Going Cyber, Getting Out Advice and a Training Series
Welcome Fellow Hell Divers... wait wrong reddit. J/K.
I want to give back while teaching myself something at the same time. I'm a retired 17A (Cyber Officer) who was a prior FA53, 25A, and 27D (paralegal for 10 years). I worked at the Cyber School prior as a technical director and instructor, so I always believe education is important. I developed this free training security series for Security+ SEC+ SYO-701 Series. I built this custom series using my 5090 GPU, coding, building an emotion and research platform (which I have to babysit). What's the catch... nothing and it's free. No website sign, no codes, and no fluff.
Before I retired, I operated like the Army could kick me out on any given day. A MedBoard, an accident, whatever. Did have a partial acl scare from a bad jump 12 years in... thanks 82nd ABN. Because of that mindset, I finished my Bachelor's and Master's degrees through Columbia Southern University and knocked out around 50 certs, including CISSP, PMP, CISM, SPHR, and the whole CompTIA series. When I finally got out, I had my pick of jobs because my resume was squared away with having everything set... this is not to showboat, just telling you the reality of things on my end.
Currently, I work two remote cyber jobs; one being part-time as an Adjunct Professor. The reality is that plenty of people graduate with a Master's in Cybersecurity but still can't land a job. Why? Because they lack the certs, clearances, and hands-on skills. It doesn't matter if you were an Officer, Warrant, or Enlisted. What matters is what you actually gained from your time in the Army. Degrees, certs, real-world experience, and networking are what open doors today.
Why are certs so critical? For starters, the DoD requires baseline certs just to touch a government network. "Cyber" is a sexy buzzword, but people underestimate the grind behind it. You have to teach yourself IT fundamentals, learn to code, and understand Linux. You just have to start somewhere, and those skills will compound over time.
The biggest myth about transitioning: You should NIX the idea that your DD-214 automatically guarantees you a job. It doesn't. In fact, leaning too heavily on your military affiliation without the hard skills to back it up can actually work against you.
So my final advice? Use the TA and reclass to branches to help you pay for your certs: 170A, 17C, 17A, 17D, 25D and some other ones that may related to your field. I can tell you I'm recently disappointed by the Army's decision to cut TA for Officers and make it harder for junior enlisted folks to get it approved by the CoC; some don't have your best interest. Remember, at the end of the day; you are your own career manager.
Finally, make sure you document everything. Rolled out with 100% day 1 through the BDD program. I documented everything. I was in the 82nd prior to going to cyber (so it wasn't from cyber lol). If you need some information on VA stuff, I put this together also: VA Info. The funny thing is my dad recently got his 100% and due to a rule change, I also get Chapter 35 even though I'm a 100%. I got the VA letter for 36 months of free college (even though I have 12 months left of the MGIB and my wife used all my Post 9-11). Make sure to check out r/VeteransBenefits and stay up on the posts.
Sorry for the long post and if you ask questions about wanting to go cyber or dealing with AI, just post here. I'll get a double whopper with 3 nugs and some water from the water buffalo.