2026-07-09: Graduating from the Department of War Cyber Service Academy
 |
| My award for my outstanding academic achievement, leadership, and successfully completing the requirements for the Department of War Cyber Service Academy |
 |
| Photo taken at the inaugural DoW CSA graduation dinner at Old Dominion University |
This recognition event brought the DoW CSA together with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarship for Service and the Old Dominion University School of Cybersecurity. I want to thank everyone at the DoW CSA, where I have been a scholar for five years. Thank you for your support and dedication to my success.
My story with the DoW CSA began in 2021 when I applied for the scholarship while taking classes to satisfy PhD course requirements. The DoW CSA is a recruitment tool for the DoW creating a pipeline of DoW future employees, mainly scientists and cybersecurity professionals. The DoW CSA offers scholarships to support students who are seeking higher education and prepares them to join one of the DoW agencies protecting the DoW’s information systems and networks. It sponsors students majoring in a cyber-related major at designated universities that receive the grant for the DoW CSA program. Sponsored students are required to be full-time students while receiving the scholarship. They are expected to search and participate in summer internships (if possible) and they cannot decline summer internship offers from any of the DoW agencies unless they are in the final stages of their degree. Summer internship waivers can be obtained if the student has to fulfill academic requirements that are officially documented by the university as mandatory for completion during the summer term, has verifiable and documented research directly contributing to a dissertation, or has medical issues that require hospitalization/treatment over the summer months. While receiving the scholarship, students are not allowed to participate in any recruitment event, job interviews, or any other type of employment finding activity that may occur at the university for post-graduation employment. Working full-time for the selecting DoD Agency or any other Federal organization during the academic year is not authorized without prior approval. In some cases, students may be authorized to work less than 20-hours per week if the DoW Agency requests such a situation. Part-time jobs or jobs with a non-DoW/Federal organization are allowable. Sponsored students are required to work full-time with one of the agencies across the DoW for a minimum of one year full-time employment for each year of scholarship the student received.
 |
| Photo taken at the inaugural DoW CSA graduation dinner at Old Dominion University |
I applied for the DoW CSA in 2021 when it was the Department of Defense (DoD) Cybersecurity Scholarship Program (CySP). The lengthy scholarship application involved meeting GPA requirements (3.5 or higher), official transcripts, resume, filling out multiple forms in paper format, and two recommendation letters; one letter from my PhD advisor and another from my supervisor at work (Newport News Shipbuilding at that time). The recommendation letters must follow a certain format and must contain key information about my performance in class and what graduate classes I have taken. I had to change my resume to match the template that CSA provided. The application process has improved dramatically since 2021. It became much easier to apply. Online applications are now possible (filling out two online forms and uploading transcripts along with a few other documents.)
After the application deadline, all applicants’ resumes, transcripts, and recommendation letters are sent to various DoW agencies across the country for applications review and student selection. The agencies review the applications and select students to interview and sponsor or sponsor them without an interview (based on their resume, transcripts, GPA, etc.) Students who are accepted in the program will get notified by email and receive a letter from the DoW CSA that they are selected for the scholarship. The award letter has information about the agency that selected the student for employment (the selecting/sponsoring agency) and it specifies the requirements that the student must meet while receiving the scholarship. The time it takes to get a response from the agency or the Dow CSA may vary depending on the agency and the number of applicants. I received my award letter in less than two months. The student is required to read the letter and initial/sign a few places on the letter to acknowledge that they have read and understood the requirements including obligated service upon graduation, relocation (if necessary), internship requirements, and employment conditions while receiving the scholarship. Changes to the agency to which the student is assigned are at the discretion of the agency and the DoW CSA, not the student. The same applies to the student relocation requirements. Service/work location could change based upon the agency’s needs. In order to receive the scholarship, the student must agree to move (after graduation) based on the agency’s directives. The DoW CSA does not provide any funds to cover relocation expenses. The sponsoring agency may or may not reimburse the student for relocation expenses, but that is a separate issue to discuss with the agency before getting hired. Students who receive the scholarship are required to submit an annual report that summarizes the work they have done during that year including classes taken, papers submissions, conferences’ attendance, internship participation, research projects, published articles, etc. After graduating from the DoW CSA, the student is required to submit a full report of all the work that they did during the entire time of the scholarship. It is easier to save a copy of the annual report the student submits, and then merge all annual reports together in one full report to submit at the end of the scholarship.
Ideally, the sponsoring agency will hire the student upon the completion of their degree and/or will sponsor their internship(s). In my case, the sponsoring agency is the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic in Norfolk, VA. I have not participated in any internships with NIWC Atlantic, however, I am now participating in a summer internship with NIWC Pacific in San Diego, CA. Internship availability is highly dependent on funding from the DoW. If the agency has not been able to secure funds to support summer interns, the agency will not offer summer internships. It has become more difficult to find summer internships or secure post-graduation full-time placement with one of the DoW agencies since funds and contracts have been cancelled after The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) implemented unprecedented federal workforce reductions and spending cuts and froze hiring in January of 2025. As of now, a waiver from the Department of the Navy must be obtained for every new hire at NIWC forming a bottleneck and making the hiring process much slower. The DoW CSA has been trying to obtain waivers for its graduates to be placed in one of the DoW agencies, but it hasn’t been able to. I have two main goals to pursue after I finish the internship this summer. First, focus on completing my PhD; and second, secure a position with NIWC Atlantic or another DoW agency in VA.
I am grateful to have been selected and supported by the US DoW CSA scholarship throughout my PhD studies. I truly appreciate this great opportunity. I want to thank everyone at the US DoW CSA for their help and dedication to my success in this journey.
Comments
Post a Comment