mean your career field will allow you to be released from it or that the job you want to cross train into is available.

amillionforfeet

Everyone and their mother wants to do cyber for the Air Force, in a time where recruiting numbers are good, your odds of getting these jobs are extremely low. 

Not saying to not try, but your recruiter very likely could make you list other career fields on your job list, any of which you’d have to be okay signing for.

HaroldsHotSexyCrayon

Hello, it looks like you're asking about jobs and job selection. 

A few quick answers.

NO ONE knows how long it will take for you to get a job, your chances of getting any particular job, or anything else about the job process FOR YOU. Anecdotal experiences from others will have absolutely no impact on you or your future.

Most recruiters will not let you wait in the Delayed Entrance Program for a long time for your one perfect job. You will have to list 5 - 15 jobs that you're interested in, and will be given one of those. 

Please read the FAQ about how job selection works, it's very in-depth and will fully educate you on the process: https://pay.reddit.com/r/AirForce/wiki/bmtfaq#wiki_jobs

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 Take the [AFWIN Survey](https://my.airforce.com/myaf_loginPage?ec=302&amp;startURL=%2Fs%2Fafwin-index) to help you narrow down jobs you may be interested in. 

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If you want a well-paying civilian job, the 1B4X1 is a better option. Once you’ve finished your first enlistment as a 1B4, if you have a BS in cyber security, a bunch of certs, and TS clearance, you’ll be worth more than $100k a year. You can easily find a job at Northrop, Lockheed, Boeing, SpaceX and etc.

whatchamacallit6


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There's essentially no good reason to choose IT over CWT *unless* you absolutely want the traditional Navy sea-going ship experience. 
&gt; What is better for civilian life, Intel or IT? more specifically (Cyber Warfare Techs vs IT Techs)

CWT will get you a TS/SCI clearance guaranteed and (very likely) experience working in/around intel agencies. Both IT and CWT have access to funding for industry certifications, however CWTs have significantly more time to pursue them along with a degree.

&gt; How can I figure out the current sign on bonuses and is there a possibility of leveraging a higher sign on bonus?

Your recruiter and Google will give you that info.

&gt; How will my work life / quality of life be between the two paths?

No comparison. ITs can go on ships and will live that life. CWTs will not. There are some CWT billets on ships but that's going to go to volunteers almost exclusively. CWTs in certain defensive roles can occasionally go on ships for a few days/weeks, but they're not a part of the ship's company and are basically tourists on-board. CWTs will work normal business hours (most of the time) and go home every day. It's very close to normal civilian life. 

&gt; Where would I most likely be stationed, and where are common places or deployments?

For a first enlistment CWT, you'll be in HI, MD, TX, GA, VA, or FL. It's rare, but possible to get overseas orders, but those are mostly going to go to second enlistment folks. 

ITs go everywhere.

XUtYwYzz

CWT easily if you’re smart and can get through the school

ImaginationSubject21

ITs can go to literally every type of command in the Navy and even out of the Navy. Fleet staffs, comms stations, intel agencies, carriers, CRUDES, amphibs, maritime security, aviation squadrons, submarines, Special Warfare, EOD, Seabees, White House Comms, JSOC. And your opportunities for participating in different things related to your command is very high, which may or may not be up your alley. For instance, ITs on ships can and do things like flight deck ops, VBSS, armed watches, etc. ITs in NSW have their own cool stuff they sometimes can do. 

CWTs will be mostly stateside with the occasional time underway as a ship rider. More time to specialize and focus, but less military-like.

QnsConcrete

If you never want to see the ocean, go CWT. If you want the chance to go literally anywhere in the world, go IT. IT's can spec into system security, forward operations communications, system administrating, communications, and specialize in software and hardware the navy uses with a simple 2-3 month C school sometimes. If your goal is to do your 4 and get out I'd go with CWT, but I've seen career CWT's with their souls sucked out of them from being at the same place doing the same thing for 20 years.

