Cyber scholarships for justice-involved veterans announced at summit

Attendees of an Aug. 8-10 Military Life Cycle and Transition Summit conducted by the University of Chicago listened and spoke about the struggles of shifting from service in the U.S. Armed Forces to rewarding careers after discharge.

They heard from a panel of women veterans who spoke of specific challenges and how they applied their military experiences to turn those challenges into success stories. They listened to influencers from a Navy commander to the secretary of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs to Student Veterans of America’s chief of staff about the connections, disconnections and opportunities for improvement between military service and careers afterward. And they learned about unique difficulties of veterans seeking second chances after arrests. Somehow, that all led to the nation’s big gap in cybersecurity jobs and a second-day announcement from American Legion-supported Task Force Movement (TFM).

“We know that there is a big community out there that needs a little bit of assistance,” explained U.S. Army combat veteran and Lockhaven Solutions CEO Dr. Jack Dever, who chairs TFM’s Cybersecurity arm. “We want to provide 10 scholarships for cyber certifications for justice-impacted veterans.”

Funded by a private donation, the scholarships will be awarded to those who have completed Veterans Treatment Court programs, and Dr. Terrell Odom, director of the University of Chicago’s Office for Military-Affiliated Communities, will join Dever in their administration and fulfillment.

American Legion Past National Commander Marty Conatser, adjutant of the Legion’s Department of Illinois, joined American Legion Veterans Employment & Education Division Director Joe Sharpe at the fifth military transition summit put on by the University of Chicago. On the event’s first full day, Sharpe told the crowd of veterans, employers, students, educators, advocates and others of The American Legion’s long history in the area of helping veterans find careers after serving their country.

“Career opportunities have changed greatly since American Legion posts were hauling their fellow veterans off to logging camps in the early 1920s,” Sharpe said in a presentation Aug. 8. “But the ideology is the same today, as we work with our partners in government, industry, education, labor, community and military to give veterans the best possible chance to succeed. We know from history that when we help veterans succeed, the nation also succeeds.”

Today, one of the biggest opportunities for veterans and their spouses is cybersecurity.

“There’s a massive dearth of talent out there,” Dever explained in a Thursday session at the Boeing-sponsored and student-organized summit. “Depending on who you listen to, there are 800,000 to 1 million cybersecurity jobs that are out there that are lying fallow because they can’t hire people to get them.”

A matter not only of economic importance but also a national security, the U.S. disposition in cybersecurity has employers around the world starved for qualified, credentialed professionals. “Cybersecurity is the biggest gold rush since … the actual gold rush,” said Dever, whose long career in risk management and law led him to found a company that assists industries, agencies, medical facilities and others with their cybersecurity needs around the world.

He has written, spoken and consulted with big banks, the FBI and government, including the United Nations, on the need to fortify cybersecurity. In his interactions, however, “Two groups I rarely see are women and veterans who have been involved in the justice system,” he said after listening to presentations by the women veterans and those who seek to improve and expand Veterans Treatment Courts for those who have served their country and are now involved in the justice system.

“We are in a war right now on cybersecurity, and we are losing badly,” Dever said. “We need to get this talent into these cybersecurity jobs. And one of the best ways to do it is to … go to people who are traditionally unrepresented, or under-represented, in those areas. That’s part of what Task Force Movement’s focus is – finding partners who can actually foment real jobs.”

The University of Chicago stood up a GI Bill-approved online Cybersecurity Boot Camp last winter, working with industry employers who can connect veterans and military families with real job opportunities.

“I get at least 50 emails a week from folks who want to join the cyber program – some veterans who may have been at the end of utilizing their GI Bill from the previous 15-year window, and a lot of folks who just want to change the trajectory of their life and support their families,” Odom explained. “Who better to pick for cyber, for security as a whole, than people who have worked to secure the nation?”

TFM is working state-by-state with Fusion Cyber and other leaders in cybersecurity to ensure there is a direct alignment to jobs. The mission is to create TFM statewide models with academic partners and employers that are funded through community supporters through 100% funded scholarships. Fusion received $72,000.00 in TFM scholarship money, which Cisco matched to award 15 scholarships to veterans and military spouses. The award recipients will begin their next cohort with Fusion and Denmark Technical College, SC, on Aug. 26.

