Defense Department Makes Cyber Trades Available Through Apprenticeship Program

Nine new trades are available under the Department of Defense United Services Military Apprenticeship Program to help address the U.S. military’s workforce needs.

Among the nine are cyber defense analyst, cyber digital forensics analyst and cyber intelligence planner. The new trades add to the 15 cybersecurity occupations introduced under USMAP in 2022.

DOD officials said USMAP could serve as a model for other federal agencies and national security organizations to address cyber workforce needs.

Officials will finalize additional cybersecurity areas under USMAP in the next months, GovCIO Media & Research reported Tuesday.

The USMAP addition comes a month after lawmakers filed a bicameral bill requiring government agencies to establish cybersecurity apprenticeships and training programs. The House version of the bill requires CISA to work with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation to develop an apprenticeship program. It also calls for the secretaries of the Defense, Homeland Security and Labor departments to work with the Department of Veterans Affairs in piloting a cyber training program.

The new trades were also added months after the DOD published a four-year implementation plan for its cyber workforce strategy.