The West Point Cyber Team competed in the DoD CIO Cyber Workforce Competition at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. The event simulated offensive cyber operations in a V elimination format.

West Point placed third overall and gained valuable experience applicable to future cyber training and competitions. Seven cadets represented West Point, competing alongside teams from the US Naval Academy, University of North Georgia, Virginia Tech, The Citadel, Norwich University, Texas A&M, and VMI.

Cadets conducted offensive cyber tasks within a time-constrained operational environment and engaged with senior DoD cyber leaders, including COL (R) Daniel Ragsdale ’81, HON Kirsten A. Davies (DoD CIO), and LTG Stanton ’95 (DISA).

Infrastructure issues on Day 2 extended the four-team round into Day 3, impacting tempo and flow of the event. Despite uneven execution, the competition offers meaningful potential for refinement and future value. Cadets identified skill gaps in Windows Active Directory and firewall configuration tasks, as well as a need for improved internal knowledge-sharing tools to support real-time collaboration during multi-operator. The competition provided a productive learning environment that highlighted both team strengths and areas requiring additional preparation ahead of future cyber operations events.

Ultimately, the experience provided valuable operational insight and reinforced areas of growth that will strengthen cadet readiness for future cyber training and competitive events.

The excerpt and image were taken from DCA Newsletter.