Cyber threats have become such a growing concern that U.S. Cyber Command was recently elevated to a unified combatant command. The work force that combats these threats is also growing, and though you might think your career choice doesn’t fit into that world, you might be mistaken.
Missouri Army National Guard 1LT Kristi Cook is a cyber threat intelligence officer, though it’s not a career she initially considered. She’s a historian by trade, having earned her master’s degree in history in 2012. She also got her commission that year, and that’s when her commander threw a career curveball at her.
“LTC [William J.] Banwell asked if I’d be interested in trying cyber,” 1LT Cook recalled. “I told him, ‘Sir, I don’t know if I’m the kind of person you want touching computers. I don’t do a whole lot of that.’”
But she said her history studies related to the cyber world, and she quickly liked the job because it’s innovative, flexible and cutting edge.
“I’m actually tracking our threats,” 1LT Cook said. “What’s going on in the news and politics today has everything to do with what cyber operations are actually taking place. I’m telling the team what’s going on so we know what to be on the lookout for as we’re conducting our cyber operations from day to day.”
1LT Cook had originally planned to go back to school to get her doctorate degree in history, but she chose a different direction because of her National Guard job.
“I realized how much I really loved being here and what I was doing,” she said. “I went straight into working for a managed security services company, where I did threat detection for them. From there, I went to a couple more jobs where I got more technical, and that’s how I ended up where I am now, doing cyber threat intelligence.”
Now, she gets cyber training in both jobs. “I think that really benefits me in my civilian career, as well as the team as a whole here,” she said.
More women are entering the cyber field, and 1LT Cook welcomes the trend.
“If you’re interested in it, definitely talk to someone. Reach out,” she said. “If you have the passion and drive for it, we definitely think that’s the type of person who needs to be here.
BY Katie Lange, MISSOURI NATIONAL GUARD
