AUGUSTA, GA – JULY 31, 2019 – From July 22-26, MOSAIC Technologies Group, in conjunction with the U.S. Army Cyber Training Battalion, the Alliance for Fort Gordon, and the Georgia Cyber Center, hosted the largest CyberPatriot Camp in the southeast at the Georgia Cyber Center. Students across Georgia and South Carolina attended the camp with a record number of 72 registered campers representing 7th-12th grades. The scores from the final competition were some of the highest in this season’s camps.
According to Rebecca Dalton, Director CyberPatriot Engagement and Outreach, the CyberPatriot camp last week was one of the largest in the nation and the largest in the Southeast.
Students from 40 different schools participated in the camp, with over 60% of campers coming from middle school and an impressive 24% of registered campers being female. The 72 available seats filled in the first three days of registration with 50 students on a waiting list, demonstrating the strong desire for this type of education for students.
The award ceremony provided an exciting conclusion for the campers and their families as awards were presented from not only the instructors and the CEO and COO of MOSAIC Technologies, Mr. Michael and Mrs. Sandra Grier, but also Augusta’s Mayor, Mr. Hardie Davis, Jr.
CyberPatriot, created by the Air Force Association, aims to inspire high school and middle school students to pursue careers in cybersecurity and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation’s future. MOSAIC worked hand in hand with the U.S. Army Cyber Training Battalion to provide a skilled group of instructors from both civilian and military avenues to introduce students to take the intimidation out of the idea of cyber as well as introduce the wide variety of opportunities available in tomorrow’s cyber workforce.
“When the idea of sponsoring the CyberPatriot camp was brought to MOSAIC, there was no question that we wanted to bring this opportunity to the children in the CRSA,” said Mary Martin, Director of Corporate Outreach, Mosaic Technologies Group. “One of our major missions is to give back to the communities where we live and work, and there is no better cause than offering opportunités to the future generation. Watching the campers gain confidence in the cyber world over the last week has been an experience none of us will be able to forget. We are grateful to have been able to provide this camp and look forward to many more years of supporting this endeavor.”
First Sgt Frank Estrada was familiar with the CyberPatriot program before the camp due to his work with Greenbrier High School’s (Evans, GA) State Championship CyberPatriot team. Both he and other instructors noticed the remarkable change in confidence from the campers throughout the week who, on day one, seemed almost intimidated by the computer challenges. By week’s end, the campers were confidently working in LINUX, UNIX, and other platforms to defend their computers while seeking out vulnerabilities in other teams’ networks.
“It was truly a team effort by all involved to make a CyberPatriot Camp this large a success,” said Dr. Tom Clark, the executive director of the Alliance for Fort Gordon. “Collaborations such as these is an example of why the Fort Gordon Cyber District/Alliance for Education was selected as the 2018-2019 CyberPatriot Center of Excellence award winner. We look forward to working with this incredible team again next summer.”
MOSAIC Technologies Group, the U.S Cyber Training Battalion, the CSRA Alliance for Fort Gordon, and the Georgia Cyber Center all look forward to next summer and is working to coordinate not just an Introduction to Cyber camp, as was held last week, but also an Advanced Cyber camp later in the summer for students with more experience with cyber initiatives.
ABOUT
Founded in 2005 by Michael T. Grier, MOSAIC Technologies Group is a prime government contractor with a long history of service at Fort Gordon and in the Augusta region. MOSAIC is committed to serving the communities where we live and work. To provide the opportunity for free access to the CyberPatriot Camp to students who might not otherwise have the opportunity is one of our greatest achievements to date.
The Cyber Training Battalion executes mission command over personnel assigned to the Cyber School and serves as the training execution arm for Cyber and EW training on behalf of the Commandant, under the direction of the Assistant Commandant and Cyber School Directorate of Training for Cyber.
In June of 2020, U.S. Army Cyber Command Headquarters will consolidate eight separate facilities in the Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., area and move them to Fort Gordon, the region’s largest employer with a $2.4-billion annual economic impact. The mission of the Alliance for Fort Gordon is to promote, coordinate and advocate for the Fort Gordon Cyber District to stimulate investment in cyber growth and capitalize on opportunities for the benefit of all. The CSRA Alliance for Fort Gordon continues to play a vital role in helping defend the future of this military installation that is so critically important to the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA).
The $100 million Georgia Cyber Center is the nation’s single largest investment in a cybersecurity facility by a state government. It is a unique public/private collaboration among academia, state, federal and local government, law enforcement, the U.S. Army and the private sector. With two adjacent buildings totaling 332,000 square feet, the Georgia Cyber Center, located on the Nathan Deal Campus for Innovation, is designed to meet the growing need for cybersecurity talent in Georgia, the nation and across the globe.
L to R: Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr; Xavier Mitchell – Top Scoring Camper; Michael Grier – CEO, MOSAIC Technologies Group; Sandra Grier – COO, MOSAIC Technologies Group
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