III MIG takes First Place in DOD Defensive Cyber competition.

Photo By Cpl. Bridgette Rodriguez | U.S. Marines with 3d Cyber Warfare Company, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, pose for a photo during Cyber Blue Zone 25-1 at Camp Courtney, Japan, May 21,2025. CBZ aims to train Marines and DoD’s Defensive Cyber Operations personnel by creating a cyber environment that gives teams the opportunity to practice new and current DCO techniques.  

OKINAWA, JAPAN

05.21.2025

Story by 1st Lt. Keyon Whyte 

III MEF Information Group     

CAMP HANSEN, Okinawa, Japan – The Indo-pacific region is no stranger to potential threats that may challenge peace and stability within the region. While Marines train every day to defend the nation, allies, and partners against these threats on land, in the air, and at sea, a battle rages in an unseen, and seldom discussed, domain - cyberspace.

The Marines of 3d Cyber Warfare Company, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group (III MIG), train and operate in the cyber domain every day to defend against threats that can move at the speed of light. They seized the opportunity to put their training and skills to the test and emerged victorious during the Cyber Blue Zone 25-1 competition.

Cyber Blue Zone 25-1 hosted competitors from across the Department of Defense and tested their ability to identify, neutralize, or mitigate cyber threats in a simulated environment. “It was named Cyber Blue Zone because there are two sides to cyber operations, red and blue,” said Sergeant Michael Saris, a defensive cyberspace operator and III MIG team competitor with 3d Cyber Warfare Company. “While the red side focuses on breaking into machines and exfiltrating data, the blue side focuses on stopping potential attacks.” The competition focused on the defensive aspect and had participants form teams to identify and defend against malicious attacks like malware or ransomware.

The III MIG team of ten that took first place credited their teamwork and communication as a large contributing factor to their victory. “Communication was really big,” said Sergeant Ean Goodwin, a defensive cyberspace operator with 3d Cyber Warfare Company who also competed on the III MIG team. “Being able to find what everyone was good at and switching out accordingly helped out a lot.”

Goodwin went on to explain how the team was comprised of junior Marines who had just completed their formal defensive cyber training as well as more senior Marines who had more experience in defensive cyber operations. This team, varying in experience and expertise, worked in a decentralized capacity to manage different tools and capabilities so they could sustain their operations and focus their attention on what was important.
While the competition provided a venue to test their teamwork and abilities against other cyber savvy operators, it also provided immense training value for the III MIG Marines who competed.

“Just the familiarization with different types of attacks and different cyber environments is very helpful to our mission,” said Saris. “Being able to simulate what vectors an enemy may use to exploit vulnerabilities and conduct attacks is extremely helpful,” Goodwin added.

The Marines of 3d Cyber Warfare Company not only demonstrated their teamwork, ingenuity, and technical expertise during Cyber Blue Zone 25-1, they also gained extremely valuable training and experience that will continue to enable III MIG to maneuver in the information domain and support Marines, allies, and partners in the region to operate in all other domains to maintain regional security in the Indo-Pacific.

• Date Taken: 05.21.2025
• Date Posted: 06.30.2025 01:54
• Story ID: 501067
• Location: OKINAWA, JP