Silent_Everglade

I can only answer on the post Navy life.  My son is currently Navy, I am a mere civilian.  CWT would be way more lucrative for you than IT tech.  You'll know security and networking and it pays quite a bit, plus you'll have a security clearance which is worth more.  I'm a system admin in a civilian job and wish I made the over 6 figures our network engineers and security team make.  I make almost double what the IT techs make.  So that will give you an idea.

Alarming-Reception12

They're both technically IW rates but the point of the name change from CTN to CWT and the new MCWO designator was to cement roles within the Cyber warfighting space.

It may sound like a stupid distinction to make but it's an important one. The landscape across both IT and CWT are completely different. One is largely support oriented, the other may or may not include offensive and defensive operations.

As far as addressing the individual questions, right off the bat you are far more likely to have a more balanced life as a CWT simply because you're chances of seeing a ship are a lot slimmer. There are caveats that you'll learn but that's number one.

Current sign on bonuses are available at navy.mil. You can check out re-enlistment bonuses if you'd like as well. Leveraging sign on bonuses isn't really a thing anymore. You walked into the recruiter's office, not the other way around. That said, they usually have multiple sign on supplementals; shipping in a certain time period, passing your first PRT, etc.

QoL differences, refer back to number one. Being on a ship is a different can of worms.

IT are everywhere. If you're PCS Afloat you're based where the ship is and go where the ship goes. CWTs generally work in support of NSA/CSS so more oft than not go where they have a site. Hawaii, Maryland, Georgia, Texas and Colorado.

rabidsnowflake

CWT is a more intensive training pipeline and you will be focused soley in the cyber field. CWT is definitely the more "nerdy" computer science type community. You will work with a lot of very smart people who are passionate. 

IT is a bit different as there are lots of special warfare drops and generally people who are not interested in the field and just want to ride out their contract. I work with very senior ITs (CPOs with 15+ years in) who still don't know the OSI model or can't explain what a VLAN is.

IT also has a shorter training pipeline and you will be thrown into the fleet quickly with just a basic understanding of computers. IT is a lot more broad and if you go to a small boy (destroyer or cruiser) your first tour you will likely do more menial jobs around the ship than actual technical IT work.

xetmes

CWT here, feel free to dm if you have any questions

SnooChickens4137

If you decide to join, you must absolutely make sure the IT/cyber job you want is in your contract before you sign it.

somewhat-damaged

You really need to look at r/army , r/airforce, r/spaceforce. r/USMC . r/navy and r/uscoastguard regarding questions about the military and also learn the differences and pros/cons of going active duty vs reserve vs national guard

You want to do your research first on the different AFSCs/RATES/MOS for each of the branches for both enlisted and officer jobs - all of this info is available direct on their websites

You want to do this BEFORE talking to recruiters

Recruiters  #1 are Salespeople, they do not care what route your take or what career field you end up in, their focus is on meeting recruiting goals

A bachelor's degree in business from years ago is not going to make you competitive for any branch for comissioning as an officer

You are not guaranteed any particular job as an officer either it will depend on openings and how you do at OTS/OCS and your ranking in the class

for enlisted it depends on branch whether or not you can get a specific job in your contract or if you go open general and will pick from a list of open jobs once you get to basic/boot camp

If you were serious about being an officer then the best bet would be grad school at a school that has ROTC vs trying to go through OTS/OCS

enlisting at 30 is going to suck balls, not just because of your age but because you are not going to be treated like a grown ass adult once you get through basic/training and go to your first base

You will be living in the barracks/dorms/ship with roommates that are going to be 18-20 and you're going to be stuck like that your entire first enlistment - they will not care that you're 30 if you are single and lived on your own

If you need a job right now then go through a staffing company for contract to hire work until you figure out what you want to do the rest of your life

[deleted]

