The weekend of April 26-28 saw North Carolina Wing Headquarters transformed into a cyber range — characterized by “interactive, simulated platforms and representations of networks, systems, tools, and applications,” as defined the National Initiative for Cybersecurity.
That proved to be the case as the wing held its first CyberCamp since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, an effort spearheaded by the wing’s cyber programs officer, Capt. Roy Vestal. In all, 22 cadets and four adult members participated in classes, along with 10 instructors (six adult members and four cadets) and six staff (four adult members and two cadets).
The full schedule of courses conducted April 27 included Cyber Ethics, Computers, Operating Systems, Password and Authentication OpSec, VMWare, Windows, Linux, Cryptography, Networking, and Forensics. Instructors included adult members employed as cyber professionals and cadets with experience in CAP cyber activities and Air and Space Forces Association CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competitions.
That evening, a career panel shared insights into their different backgrounds as well as some lessons learned from their diverse experiences.
The following morning’s graduation events challenged the teams of cadets and adult members to use their newly acquired skills to defend against simulated cyberattacks. Both the forensics challenge and graduation exercise were won by Team Delta:
Cadet Master Sgt. Angel Flores, Burlington Composite Squadron
Cadet Tech. Sgt. Miles Krueger, Asheville Composite Squadron
Cadet Staff Sgt. Irijah Cunningham (team lead), Fayetteville Composite Squadron
Cadet Airman 1st Class Karina Brooks, Winston Salem Composite Squadron
“I thoroughly enjoyed passing on the cyber knowledge I learned from CyberPatriot and the CAP cyber program to those that succeed me in the program,” said Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Grace Anderson of the Raleigh-Wake Composite Squadron, cadet instructor and public affairs officer.
“I hope that this camp has provided cadets with the skills that they need to both enjoy and flourish in the CAP cyber program,” said another cadet instructor, Cadet 1st Lt. Lucas Merritt of the Pitt-Greenville Composite Squadron. “It is both rare and delightful to see so many young people genuinely interested in learning and developing skills in the field of cyber security.”
Added Cadet 2nd Lt. Aedan Rogness of the Pitt-Greenville squadron, cadet commander, ”I am genuinely happy to see that all the cadets had fun this weekend and to see that this was such an instructive experience for our students.”
“Getting a chance to bring the … CyberCamp back has been exciting,” Vestal said. “Having the chance to work with our future cyber leaders gives me great pride and joy.
“The cadets were pushed hard during the education portion of the weekend, studying ethics, concepts of virtualization, Windows and Linux administration, and introductions to cryptography and forensics.
“Watching the cadets apply what they learned during the graduation exercise was worth the effort. This weekend would not have happened if it weren’t for the amazing support staff of seniors and cadets. I don’t know how the team was able to accomplish so much with so little,“ he said._____Lt. Col. Elizabeth DunsterPublic Affairs OfficerNorth Carolina Wing CyberCamp
