Cisco Offers Military Veterans Free Cybersecurity Training

As part of our ongoing efforts to empower and connect military veterans interested in working in the tech field, Cisco’s Veterans Program is excited to announce the Cisco Veterans Cyber Scholarship Program is now accepting applications. Part of CyberVetsUSA, the Cisco-led, skills-to-job consortium, the Cisco Veterans Cyber Scholarship Program provides free online cybersecurity training and certification to veterans, transitioning service members, National Guard members, Reservists, and military spouses.

Made possible through collaboration with industry-leading partners Amazon Web Services (AWS), (ISC)2, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, NetApp, and Network Development Group (NDG), the purpose of CyberVetsUSA is to attract the valued talent the military community brings to the private sector, like teamwork and integrity, by connecting veterans with cyber-related skills, certifications, and job opportunities with employers nationwide.

Designed to give military veterans and their spouses the skills and training they need to join the dynamic, high-demand field of cybersecurity, CyberVetsUSA prepares learners for careers as security analysts, digital forensics analysts, network auditors, and more.

Originally launching in 2017, CyberVetsUSA is helping to ensure that military veterans and their spouses become part of the cybersecurity workforce that is projected to have 3.5 million unfilled jobs by 2021. Last year alone, the program served nearly 300 military veterans and their spouses.

We recently heard from one of our CyberVets students, Mike McClain, U.S. military veteran and cybersecurity operations graduate, about his experience in the Cisco Veterans Cyber Scholarship Program:

“The training I received increased my understanding of network principles and gave me an enormous amount of knowledge in the cybersecurity field. Overall, the program was as rigorous and thorough as I could have hoped for.”

CyberVetsUSA is conducted in partnership with Onward to Opportunity, part of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University, which provides onboarding and career resources as well as additional learning tracks at no cost to veterans and military spouses.

The Cisco Veteran Cyber Scholarship Program offers free online access to highly sought-after courses in secure infrastructure and cybersecurity operations. To be accepted into the program, candidates take a brief skills assessment and select their desired career track, choosing between two Cisco Certificated tracks, either CCNA Security or CCNA Cyber Ops. The self-paced training typically takes between 12-14 weeks to complete. While there are no prerequisites required to enroll, candidates are highly encouraged to have some foundational IT/networking experience (e.g., A+, Network+, CCNA).

Students in the program also gain access to career resources and a network of employers and volunteers, through mentoring, career guidance, and job placement by way of Cisco’s Talent Bridge for Veterans. Using military and professional profiles, the Talent Bridge for Veterans search engine matches qualifications with thousands of jobs posted by over 250 technology employers including Cisco, CDW, Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Red River, and many more in over 160 countries.

Candidates in the following priority states will be given special consideration where the CyberVetsUSA coalition is working with state officials to address workforce shortages: Arizona, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Do you qualify for the Cisco Veteran Cyber Scholarship Program or know someone who does? Please visit or share the Cisco Veteran Cyber Scholarship Program webpage to learn more and register for the next cohort. If you have questions or would like more information about the CyberVetsUSA program, please email cybervets@cisco.com.