AFA Launches CyberPatriot III

This week the Air Force Association announced a significant step in furthering our goal in helping to educate the public on the importance of Air, Space, and Cyberspace power.

Of these, Cyber security is one the most critical national security imperatives for the U.S. today. No nation relies more on the internet for its own defense, economy and daily life – we are the most vulnerable nation on Earth to disruption or exploitation of those connections. The key to our protection lies in people. We need more Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-educated U.S. citizens of all disciplines, but arguably require talent in cyber security most of all.

This need was the reason the Air Force Association decided to create The National High School Cyber Defense Competition. First step was to prove the concept, and the CyberPatriot I competition held in conjunction with AFA's February 2009 Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida, did that in spades. The next step was to prove the competition could go nationwide, and our Pilot National Deployment during the 2009-10 school year cleared that hurdle. We successfully conducted three online qualification rounds for nearly 200 AFJROTC/CAP units in 44 states, with eight finalist teams competing in the February 2010 Championship in Orlando.

This coming school year we are going to Full National Deployment, with up to 500 slots reserved in the "All-Service" Division for JROTC units of all the services and the Civil Air Patrol. In a separate, parallel competition we will have an "Open" Division available to up to 500 non-JROTC high schools nationwide. Both competitions will culminate at an in-person Championship at the Gaylord National Resort to be held on 1-2 April 2011 in conjunction with the new CyberFutures Symposium and Technology Exposition.

A committed team of partners joined us to make the dream a reality. A generous grant from our Presenting Sponsor, Northrop Grumman Corporation, has made Full National Deployment possible. Founding Partners are the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) of the University of Texas San Antonio (creator of the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition), and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) (supplying their patent-pending Cyber NEXS Cyber Defense Trainer as the platform for the competition. Strategic Partners General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GD AIS), Raytheon Company and Microsoft Corporation also provide significant essential resources and multiyear commitments to the project.

To register your high school, go to: http://www.afa.org/CyberPatriot/