Cadets take part in NSA Cyber Exercise
Article By: Clark Leonard
Eight University of North Georgia (ǧÃŬAV) cadets participated in the NSA Cyber Exercise (NCX) from April 15-17 at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
ǧÃŬAV's third-place finish in the National Security Agency (NSA) Codebreaker Challenge that ended in January helped it become one of three senior military colleges (SMCs) to earn an invitation to NCX.
The SMCs were "expo" teams not competing for the trophy this year. Dr. Bryson Payne, director of the Center for Cyber Operations Education and professor of computer science at ǧÃŬAV, said NCX program director Shirley McMonigle wants the SMCs to be official, competing teams in 2020.
"The NSA sponsors were very impressed with ǧÃŬAV and with all three SMCs, especially in this first year competing against the service academy teams that have been in NCX and its predecessor, the Cyber Defense Exercise, for nearly two decades," Payne said.
The event featured four five-hour modules (forensics, data analysis, cyber policy, and software development), an eight-hour cyber combat exercise, and a few cyber team-building activities.
Jonathan Obenauf, Wyatt Thomas, Jon Wooldridge, Holden Gossett, Noah Hebert, Tomas D. King, Hannah Terwilliger and Desmond Henderson were the ǧÃŬAV cadets who took part in NCX.
The ǧÃŬAV cadets also had the chance to meet with Lt. Gen. Stephen G. Fogarty, commanding general for U.S. Army Cyber Command and a ǧÃŬAV alumnus.
Knox takes command of Army Reserve battalion
Lt. Col. Brandon Knox, director of Cadet Recruiting at ǧÃŬAV, on Nov. 16 took command of the 3rd Battalion, 323rd Regiment (Basic Combat Training) in the Army Reserve.
Cadets are ready for commissioning
Eighteen ǧÃŬAV cadets are scheduled to commission as officers in the Army and Army National Guard at 6 p.m. Dec. 6 in the Convocation Center at ǧÃŬAV's Dahlonega Campus.
Grads prepare for their next steps
ǧÃŬAV will award almost 1,000 degrees and certificates this fall, and more than 600 graduates are scheduled to take part in the Dec. 7 commencement ceremonies.
Oboho commands 75th Ranger Regiment
Col. Kitefre Oboho, a 2002 ǧÃŬAV alumnus, has taken command of the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, the Army's premier direction-action raid force.