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Changing Army culture<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps more important than even the coursework is the culture that surrounds cyber operations. The staff at Fort Gordon are trying to change the predominant culture in the service that trains soldiers to rely on a checklist for completing tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In cyberspace, this will not cut it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want you to get the right answer and we\u2019re not particularly concerned about how you got it as long as you get there,\u201d Hasbrouck said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, the Army is trying to teach its cyberwarriors to be more freeform thinkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStep 1, do this; if that doesn\u2019t work, step 2, do this other thing. That very transactional, follow the [training manual] to do whatever you\u2019ve got to do \u2014 that doesn\u2019t apply to cyber whatsoever,\u201d Aspey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a cyber operation, teams are usually given a task to achieve a certain effect, but how they accomplish it is up to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt requires a forward-thinking problem solver,\u201d Apsey said. \u201cPart of our charge at the school is to break that old model because we know it doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, the cyber school is trying to break out of the model of teaching students PowerPoint presentations with quizzes at the end that are merely regurgitating the material from the slides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As an example, they point to the school\u2019s basic officers\u2019 leaders networking course. This class would have been unheard of a few years ago, leaders explained, because it requires assigning principles to students to research on their own, not spoon-fed material in class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With ever-improving cyber defense and fewer obvious backdoors in network protocols, cyber forces will need to combine critical thinking with a knowledge of how operating systems work in order to complete their objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The need for specialization?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, cyber forces are trained to a joint standard learning, both the offensive and defensive tenets of cyber. This means they can perform both tasks once assigned to the operational force. There is a debate within the school, however, concerning how specialized forces should be in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTwenty years ago, all you needed was somebody who was a computer expert. Ten years ago, all you needed was somebody who was a computer security expect. Five years ago, you did have to specialize in a various domain of security, but then you could still keep it to a few broad divisions,\u201d Hasbrouck said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToday, you have to really dig down deep to get to the various specializations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within this push, cyber officials said there may now need to be a greater delineation between offensive and defensive operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re already seeing that now when it comes to the split between offensive cyber and defensive cyber, where we rotate people from offensive cyber to defense and defense to offense. There\u2019s a very long learning curve to get them spun up to where they need to be,\u201d Hasbrouck said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, Apsey noted that it\u2019s not that cyberwarriors can\u2019t do both, but the switch is not an easy transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some officials have described cyber forces in the future who would be like hockey players, who simultaneously play both offense and defense. This differs from the current arrangement, which is more like football players, who only play one side of the ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wish we did more of the mix, because I find that people are often passionate about a specific technology area and \u2014 regardless of whether they\u2019re applied on the offensive or the defense \u2014 they\u2019re going to be pretty good at that because that\u2019s what they\u2019re passionate about and that\u2019s what they research on their own time or practice at home,\u201d a former cyberwarrior told Fifth Domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile there are specific technology areas that may be more useful on the defensive side or the offensive side, the technology areas traverse both.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former cyberwarrior added that this specialization could allow for greater talent management, as well. Commanders could create technology or regionally aligned teams knowing that certain team members are stronger at certain tasks and passionate them. Regardless of whether they\u2019ve done \u201coffense\u201d or \u201cdefense,\u201d they\u2019ll be useful if they understand the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using technology to teach<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
One tool the Army is using to keep the curriculum current to the operational world is a virtual module students and personnel can access all over the world called Virtual Training Area, or VTA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tool is a conglomeration of open-source technologies that Army users can access around the world on the open internet, not the closed DoD network, to access course prep materials, courses themselves or even to log curriculum changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe schoolhouse actually has a webservice application that\u2019s up where any [cyber] soldier in the force can make a recommendation on a curriculum change based off of what they\u2019re seeing in the field. Think about how powerful that is,\u201d said Maj. Gen. John Morrison, the cyber school\u2019s most recent commandant and now the chief of staff at U.S. Cyber Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been given really broad latitude to change curriculum based off operational need,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe commandant has the authority to \u2014 if a requirement comes in from the field or if we\u2019re teaching something that isn\u2019t quite what the latest tactic, technique or procedure is \u2014 change it almost on the spot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The VTA has the added benefit of tracking both courseware and students over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt gives us really good visibility [to see] various changes across the school,\u201d Aspey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTen years from now \u2014 when we have all this data about how people did and what worked and what didn\u2019t work \u2014 we can make better decisions about how to create courseware in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To help bolster students\u2019 critical thinking skills, the Army cyber school is also turning to a series of game-like exercises that provide a more interactive way for cyberwarriors to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fifth Domain witnessed competitive quizzes, as well as capture-the-flag-type games. This approach creates a more dynamic environment for the students, but it also allows the school to identify which students are skilled at specific topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That information can be stored in a database and serve as a talent management tool. Ideally, this data will be used to choose specific operators for a mission based on their strengths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In one course, students logged into a commercial client to access a quiz that was formatted like TV game show \u201cWho Wants to be a Millionaire\u201d with four multiple-choice questions. The students had 30 seconds to answer each question and, when the question was presented, students could watch on the main television screen at the front of the class how many people chose each multiple-choice option. A leaderboard ranked each student based on correct answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In another course, enlisted students participated in an exercise that can take about three days to complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One student Fifth Domain observed completing this activity had to find a description of a certain code within a series of script. Initially, the student couldn\u2019t identify the description in the script and went to Google to search for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If one command didn\u2019t garner any descriptions, then the student needed to run another. This tested the students on what computer commands are available and what would be useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the same class later in the day, students in small groups gave presentations to the entire class teaching their assigned topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was far different than how students learned a decade ago and, leaders hope, a path to cyber success to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The service is trying to instill a new culture in its students, one that better fits cyber operations, and is leaning on new approaches to help students adjust to this fast-moving domain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":26,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,36,26,164],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3336],"class_list":["post-16457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-training-sim","category-training-simulation-report"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"TFBU4GFOPNEO3FBJ34NTXM5JPQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/dod\/army\/2019\/08\/02\/how-the-armys-cyber-school-is-changing\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n