Cadet cyberwarriors head to AFIT

  • Published
  • By Ann Patton
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  Two Air Force Academy first-class cadets will soon be the first graduates to go directly from the Academy to the Air Force Institute of Technology's cyber warfare track.

Cadets 1st Class Aaron Gross and Nicholas Fritts have followed the Academy's undergraduate cyber warfare degree track as computer science majors.

"Our future role in cyber warfare will continue to grow, and we will continue to be a leading educational and research institution in the field," said Lt. Col. Jeff Boleng, the assistant professor of computer science.

Since the early 1990s, AFIT has been teaching and performing graduate-level research focusing on understanding and developing advanced cyber-related theories and technologies.

Both graduating cadets became interested in computers before coming attending the Academy, they said.

Cadet Gross, from Anaheim Hills, Calif., enjoys video games and learning how computers interact, and Cadet Fritts, from Dallas, spent three years managing corporate computer networks before joining the military.

"I am always interested in network attacks and the detection of them," Cadet Fritts said. "I enjoy being able to figure out that something has changed or isn't acting correctly." 

He also enjoys finding ways to crack security systems and spotting system weaknesses, he said.

Both cadets have a good grasp of the threats from cyberspace, officials said.

"Threats can encompass everything from minor hacking, to other countries trying to steal and bring down our information systems," Cadet Gross said. "The (internet) is virtually infinite so the range of possibilities for threats and vulnerabilities is almost limitless."

There are threats from every corner of the world, Cadet Fritts said. "In many instances, the best we can hope for is to know what compromises and security breaches we have had. To suffer a security breach and not know it can be amazingly harmful."

Cadet Gross, who researched active-eye detection in video streams for his information warfare class, feels the Academy has prepared him well for the challenges ahead, he said.

"I have really learned a lot in regard to the new domain and where it has been and will be," he said.

Cadet Fritts also feels well prepared, he said. 

"I had a lot of life experiences before I decided to join the military, but the
Academy has helped me learn to focus my energy on the task at hand," he said. "I am better at achieving goals now instead of partially achieving many goals."

Since 2004 the Academy's computer science department has graduated 37 cadets with the cyber warfare designation and is adding eight more this year, Colonel Boleng said.

Core courses directly support the Academy's cyberwarrior development and draw from a variety of departments, including law, electrical engineering, philosophy, physics, chemistry, behavioral sciences, engineering and military strategic sciences as well as computer science.

Students in the cyber warfare track may select courses in cryptography, information warfare and network security.

"It's pretty exciting heading off to such a new and significant domain," said Cadet Gross. "I imagine that it will get exponentially bigger, thus introducing more vulnerabilities."

The Air Force Institute of Technology Center for Cyberspace Research will team with the Cyber Command to train and equip the cyberwarriors of the future through cyber-graduate education and research.

AFIT is located on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The school is considered a component of Air University and has been offering degrees since 1956. 

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