CYBER SNAPSHOT: Staff Sgt. Andrew Enriquez

By William RocheSeptember 17, 2019

CYBER SNAPSHOT: Staff Sgt. Andrew Enriquez
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Hometown: Athol, Idaho

Job title: Cryptographic Linguist, 1st Information Operations Command

Duty position: Open Source Researcher

QUICK SKETCH:

-- Graduated the Defense Language Institute's French Basic Course in July 2019 and was selected as recipient of DLI's Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor Award for academic achievement and military performance, and the West Point Award.

-- Earned the title of 1st Information Operations Brigade NCO of the Year for 2019

-- Performed with the U.S. Army Soldier Show in 2010 and 2015 as a ballet dancer and singer, performing more than 200 shows in the continental U.S. and abroad for audiences ranging from basic trainees to participants at the U.S. Army Birthday Ball in Washington, D.C. The 2015 cast was named GEICO and Salute Magazine's "Unit of the Year" for 2015.

-- Awarded the Army Festival of the Arts' "Best Solo Dance Performance 2014" and third place in the 2009 Army Peer-to-Peer Safety Video Challenge.

ON WHAT HE LIKES ABOUT BEING PART OF THE ARMY CYBER TEAM:

"My favorite part about being a Cyber Soldier is that the cyber realm is still contested space. U.S. dominance of the battlespace in the kinetic realm is a given, but cyberspace is an emerging and exciting battlespace."

ON WHAT UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES AN ARMY CYBER CAREER OFFERS:

"The most exciting opportunities offered by a career with Army Cyber are definitely the training opportunities in a legitimately cutting-edge field. Ironically, this is also the most significant challenge, to me; trying to keep 'up to speed' with training and techniques and applications can be intense and exhausting."

ON WHAT HE WOULD SAY TO SOMEONE WHO IS CONSIDERING A CAREER PATH IN ARMY CYBER:

"I would definitely encourage anyone interested in a career with Army Cyber to simply take a look at the media stories proliferating out there about how much we're investing in cyber capabilities, and how we're engaging the world. ... Don't you want to be a part of a growing and engaging field?"

ON WHAT A CAREER WITH ARMY CYBER OFFERS THAT OTHER CAREER PATHS DON'T:

"One of the great things about a career with Army Cyber is that Cyber Soldiers learn so many skills and earn so many certifications that apply to lucrative civilian fields. Some more combat-related or less technical, less intensive fields can have limited applications for personal use. And working with other governmental organizations can really broaden a Cyber Soldier's horizons and pulls aside the veil on a fascinated and connected world."