CISA Honors American Heroes during National Military Appreciation Month
By Wayne Williams – CISA Veterans Employment Program Manager
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is proud of its strong representation of veterans and military spouses, and this May we join our nation in celebrating all active duty service members, veterans, and their families during National Military Appreciation Month.
CISA is proud to honor the service and sacrifice of the American heroes within our workforce, whose experience defending our nation melds perfectly with CISA’s mission of defending against today’s threats and collaborating to build a more secure and resilient infrastructure.
Every year 200,000 service members leave active duty service for the civilian labor force. CISA actively seeks to continue to grow its representation in the veteran community and to find ways to help its transitioning service members succeed at CISA.
We are currently building a Veterans Affinity Group to promote veteran diversity and inclusion activities, identify barriers to hiring and/or advancement of veterans, lead veteran observance month and holiday activities, as well as to inspire and foster the innovation and ideas among the veteran community.
Our mission is to get involved in activities and initiatives that directly impact and support our veteran and military spouse community at CISA.
U.S. Military Veterans at CISA: In Their Own Words
U.S. military veterans within the CISA workforce know first-hand how former service members can put their unique skills and knowledge to use in careers across CISA. We’ve put together a few testimonials from some of the many veterans within our ranks.
David T., a member of the CISA workforce and U.S. Coast Guard veteran, explains, “Veterans are attracted to CISA for many of the same reasons they were to military service – the sense of mission, working with dedicated colleagues, conducting our engagements collaboratively, and knowing what we’re doing is for the common good.”
Veterans of military service also recognize that each day is about meeting the mission. This understanding makes veterans uniquely qualified to carry out CISA’s mission.
“Our common core of experience and commitment to the mission has been another significant contributor to program success,” said Mark C., Protective Security Advisor (PSA) in CISA Region 4, and a U.S. Air Force veteran.
“We brought with us, as veterans, the much-needed organizational, leadership, and management skills necessary to work independently in the field as self-starters to exceed expectations and complete the mission,” continued Mark C.
Interested in utilizing your military skills to launch a career at CISA?
For service members who want to learn more about Federal service and cyber careers, CISA is proud to offer virtual training courses through its partnership with the Federal Virtual Training Environment (FedVTE). FedVTE provides free online cybersecurity training to federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government employees, federal contractors, and U.S. military veterans. Click here to view the FedVTE course catalog.
Veterans bring a unique sense of leadership and teamwork to our Agency. We believe veterans understand the commitment to achieving organizational goals and objectives and have demonstrated the ability to work efficiently and effectively within multi-cultural environments. In hiring our workforce, CISA uses Veterans preference – a special eligibility designed to thank veterans for their service and offer them a favorable competitive position for federal employment.
Veterans can apply for positions under the Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA) (up to GS-11), the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA), or the 30% or More Disabled Veteran Appointment Authority. You can learn more about veteran preference at FedsHireVets.
CISA participates in a series of hiring events to include veteran-focused events and planned engagements with partners. Check out our 2021 events list and stay tuned for more to be added! These events are great opportunities to speak directly with CISA hiring representatives, in a live and virtual environment, about opportunities across multiple career fields beyond cybersecurity, including human resources, infrastructure security, risk assessment, and more
We celebrate the service member community this month and throughout the year and are proud to provide opportunities for veterans to continue their service and bring their valuable skills to meet the CISA mission.
The freedoms our nation holds dear would not be possible without the service, commitment, and sacrifice of our military and their families.