U.S. Army’s New Research Institute

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The Army’s academy has established a cyber warfare research institute to groom elite cyber troops and solve thorny problems for the Army and the nation in this new warfighting domain.

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., plans to build a cyber brain trust unprecedented within the service academies, filling 75 positions over the next three years — including scholars in technology, psychology, history and law, among other fields.

The chairman of the organization, called the Army Cyber Institute, will be retired Lt. Gen. Rhett Hernandez, the first chief of Army Cyber Command, according to Col. Greg Conti, the organization’s director.

The institution, which aims to take on national policy questions and develop a bench of top-tier experts for the Pentagon, will be defining how cyber warfare is waged, to steer and inform the direction of the Army.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

According to Defense News cyber experts from the operational cyber force would rotate through the institute as students and faculty, bringing hands-on experience and emerging with a broader perspective, better equipped as leaders, Conti said.

The institute will strive to connect to the “constellation” of expertise in academia, industry and national labs, with its own “fresh, agile organization,” Conti said.

The plan is to recruit and hire about 25 people per year when competition is hot to hire cyber experts, but Conti was confident West Point’s reputation and relationships would attract the right people.