Photo By William Roche | Capt. David Collins, commander, Headquarters and Alpha Company, Army Cyber Training...... read more read more
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Hometown: Perry, Oklahoma
Military Occupational Specialty: 17A – Cyber Operations Officer
Duty title: Commander, Headquarters and Alpha Company, Army Cyber Training Battalion
(NOTE: Rank and position are correct as of time of interview)
QUICK SKETCH:
-- Attended West Point and served as an intern at Army Cyber Command’s 780th Military Intelligence Brigade during his time as a cadet
-- Volunteered to be a Training, Advising and Counseling (TAC) officer to help mentor cyber officer students, and later to be a cyber training company commander
ON WHY CYBER APPEALS TO HIM:
“The number-one thing that I learned in college as an IT major was how to teach myself. It wasn't, ‘Learn this skill.’ The only skill I learned was how to go find information, and find it in a way I understand it. And so I was just leveraging that talent. I think … solving complex problems (is) what we do. And leveraging that ability to go out and find open-source partial solutions and pairing them all together to find the answer to your individual problem. I really like doing that.”
ON HOW ARMY COMBAT ARMS AND LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE ENHANCES CYBER OPERATIONS:
“My dad was a field artillery officer, my grandfather was a field artillery officer, so I chose to branch detail into the field artillery. So I did my first three to four years as field artillery. I wanted some combat arms experience, and so I chose to do that, to kind of ‘operationalize’ my thought process.”
“I was the TAC officer for a couple of BOLC (cyber Basic Officer Leadership Course) classes … and now I'm a (training) company commander. I'm learning a lot as company commander in terms of all of what's expected of a commander and all the do's and don'ts and risks that you have to mitigate. … I understand the need for technical expertise, but I also think that iron sharpens iron, and one skill makes you better at the other. So I think that becoming well-rounded in our knowledge and pairing different experiences throughout your career together can give you a holistic view of whatever operations you're conducting, whether they're offensive or defensive. … So it's all good, really. It helps you focus.”
“I am thirsty to get out there (and) take what I've learned in cyber school, and go take the foundation of my degree and take my understanding, and … apply it and learn more about how to use it in the operational force. I'm really excited for that, because now, after this experience, I'll be able to understand all the different ways … a commander is pulled. So now I can provide the best type of information to hopefully support operational commanders.”
For information on uniformed Army Cyber careers, go to www.goarmy.com/army-cyber.html
For information on Army cyber civilian career opportunities, select the “Careers” menu at www.arcyber.army.mil
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ABOUT US: United States Army Cyber Command directs and conducts integrated electronic warfare, information and cyberspace operations as authorized, or directed, to ensure freedom of action in and through cyberspace and the information environment, and to deny the same to our adversaries.
| Date Taken: | 08.14.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.14.2018 11:41 |
| Story ID: | 288687 |
| Location: | FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 329 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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