You could try, but you don't have what is needed for a Cyber Direct Commission. Because of that, you likely would not be guaranteed a cyber job... I have a BS and MS in Cybersecurity. I could qualify. Sadly I'm unable to do so due to the fact that I was on antidepressants a year ago. I would talk to an officer recruiter. But I don't think you would qualify for a direct commission.

slysoft901

Use your clearance as a leverage on Itsec career.

mourackb

LaOnionLaUnion

Graduated with a cybersecurity degree this year. I can say with honestly that everyone I graduated with who had cyber experience from the military had jobs within a month. Basically everyone else is still searching. That security clearance and hands-on experience is endlessly valuable in the civilian world.

LocalArgument7116

I am not IT or cyber but adjacent in the Marine Corps as a ground electronics technician.  I'm about to retire after 21 years.  You have a degree which is good and that could get you officer in any branch depending on age requirements.  I will say this, in the Marine Corps there is a good chance that if you joined as an officer you will be a Communications Officer, they are always hurting for them.  People join the Marines to run and gun, be it officer or enlisted.  But someone has to do all the other stuff to support those guys, so people get shuffled into those other jobs, especially the communications field.  Always hurting for those fields, because you can do your four, get out and pretty much walk into a good job in the civilian sector with the experience gained from military service.

 If you want hands on experience you want to go enlisted, officer is supervisory and the higher up you go the further away you get from the actual people and equipment.

The military is a good option for learning, because each branch pays for certifications, plus the experience.  What can suck is depending on the unit and especially at the lower ranks you may not do your job all day every day.  I would say do an enlistment and maximize every learning opportunity you can while there then get out and be better positioned for civilian work.

sactownbwoy

All the branches have pros and cons for Cyber. All around I’d say if you wanted to guarantee yourself good experience and the job of your choosing, I’d recommend the army, with a degree you’d graduate basic training as an E4. The army has the most developed cyber branch out of all the services. There’s a lot of caveats to the different branches, including duty stations, job experience, contract length, etc. If you ARE able to get cyber guaranteed for the Air Force, I’d recommend that.

iShamu

I did cybersecurity in the USAF for 11 years.  It all depends on where you are.  Base comm is incredibly dull and there's a lot of vulnerability management followed by a lot of just making sure paperwork is fully completed and all the t's crossed, i's dotted. 

If you go somewhere more exciting like combat comm where you deploy really often and setup entire networks from the ground up it can be exciting and rewarding plus you will learn a lot about other parts of IT like server management, network setup, firewalls, switches, routers, etc.  You get a lot of exposure to learn and apply best practices everywhere since you are essentially the security admin of the whole site.  I did combat comm for 4 years, probably my favorite thing ever.  

There's auditing where you go and ensure everyone is following what they said they are going to do with security and apply all the controls they agreed to.  That can be fun, but sometimes it can be really dull too.  I don't have much experience on this but did a little bit helping out a team member.  

If you really want to get into the nitty gritty defense/offense you can go the cyberwarfare route (I did this for 3 years).  There's a lot of cyber defense and attack planning here and you generally will work a SOC larger than you've ever seen with some of the highest end equipment ever.  Note it's really hard to get into.  Hope that helps.

The_Bojingles

I joined the Navy in 2011 right out of high school. 6 year contract as what is now called a cyberwarfare technician (CTN back then). I had zero experience but I was familiar with computers back then. 

My experience was: boot camp, wait a month, 6 months of A school, first duty station, wait 7 months for my clearance to finish, 2.5~ years doing cyber as a tier 1 SOC + other stuff in Maryland for a 3 letter agency, new orders to a command supporting the Navy in Virginia in a threat analyst role for another 2 years or so. 

In my waiting time in Maryland, I got to do a ton of really cool things unrelated to my job (Funeral Honors, Firing parties, retirement ceremonies). 

30 year old me says I would highly recommend joining the military for cyber. You gain so much knowledge and connections. Back then, I had a different attitude getting out, but that was a lot to do with my perception. 

