Sea Cadets Join CyberPatriot Competition

ARLINGTON, Va., June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Air Force Association announced earlier this week the addition of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps as a new category in the nation's largest and fastest growing high school cyber defense competition, CyberPatriot.

Established in 2008, CyberPatriot is AFA's flagship STEM program. It's a team-based competition, where students learn to defend a computer network from real-life computer threat scenarios.  Thus far, CyberPatriot has had five subcategories in their All Service Division, comprised of Junior ROTC units of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and Civil Air Patrol units. Now, the Naval Sea Cadet Corps joins the division.

The Naval Sea Cadet Corps is a youth development organization supported by both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard that serves to teach individuals 13 to 17 years old about the sea-going military services, U.S. Naval operations and training, community service, citizenship, and an understanding of discipline and teamwork. For more than 50 years, the mission of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps has been to provide American youth with leadership abilities through hands-on training.

"In the decades since our establishment, a prime mission of ours has been to expand the horizons of our sea cadets to help them become mature young adults and prepare them for success," said CAPT (Ret) Jim Monahan, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps Executive Director.  "This partnership with AFA and CyberPatriot is another opportunity to foster essential skills to enrich their development -- from cyber awareness and basic technological skills to teamwork and critical thinking. We look forward to participating in CyberPatriot V and the many years to follow."

"We at AFA emphasize education in all we do," said Mike Dunn, President and CEO of AFA. "This new partnership with the Naval Sea Cadet Corps helps expand the educational outreach of the CyberPatriot program and provides knowledge and training for hundreds of more students on cyber security. We are utterly thrilled to have them involved and look forward to a long partnership."

CyberPatriot IV saw more than 1,000 teams register, representing all 50 states and Department of Defense Dependent Schools in Europe and the Pacific. Top winners from each division received more than $50,000 in college scholarships from the Northrop Grumman Foundation, CyberPatriot's presenting sponsor.

Other CyberPatriot sponsors include founding partners SAIC and CIAS at the University of Texas-San Antonio, as well as AT&T, Boeing, General Dynamics, Microsoft, Raytheon, the Air Force Research Laboratory, MIT-Lincoln Laboratory, Cisco, URS and K2Share.

Registration for CyberPatriot V closes on September 30, 2012. Any high school can field a team for the Open Division, while Junior ROTC units from any Service; Civil Air Patrol units; and now Sea Cadets are eligible to field teams in the All Service Division. Coaches can learn more about CyberPatriot and sign up at www.uscyberpatriot.org. Information is also available from the CyberPatriot staff at [email protected].

The Air Force Association is a non-profit, independent, professional military and aerospace education association. Our mission is to promote a dominant United States Air Force and a strong national defense, and to honor Airmen and our Air Force Heritage.  To accomplish this, we:

• EDUCATE the public on the critical need for unmatched aerospace power and a technically superior workforce to ensure U.S. national security.
• ADVOCATE for aerospace power and STEM education.
• SUPPORT the Total Air Force family and promote aerospace education.

AFA has 200 chapters nationally and internationally representing more than 108,000 members.  Visit AFA on the internet at www.afa.org.

SOURCE Air Force Association