LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Before Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) teams begin defending networks against simulated cyberattacks during Cyber Shield 2026, they spend a week learning from the exercise's premier technical advisors. Known as the Gold Team, these experienced cyber professionals prepare participants from across the United States and partner nations with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed during one of the Department of Defense's largest unclassified cyber defense exercises.
The Gold Team's mission is to train, advise, and assist. Prior to the start of the exercise, the team designed and delivered a 40-hour Joint Readiness Course, establishing a common baseline across participating organizations while strengthening multinational collaboration. Once Cyber Shield begins, Gold Team members transition from instructors to senior technical advisors, embedding with each of the exercise's 36 DCO teams to provide real-time mentorship and technical assistance.
"The foundational defense cyber operations that we were targeting in this course started with cyber threat intelligence," said Illinois Army National Guardsman Lt. Col. Jamie Marlock, Joint Force Headquarters. "We went through how to use cyber threat intelligence to build and conduct incident responses."
From there, participants learn how to identify and recognize unfamiliar networks, understand and validate the systems and services operating within them before progressing to log analysis, custom threat detection, threat hunting, and host-based analysis.
"One of the challenges is that teams are using a lot of AI tools to do enumeration," Marlock said. "They're forgetting how to build a solid network map. It's forced them to go back in and reinforce those manual tenets that go into your routers, your switches, and build out an accurate network."
Reinforcing those foundational skills is a key part of the Gold Team's mission, ensuring participants understand not only how to use modern tools but also the underlying techniques needed to effectively defend a network. That emphasis on core cyber fundamentals helps prepare teams to adapt when faced with unfamiliar systems and evolving threats throughout the exercise.
As the exercise unfolds, the Gold Team continues supporting participants by serving as trusted technical advisors rather than just coaches. Embedded alongside DCO teams, they provide guidance, answer technical questions, and help participants work through complex cyber challenges while allowing teams to solve problems independently.
By combining classroom instruction with hands-on mentorship, the Gold Team enhances the realism and training value of Cyber Shield 2026 while maximizing learning opportunities for U.S. military personnel, government agencies, and international partners. Their ability to rapidly assemble experienced cyber professionals into a unified training and advisory organization highlights the National Guard's commitment to developing a skilled, collaborative cyber force capable of defending against evolving threats.
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