For reference, I'm in a 100% work from home role making 120~ a year now as a team lead. I never got a college degree. There are more lucrative jobs in the DoD, but I ended up working for an MSSP and I'm happy with where I'm at for the most part.


My advice is, if you choose to go into the military, take every opportunity to learn all you can and build your connections. You will be more than set with your future.

AngloRican

Yes, having cyber security experience (and a clearance) from the military can absolutely translate into a private sector job when you get out.

Cypher_Blue

I’ve heard sit and wait. While you wait, study certifications/skills. Repeat.

Oh and follow the DoD 8570 Baseline for your career choice…

jkma707

As a 17C in the US Army:

Everyone's experience in the military is different. I've seen people graduate AIT just to turn around and do administrative paperwork instead of the job they were trained to do, I see people sit around for weeks doing nothing, and I still see others who almost always have something to do. Based a little bit on merit, but it's largely up to luck where you end up here. Regardless of what happens though, you will have numerous opportunities for training, certification, and education, if you decide to pursue it.

JL2tall

As someone who led others in the cyber force in the US military, I would say 1) it prepares you very well purely from a resume/clearance/certifications perspective; 2) you will not do as much skill-relevant work as your civilian peers because of additional duties and military-specific required training; 3) if you’re not there because you actually want to serve (e.g. you’re just in for three years to job hop), your leadership will know (we aren’t that unobservant) and we won’t give you the best jobs and the best training. We can’t afford to waste that much time and resources because we have so little as it is. So when I have to pick two soldiers for 3 weeks of gate guard duty, it’s not going to be my highest performers, because I need them to accomplish the mission. If anyone asks me whether going in the military in order to turn around and leave it in a few years for greener pastures is a worthwhile career move, I tell them that there are less expensive forms of masochism.

TirionRothir2

Sit, wait for shit to happen, count the hours until your contract ends so you can go work private sector and make 4-5x what you make now. 

Don’t depend on getting a commission. Waiting period rn is like 18-24 months after you get a top secret clearance. Everything in the military moves super slow. 

Source: I’m a current Warrant Officer candidate for 170A

GhostPrince4

You've heard of Red Team and Blue Team, I'm sure. 

Military cybersecurity is Green Teaming: Turn these red cells on the spreadsheet or slide deck green.

Do this by generating mountains of paperwork, reports, and screenshots for manual verification. Automation is not authorized. Wash, rinse, repeat. Hope you like toil and drudgery.

chuckmilam

You could be a paper pusher maneuvering through government bureaucracy all day or you could be an operator working with cutting edge tools and technology and do things you aren't able to do anywhere else. This is an incredibly broad question. What do you mean by cybersecurity? Ops, audit, engineering, development, SOC? The military has it all.

I did 3.5 years in Air Force cyber warfare as a defensive operator. None of the people I saw leave had any problem finding a job including myself. A few actually went on to work for FAANG. If you apply yourself, have good people skills, and are always willing to learn and improve you can go very far.

Just don't join the Navy.

Edit: grammar

odyssey310

agsparks

I'm assuming you're referring to US military. Yes, the skills translate well into the civilian world. Also, networking with people, obtaining a security clearance, hopefully getting a few certs, and having 4+ years of work experience on your resume will all help you land a job once you're out. 

I didn't do "cybersecurity" in the military. I worked in other areas of communications, primarily in networking and transmissions. Doing that in the military meant doing network security, asset security, information assurance, crypto key management, and physical security, while also getting exposure to security engineering/architecture, security operations, authentication/access management, security assessment, and risk management. Not a bad background to transition into cyber IMO.

Other guys I worked with more on the sys admin side primarily worked on server and user management related things. But again, in the military, that also includes authentication/access management, asset security, information assurance, and information security, with exposure to security operations, security assessment, risk management, endpoint security management, and physical security. Also not a bad background for getting into cyber.