“The number of jobs is just increasing,” said Elizabeth Belcaster, executive director of TFM, which was launched at the White House in April 2022 to strengthen the U.S. supply chain by fast-tracking veterans into specialize careers that typically require licenses and credentials. TFM now works with industry, education, labor, the military, VA and The American Legion, which has a seat on the TFM steering committee, in commercial truck driving, aviation, maritime, health care and cybersecurity.

“The threats are getting bigger every single day,” Belcaster said. “Getting veterans into this (cybersecurity) space, it seems like a very natural fit.”

Education and training, however, are not the end of the support needed for veterans to fulfill the need in cybersecurity or other industries lacking enough labor talent, she said. TFM works with companies that strive to ensure successful jobs and opportunities after the connections are made.

That’s what is going on with TFM-Illinois’ collaboration with People’s Gas of Chicago and the Utility Workers Local 1807, which works with community colleges in the city to specifically train and certify veterans for public utility jobs that await them. Conatser, speaking in a Friday panel discussion, said the tangible opportunity for a real job after such training is critical.

“If we don’t come in with some solutions that we know will be impacting, long-term and short-term, then we’re not helping anybody,” Belcaster said.  “Just pushing people to programs, (with) no job at the end of it, that’s just a waste of time and money.”

Dr. Whit Goodwin, a vice president at ThriveDX, a company that provides training and career placement in cybersecurity, told the summit crowd that “our whole purpose is for individuals, at the end of training, to have a job, and not just a job, but a job that pays a good wage, a job that allows the individual to support their family and continue to move up in cybersecurity. The ceiling is high.”

“The whole goal of Task Force Movement is to get veterans and their families family-sustaining jobs,” Dever said. “Why are veterans so perfect for cybersecurity? And also their spouses? Look at the nature of cybersecurity. No. 1, cybersecurity by its very nature is just an insidious area. When you think about the social engineering attacks – phishing, things like that – what does it prey upon? It preys upon our good nature, in many, many cases.

“What do veterans know? Veterans know there are people out there that wish us harm. Believe it or not, some people don’t fully understand that. Veterans come in knowing that. The second thing about cybersecurity, is that it’s constantly evolving. The tactics, techniques and procedures are constantly changing. The enemy is constantly adapting to how they are attacking us. Guess who understands that? Veterans do. Veterans understand the benefit of a perimeter. Veterans understand the benefit of doing a lot up front to mitigate risk later on. Veterans understand that sooner or later, you’re probably going to get hit. That’s just like a breach. When a breach happens, there are certain things you have to do immediately and certain things you have to do to clean up the situation afterwards. So, the veteran is already trained to do this.”

Every participant in the women veterans panel discussion said she was one of the statistics quoted frequently during the summit – nearly half of newly discharged veterans leave their first job within the first year, and over 80% move on within two years. Finding the right fit, said SVA Chief of Staff Dr. Abby Kinch, is critical. “Student veterans make decisions based on the information they are given,” she said, adding that SVA has online tools to help veterans make the right choices. “They choose their majors based on the folks around them. They choose their career path based on what they know. So, we’ve got to do a better job at helping them before they get to school, to make those right decisions.”

And for some, such as those involved with the justice system, the opportunity to move forward is impaired by myriad complications that the Veterans Treatment Courts (about 600 nationwide) seek to ease for those who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law. The American Legion supports expansion of Veterans Treatment Courts through Resolution No. 145, passed in 2016.

The American Legion has continuously worked with TFM since its formation, offering venues for meetings and helping the task force make connections between veterans and industries in need.

“As a (veterans service organization), our proudest partner, I will say this truly, is The American Legion,” Belcaster told the summit. “They have given us a lot of opportunities to present and do meetings at their headquarters and at their national conventions. The VSO arm is really the voice that is communicating this information to the veterans, the veteran community, and to the military families. The footprint of the Legion is critically important. We’re really proud to have that partnership.”