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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The extensive Cyber Shield 2025 exercise, currently underway at the Virginia National Guard State Military Reservation, is emphasizing the critical role of inter-service collaboration in strengthening national cybersecurity defenses. The longest-running and largest Department of Defense cyber exercise, Cyber Shield brings together approximately 900 National Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, Guardians, and civilian cyber professionals from 28 states and territories, and 15 countries.
Participants are engaged in rigorous training courses and a sophisticated cyber range designed to hone their skills in computer network internal defense measures and cyber incident response. A significant focus this year is on the diverse talent pool contributing to the exercise's success.
U.S. Army Maj. Spencer Loem, commander for the 176th Cyber Protection Team, Illinois Army National Guard, highlighted the realistic nature of the training.
"This year's Cyber Shield Red Team has been really outstanding," Loem said. "They've done a great job at using realistic techniques that you would see in modern environments. They've been able to integrate cloud and Industrial Control Systems data, like operational technology, which are things that are very difficult to replicate in an exercise type environment."
Loem, who is participating as a Cyber Shield Red Team member and works as a Red Teamer in his civilian career, underscored the collaborative spirit within the simulated conflict.
"From the Red Team perspective it's not about Red versus Blue," he explained. "That's why every single day we've been able to do hot washes with the Blue Teams and talk about what we did and how they can protect their network better."
The joint environment is a key takeaway for many participants. Loem noted the diversity on his own team.
"A great part about Cyber Shield is that we have National Guard, Reserves, and Active Duty all in the same room. On my team I've got a Space Force guy, I've got a Marine and I'm Army; right next to me we've got Air Force." Loem said. "Bringing talent from the different forces is such a great part of this exercise because everyone's got a very diverse set of experiences."
U.S. Space Force Tech. Sgt. Sjohn-Curtis Stegall, from Space Delta 6 Detachment 2, U.S. Space Force, echoed the sentiment, noting this is the first year Space Force has participated in this capacity on the Red Team.
"This has been a good experience. Being able to come into this environment where you have National Guard, Reserve, Active Duty, people that are doing this in their civilian life, people that are doing this for the Department of Defense, you get a melting pot of experience."
Stegall praised the training scenarios, stating they were "hands down better than 90% of the cyber training I've done. We're actually implementing effects and we get to go talk to our blue teams to see what they look like from their perspective." He also emphasized the unique benefits of a multi-branch environment.
"I love the joint environment. When you're in the same branch, you're all Air Force, all Space Force, etc, you tend to have a similar mentality," Stegall said. "It's nice sitting next to a Gunnery Sergeant from the Marines and listening to his perspective on things because there’s a stark difference between his perspective and mine. You get to pick and pull from different people's experiences to make yourself better."
Cyber Shield 2025, which runs until June 13, has a mission to develop, train, and exercise cyber forces in the areas of computer network internal defense measures and cyber incident response.
| Date Taken: | 06.10.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.27.2025 15:17 |
| Story ID: | 501314 |
| Location: | VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Cyber Shield 2025: A Joint Force Exercise, by SSG Joe Roudabush, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