So, even if you're not specifically cyber, you're still doing a lot of work that falls within the realm of cybersecurity.

J19Z7Jerry

I'm curious as well, one of my first IT jobs was with a couple vets who claimed they did cyber and IT in service and they didn't know anything about anything.

AboveAverageRetard

It's like if you have a heartbeat and a security clearance, you can score a job. You can do so much quicker with something like the Security+. If you want to go that route, consider this:

There is A) What is good for you chile' ... and that in my mind is something like the OSCP or the Linux Foundation certifications. Most people in cybersecurity will tell you a person thinking that having the CE|H will make someone a proper hacker - haha, no... I think not. Even people who have obtained that know it. And one person who is a senior cyber executive won't even hire people if they have that certification - at least not if that is the candidates only talking point. But... Uncle Sam, begs to differ.

Lending credence to my point, review the following Matrix as  I bestow upon you the all-mighty DoD 8570 - remember, if this were the title of a movie or book, you would never watch it ... but if you follow this Matrix, you will find work much easier and if you let it guide you, well, it's not a noble thing but you could just skip the degree, tuition, hard work, programming... just get the certifications on here and if you've got the clearance, her good, son:

[https://public.cyber.mil/wid/cwmp/dod-approved-8570-baseline-certifications/](https://public.cyber.mil/wid/cwmp/dod-approved-8570-baseline-certifications/)

That is all. Clearly I think the person who came up with that matrix is a fucking moron but the recruiters  and government contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Deloitte - they go after that thing as though its the holy grail of righteous cyber paths.

And I lost a job in part because I told my students as a cybersecurity bootcamp instructor that the certifications are of foremost importance. Although, politics played heavy and the guy footing half of the program bill hated my ass... But I should not have told the kids that certifications are more valuable than Python. If you're looking at the sheer monetary value of them - cost-benefit analysis, companies would prefer you have items listed there - as opposed to being a seasoned C programmer or math genius creating the next algorithm to replace Sha-256 - and that's a bad example because there is Sha-512 already ... Anyway, you get my  point. 

I try not to explain this to my wife who has a PhD in microbiology and makes less than me when I am employed and it would be a very bad thing to watch me try and learn calculus. I can finally write good shell scripts though.

Drewinator

Military experience in a lot of things, including cyber security, can open many doors.

That’s only if you get a Cyber Security job. I was Marines. I didn’t get to choose my job. I did 5 years of a job I hated just to get out so I could have the GI bill to go get a Cyber Security education.

TechCondor

Funny; a chunk of people in CSIRT, CTI, VM and GRC at my company are all military backgrounds

dcikid12

Just join.
4 years will fly by. Just make sure your school is cyber or it related before hoping on the bus.
If you actually learn this stuff you will be able to get a job when you get out.
Find the branch that fits you the most and good luck.

Ilikemoney722

As an enlisted guy in the army and an early cyber guy I can tell you that you could be in really cool exercises and doing certs all the time or scrubbing toilets and taking out the trash. It will help you on the outside but go airforce or something else other than army for cyber if you are going enlisted. They train you then sometimes don't even use you for what you are trained for. The military absolutely helped me get my civ career, I love my job and have a great life work balance with good pay for where I am.

The_Distant_end

I did it for a long time.  

Pros: You'll get an insane amount of resources for educations and certifications. For example, free Sans courses. 

Pros Cont.: With a clearance, you can get a free seat-filler job doing nothing. But be careful because you can get pigeon-holed into government work.

Cons: You'll work in a giant bureaucracy of people meeting several times a day to do the most mundane tasks. Most of the people that you work beside will want to be a contractor so that they can make twice the amount of money to do less than half the work (somehow, as you'll do very little). Since you're in a bureaucracy, easy to answer things (like have you patched the server or how many servers are there) will take a lot of work.

