FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. – Praetorian Soldiers and Civilians with the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber) continue to network with the American people locally and throughout the United States to educate and inform thousands of Americans on the life-changing opportunities of Army service as a cyberspace operator, developer, intelligence analyst, or linguist.
Working in partnership with our garrison public affairs offices the brigade has built partnerships with area schools and libraries to send out ambassadors to tell their Army story, host computer challenges, and provide classes on various STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workshops.
“We are very proud of the work our Soldiers and Civilians do to tell our Army story to our community and the American people more broadly,” said Col. Candy Boparai, commander of the 780th MI Brigade (Cyber). “I think that the 780th MI Brigade (Cyber) has a unique story to share, and if sharing that story can inspire more Americans to consider service specifically in the U.S. Army, or the Department of Defense more generally, then we are very glad to have the opportunity to do just that.”
This fall the brigade will host Hackathon IV in partnership with the Anne Arundel County Public Library, to encourage teen interest in STEM. The fourth annual fall event will include a Capture the Flag (CTF) competition, Logic Games, OSINT (open-source intelligence – what Personal Identifiable Information (PII) can be easily found on social media) and Python Development stations, and will take place from 4 to 7 p.m., September 10, October 8 and November 19, at the Odenton Regional Library, AACPL, Odenton, Maryland. Visit the Anne Arundel County Public Library page to register at https://www.aacpl.net/event/hackathon-162093.
“I firmly believe we all have people in our past that enabled us to get to where we are. Therefore, we each have a responsibility to take what we have learned and pass that on to someone else,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joshua Wellman, a cyber capabilities developer technician (170D) assigned to the Operations Support Element (OSE), 780th MI Brigade (Cyber), and the lead developer for the CTF – cyber challenge. “Outreach events like this are one way in which we can do this. They also have the advantage that the skills learned could one day be used to defend our nation. Also, they’re just outright fun!”
Additionally, Praetorian Soldiers and Civilians partner with U.S. Army Cyber (ARCYBER) Talent Management (TM); U.S. Army Recruiting Command; the Illinois Institute of Technology, a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education; and Maryland STEM Festival, to support the Total Army Involvement in Recruiting (TAIR) and the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) Vigilance Recruiting programs.
In 2024, the brigade provided TAIR support for 13 high school events at Paul M. Dorman High School, Roebuck, S.C.; Blythewood High School, Blythewood, S.C.; Greenwood High School, Greenwood, S.C.; Hephzibah Comprehensive High School, Hephzibah, Ga.; TC Roberson High School, Asheville, N.C.; schools throughout Clark County School District in Greater Las Vegas; Northern Illinois University; Rock Falls High School, Rock Falls, Ill.; Rockford East High School and Guilford High School in Rockford, Ill.; Hononegah Community High School, Rockton, Ill.; Moon Area High School, Moon Township, Pa.; and the George Westinghouse High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., as well as outreach support to ChiCyberCon, hosted by Illinois Tech in Chicago; a Total Army Recruitment and Outreach Event in Arlington, Texas; and the AI Expo for National Competitiveness, in the Washington DC Convention Center.
“We depend on young men and women to decide that they’re going to do something with their life bigger than them,” said Gen. James E. Rainey, commanding general of Army Futures Command, at the 2024 South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas. “You can do it in uniform, out of uniform, you can do it full-time, you can do it part-time, and the next generations continuing to take some time to do something for their country and pay back all these privileges is really important to us.”
The Praetorians will next send a team to support ARCYBER TM in the 2nd Total Army Recruitment and Outreach Event at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, September 6 and 7.
The 780th MI Brigade (Cyber) is filled with talented and professional individuals.
Sgt. 1st Class Gerardo Martinez, a 35N, signals intelligence analyst, built three computer challenges for the Moon Area High School students including steganography, port scanning, and the most popular of all, password cracking. Additionally, Spc. Garrett Kemp, a 17C, cyber operations specialist, ran a global threat map, using a mobile hotspot that displayed all the worldwide cyberattacks, which was an excellent way to move students into the laptop containing the challenges.
Capt. Ryan Johnson, a 17A, cyberspace operations officer, and Spc. Shelby Seale, a 17C, provided TAIR support to five high schools for the U.S. Army Columbia Recruiting Battalion, USAREC, by building a small demonstration in which the Soldiers or students would run through a simple example of exploiting a Windows Server using Kali Linux and Metasploit and they would reboot the target system. Throughout the five-day trip the soldiers gave the demonstration and overview to several thousand students.
Robert Ighnat, an OSE Interactive On-net Operator (ION), represented the brigade, the Army Civilian Corps, and the U.S. Army, on two ChiCyberCon panels: the “Understanding Cybersecurity Fundamentals” and “Building a Career in Cybersecurity” breakout sessions.
Although not U.S. Army recruiters, the Soldiers and Civilians engage with interested students and young professionals – many unaware of cyber as a profession in the Army – about their work roles, day-to-day activities, necessary certifications and technical qualifications – many of which can be provided by the Army’s Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Eisenhower, Ga. – and discuss brigade Civilian employment opportunities.
In addition to opportunities to travel and engage the American people, the brigade has fielded a competitive Army Ten-Miler (ATM) team, a competitive cyber team, and a Bataan Memorial Death March team in 2024. 1st Lt. Kristen Gray, from Park Ridge, N.J., is a 17A, cyberspace operations officer, a member of the Howard County Striders Racing Team, and she placed 3rd in the military female category of the 39th Army Ten-Miler race, October 8, 2023. The brigade will host time trials on August 7 for the 40th ATM Praetorian team.
And did you know the Praetorians host an annual AvengerCon? AvengerCon is 780th MI Brigade’s homegrown hacker conference – run by Soldiers and Civilians for Army Soldiers and Civilians, as well as other Department of Defense and Intelligence Community partners, Veterans, academia, and students.
“AvengerCon is a computer security conference hosted by members of the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade,” said Capt. Jake Heybey, a 17A, cyberspace operations officer with the 780th MI Brigade (Cyber), and one of the lead organizers for AvengerCon VIII. “It has stuff like presentations, three tracks of speakers, we host training workshops, and we also run small village activities for attendees to participate in.”
AvengerCon IX is scheduled for February 26 and 27, 2025 at the Georgia Cyber Innovation & Training Center. For more information visit https://avengercon.com/.
“We need to reach a new generation of Americans and share with them the life-changing opportunities that come with service in the U.S. Army…and we need all of you to help us tell the Army story and inspire more Americans to serve,” said Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth.
The Soldiers and Civilians of the 780th MI Brigade (Cyber) are certainly doing their part to tell their Army story and inspiring more Americans to serve.
“Everywhere and Always…in the Fight!”
#ArmyPossibilities #BeAllYouCanBe
Social Sharing