Design and Launch of an Intensive Cybersecurity Program for Military Veterans

The demand for trained cybersecurity operators is growing more quickly than traditional programs in higher education can fill. At the same time, unemployment for returning military veterans has become a nationally discussed problem. We describe the design and launch of New Skills for a New Fight (NSNF), an intensive, one-year program to train military veterans for the cybersecurity field. This non-traditional program, which leverages experience that veterans gained in military service, includes recruitment and selection, a base of knowledge in the form of four university courses in a simultaneous cohort mode, a period of hands-on cybersecurity training, industry certifications and a practical internship in a Security Operations Center (SOC). Twenty veterans entered this pilot program in January of 2016, and will complete in less than a year's time. Initially funded by a global financial services company, the program provides veterans with an expense-free preparation for an entry-level cybersecurity job.