You should not be applying for entry-level civilian roles if you have cyber experience from the military, you pocess a combination of skills that many on the team of your new employer may not have. you should be applying for senior roles which should net you  anywhere between 135K to 180K in base salary  alone. You are highly covetted don't sell yourself short.

curlvusha

Join the Air Force or Air Guard and go to a cyber protection team

kclinden

Oh hey a question for me! Currently an IT working at the largest Navy CSSP. Been an IT for 11 years now in the Navy, working exclusively in the ADP Helpdesk, domain administrator, Information Assurance, and now on the Incident Handling Watchfloor. 

On ships, you learn a lot about navy specific network architecture. If you're lucky and get put in ADP instead of radio. All of it is on the job training. So you learn hands on how to use routers, switches, backbones, a multitude of servers, vms, firewall rules, etc etc.

You really have to go to more cyber specific commands to learn more nitty gritty stuff, like where I'm at now. It's honestly really fascinating seeing all the exploits that affect the navy commands, and all the connections you make with civilians who work here.

Eldritch_Raven

Consider the reserves. You get the training and at the unit you go to will have other people in the industry to network with... Pun intended. Will you deploy? Yes. Will it suck? Depends on how you perceive reality. In the reserves deployment can either be great and you get to do cyber... Or not. Spend off time studying (like you should be doing anyways). 

Sign up, get trained, come back and get a job/ go to college, drill monthly and do Annual Training. 

You will still have to do your time with boring stuff. 

Active duty is good if you want to jump right in and not worry about other life struggles like paying bills.

Reserves are good if you are an adult and can make it on your own but want the training. 

Some training has a high attrition rate. Not everyone can be 31337 keyboard operators. Also, knowing and doing the paperwork is what gets you paid in the civilian side. 

Follow your passion. Not everything you do will be exciting but lays the foundation to do what you want. 

Branches... My ranking IMO
1. Air Force
2. Navy
3. Marines ?
3. Army ?
4. Space Force... Only because they new but mostly Air Force peeps transferred so maybe also 1.
5. Coast Guard... Have seen them the least but maybe have a great program. 

First SOC civilian job... 98k.
Then next job... 120k
Then next... 150k

I have heard that government contact work is good after you do your time in the service. (CLEARANCE)

I was last in 8 years ago but here's how it worked:  
  
Your primary job unless you go Intel Security is STIGS.  
  
You have a checklist, you tell admins to do the checklist, you check the checklist.  
  
The checklist is basically:   
  
1. Require password on lock screen.  
2. Ensure banners displaying an exact message are present for login.  
3. Use priv 15 sec 5 on Cisco  
  
When you are not checking that, you are checking their work on DSIDs. Router &gt; firewall &gt; router.  
  
Besides that?  
Inventory  
PT  
Field day

Byte_Of_Pies

See something, say something. Or don’t tell anyone. It’s a tossup

Vast_Surprise41

Whose military? This if you're interested in ROTC in college and commissioning as an officer

If you want to know more about jobs in US military then post to

r/army

r/AirForce

r/navy

r/uscoastguard

r/USMC

r/SpaceForce

or r/ROTC &amp; r/AFROTC if you're interested in ROTC in college and comissioning as an officer

chrisknight1985

If you could say where you're from we could give better to advices, but overall, it will translate more than well in the civilian world.

Coalecanth_

underdonk

Gullible-Potential-4

Depends, are you doing base comm, or are you working a mission where you are engaged in cyber warfare or espionage? they are totally different worlds and base comm can be very boring. That being said, it seems a lot of vets with military cyber experience and certs, get out and make great income.

Ironxgal

After working cyber security for a dod contract I was highly considering going into the military just for the experience with IT, the free training classes and all of the partnerships. Most of the veterans I worked with  were basically just thrown into the field.

CaptainWellingtonIII

I'm not a recruiter and recommend you give one a call if you are looking for details.

