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ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Guard brings unique capabilities to the cyber domain and has helped develop new applications that allow greater network connectivity while maintaining cybersecurity, Guard cyber officials said.
“We bring real-world perspective coming from industry,” said Ken Flowers, the chief technology officer with the National Guard Bureau, adding that many Guard members in the military cyber field have civilian cyber, network and computer experience.
“They take that expertise and bring it back to the Guard,” he said. “We can bring folks in that have dealt with artificial intelligence, machine learning, you know, quantum computing, in their day-to-day, and then come in here and they can apply it.”
That’s especially important in cyber defense and cybersecurity, said Flowers.
Leveraging those skills and abilities is also part of what allowed the Guard to develop the Bring Your Own Device application, which provides users a secure means to connect personal phones, tablets or other devices to the Defense Department network to access their military email, shared folders, and other related items.
“That started here with the Guard,” said Flowers, adding the need for it came, in part, because most Guard members don’t have secure, government-furnished devices. Previously, many Guard members used the commercial virtual remote application, or CVR, to connect through their personal devices.
“It was basically just an app on your phone that wasn’t secure, but it allowed us to communicate on ground,” Flowers said. The non-secure aspect of CVR led to its DOD-wide shuttering in 2021, which left a capability gap.
“We needed to develop something for our Airmen and our Soldiers to be able to communicate during domestic operations,” Flowers said.
A secure app that could be used on personal devices was a repeated request heard from Soldiers and Airmen, said Kenneth McNeill, the chief information officer with the NGB.
“Bring your own device, it is something that our organization did believe strongly in,” he said. The app also helps with training exercises and preparations for overseas deployments. “For those Citizen-Soldiers and -Airmen out there, they needed that capability in their pocket.”
Development of Bring Your Own Device took more than two years and included working with commercial vendors, the DOD’s chief information officer and the principal cyber adviser.
“The big thing from the team side was the risk management framework, that is, making sure we applied the correct security controls,” said Flowers. After testing in two pilot programs and by the DOD’s Threat Systems Management Office, Bring Your Own Device was approved and adopted Army- and Air Force-wide earlier this year.
“This is an area where the Guard really made a difference to the larger service,” said Leslie Beavers, the DOD’s acting chief information officer. “It’s making a difference to people all over.”
Partnerships and collaboration were key to developing Bring Your Own Device and working within the cyber realm in general.
“You can have great ideas, but if you don’t have partners and you don’t have organizations that want to work with you, it’s another great idea. It’s just talk, right?” said McNeil, adding that partners “keep the engine going” in support of the Guard mission.
For Flowers, it’s also one of the core functions of his office.
“We are relationship builders, absolutely,” he said. That includes partnerships throughout the DOD and industry, which helps establish long-term cyber strategies and needs while identifying problems and developing solutions.
“What I see as a driver for Mr. Flowers would be the relationship building, establishing those enduring relationships, identifying those pain points and finding ways to relieve those and ensure that we are being innovative and meeting the Guard’s mission,” said Renee Jamison, an information technology specialist with the NGB.
Partnerships were also key to the success of the NGB’s Cyber Security Awareness Month events held throughout October, said Flowers. The events help keep Guard members informed on cyber threats and ways to maintain strong cybersecurity.
This year included various cyber-related games and a live hacking simulation featuring cyber teams from the National Defense University.
“Just seeing the enthusiasm from the everyday user, it was cool to see,” said Flowers.
Those events culminated with a cybersecurity discussion panel that included Beavers, McNeil, U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Terrence Adams, the deputy principal cyber adviser to the secretary of defense, and Ashley Jones, an adviser with the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
“You don’t necessarily get that group on an everyday basis,” said Flowers.
The discussion at the Herbert R. Temple Army National Guard Readiness Center in Arlington was streamed online and included more than 800 on-site and remote attendees — a big increase from the first NGB cybersecurity awareness events in 2022, said Jamison.
“Through that growth, we’re able to educate the user community by involving distinguished personnel from throughout the DOD and industry,” she said. “And there were individuals taking part, signed in, not just from the Guard or DOD, but individuals from the Department of Interior and other partners, so we’re spreading engagement, casting a wider net.”
That helps Guard members defend against potential attacks and remain cyber aware.
“We want to engage everyone,” said Jamison. “Everyone has a responsibility to secure DOD networks and their personal home networks because you must stay vigilant.”
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