The navy in particular just created the Cyber Warfare Technician rate. There's some grueling technical training that's essentially 2 years of college in 6 months. Following that, your daily work role could be cyber red/blue team and maybe some very rare opportunities. If you do see a recruiter, tell them that's the only rate you're interested in.

You can do your contracted 6, get some cool experiences, get paid to do cyber, get a clearance, earn a free bachelors on your off time, and get back into the sector with years of relevant and marketable experience. Or stay in for 20, retire at 40 and take guaranteed money and healthcare for the rest of your life with the financial backing to pursue what you want instead of paychecks.

The military will get their pound of flesh, but if you love cyber  and want to get into it, there's probably not a better way to dive into the deep end.

brodoyouevenscript

I will put it this way. I had trouble holding onto my sharp E4/E5s on the Defensive Cyber Operations side because they could get out with the training they had received in their first or second enlistment and jump into six-figure jobs without an issue.

Aviyes7

blackZyzzz

Do these jobs and experience apply to both enlisted and officer or just enlisted? I’m trying to go into the reserves for AF in cyber and already have my bachelors so I was thinking officer route, but I’m after experience and have heard that officers are just in managing roles. Is the way to go enlisted to gain the hands-on experience?

peach_block

If you are military with experience in cybersecurity, you have a straight “cyber threat intelligence” tag that you can leverage to land well paying job. 

It’s very popular in the field to be an ex-military switched to commercial cyber threat intelligence expert, leveraging military methodologies to regular enterprises.

mermixis

It’s the simplest way to break into cybersecurity, although it can complicate the transition to private industry if that’s your goal. Certainly not impossible, but at a certain point it can pigeonhole you into contracting.

All the mil cyber people I've dealt with work in RF, so I assume their definition of 'cyber security' is different from our civilian definition.

Autocannibal-Horse

Go 17c or 1721, (army/usmc). Go forth and do great things killer.

wyvius

Pretty chill and you can't talk about it. Since you will be working in a dark hole aka SCIF.

Any-Salamander5679

Hey everyone! Excited to take your questions. I’ll use small words for the Marines and corporate speak for the Air Force 😏

AdamTalksTheCybers

How should one go about dealing with a group stalking cyber threat? I’m an individual and a woman facing hacking and online harassment and haven’t been able to get help from local law enforcement. Nobody responds to IC3 complaints (but law enforcement tells me to go to the FBI). And cybersecurity firms don’t help you unless you’re part of a corporation. 

What would you recommend I do? I’m feeling really lost.

Cautious_Extreme_747

Given your knowledge from both sides of the fence, what is your opinion on the current level of risk from nation state actors to non government organisations, especially in critical infrastructure, and which way do you see the threat heading in the near future. Do you think we are prepared in case of conflict?

wharlie

Excited to join and contribute to this AMA.  I am a US Navy active duty and Army Reserves veteran with almost 30 years of cyber experience after my transition to the civilian world.  [https://davidcrosstravels.com/us-navy/](https://davidcrosstravels.com/us-navy/) Looking forward to the questions and helping out the community!

MrPKI

What are some common pitfalls / mistakes you see ex-service personnel make automatically in corporate environments?

AlternativeServe4247

What (cyberSec specific) skills do you most value in employees/coworkers?

Lankyie

Active duty, cyber job here. 6 YOE at EAOS. How can cyber service members posture themselves to get into upper management positions once out?

Goatlens

Would you recommend being a cyber officer for the Air Force?

HavenGotIt

how important is software engineering / computer science to your career? 

What did your journey look like while being an amateur? Was it Linux first or networking or something else

effivancy

Bit of a reverse question, is it ever worth it to go into the military as a cyber officer when one is already in the private cyber industry?

Where is the line drawn for response to a cyber attack? I mean where the military is like, this has to get physical.

I don't have a military career so I may not be qualified to ask anything here, but since I am already working in Infosec, I'll ask nonetheless.  I want to work with (or work for) Adam Arellano again, as he's one of the best managers I've had a couple years back. So how can I do it? It's a serious question :p.

Lower_University6726

I’m currently pursuing my Bachelor’s in Information Systems: Cybersecurity, and I will be ETSing mid 2026. I will probably have 4/5 classes left to complete after my ETS date and worry this may set me back. Should I get a certification while doing this, and do a CSP/Skillbridge as well?

Minimum_Art_4567

Currently, I am doing cleared blue team work and although it is stable, it is very unexciting. I come from an intel background when I was active and in some ways I found that more interesting and 'involved'. I would like to do more highly technical, proactive security work involving skills like programming and pentesting. From my understanding this would commonly fall under red team roles?

What are some more common, typical red team type roles within the DoD/Federal realm and what are some ways I can pivot towards working in them?

BinSlashCat

I have a degree in cybersecurity management. The classes were based on industry certifications, but the classes didn’t include certification testing. After 12 years in cyber, and only Sec+ from 2014, what should I do to get into the game in the private sector? Thanks

Empty_Tangelo_370

I’m a 23yo living in Texas, and at this point about 4 years ago I took a boot camp style class for cybersecurity.

Long story short I pivoted away from it due to family and relationship reasons and ended up working in sales, and I have been ever since.

I want to go back into cybersecurity and make a true career out of it. Any advice on the best approach to start over and get into it without giving up my day job until then?

eraof84

Did any of you take advantage of DAU classes on your learning journey?

donaldmorganjr

What do you consider to be the minimal fundamentals for government GRC?

skywarner

Hello there, any advice for another vet on his second year of cyber ungrad? Maybe something you wish you knew prior that you know now that would benefit me?

Jrperez_3

jithi121

I have a million questions...

I've always loved technology since I was a child but don't totally know what I want to apply for, so I would like to ask you what's the most fun you had in Cyber security? 

I enjoy building websites so I always have something new to learn, be it front-end design or Docker. What's something with regards to cybersecurity that you would like to do more of and what things do you absolutely hate the most?

I don't know what being a cybersecurity professional is like, so I am wondering if you do only security related jobs or if you sometimes go out of your main subject to fill in for others? Do you talk to a lot of people and give speeches?

I know you're pretty busy, so I was wondering what the three digits on the back of your debit card is and where do you keep your chocolate stash?

StooNaggingUrDum

for college is it better to get into cyber security major or computer science to information security?

Appropriate-Mix-5413

If I want to get into the cyber field when I get out of the navy in a year, is getting security plus a good first move in the meantime? All I have is a secret clearance, associates in education, and a lot of management experience and a lot of experience with electronics, some with redhat, and a computer operator apprenticeship cert

I’m a little late for this, but it’s definitely the place I need to be as this is on my mind recently. 
Cybersecurity is such a broad field, and I definitely feel overwhelmed thinking about my future options. 

Of staying in - doing 20 enlisted - getting a cyber degree while in and go officer - or get out after my first contract and try to shoot for a civilian job with my clearance and 4 years experience in the role. 

But I’m just starting and the military is already trying to pipeline people and keep you in one role. That I dont necessarily want to be stuck in, and unsure of the marketability of skills in the civilian sector. 
If it’s worth taking a pay cut starting at 60-80k jobs before going 6 figures to explore a new field or focus in cyber. 

I guess what were your factors in choosing the best time to get out. Was money ever a major factor in choosing the field or focus of the job you chose? Or was it all equal? 
Is military experience and no degree but certs really marketable? Or is it average now days.

Smart_Peak9505

TrueKiwi78

Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give someone who is currently working in the field and has ~ 4 years until their end of enlistment or retirement?

Horfire

What concerns you envision for finance and critical services, for the following years that should be mitigated and tracked ?

bluesfreax

Countries are shifting military strategies to focus on advanced technology and cyber capabilities, with significant developments in AI integration into warfare.

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