“ I have no doubt that this federal grant funding and the activities realized through this grant — supporting our business and industry partners in filling those jobs with skilled IT workers — is going to build that technology sector in West Virginia ,” she says . “ It ’ s going to bring to light how important that sector is to our state , and we ’ re in a great position to be the catalyst for that .”
Training a Cyber Workforce
Meanwhile , the WVNG is focusing on an initiative to train soldiers and airmen in cybersecurity and recruit workers from across the country to West Virginia . This fall , the Guard will train 15 additional soldiers to be ethical hacking certified .
The initiative has a two-prong approach : extending the Guard ’ s capacity for cyber by training those in positions that are not primarily cyber-related , making the WVNG an attractive candidate for additional missions , and working with universities in the state to train the Guard ’ s soldiers and airmen in cybersecurity through beginner and advanced courses . More than 100 soldiers and airmen have received training that is capable of trickling down to other industries in the state through the Guard ’ s initiatives .
“ About one-third of the Guard is full time , and the other twothirds are citizens — they work somewhere else . By growing that capacity , we have also grown the technological workforce available for industry ,” says Colonel Jody Ogle , director of communications and cyber .
Ogle , who also serves on the West Virginia Cyber Security Working Group , refers to the Guard ’ s initiatives as part of a greater state plan , echoing Ligus on the current statewide effort to push West Virginia ’ s cyber industry forward . The Guard is working with a variety of organizations and universities to brainstorm different approaches to achieving this goal . One such approach is recruiting retired military members back to West Virginia for potential job opportunities .
“ No one has a single right answer , so the purpose of this committee is to brainstorm ideas and talk about emerging opportunities and ways to grow capacity ,” he says . “ I wouldn ’ t say we have a single direction in which we ’ re marching , but we ’ re looking at a lot of different options to approach the same problem .”
As many people across the country continue to work from home due to COVID-19 , Ogle believes West Virginia can take advantage of that opportunity by recruiting those workers by asking , “ Why not West Virginia ? If you can be anywhere , why not here ?”
“ When people hear about West Virginia , they very rarely think of technology ,” he says . “ If we can build capacity in West Virginia , people will come . We have people who will work as hard or harder than anyone else . Talent is equally distributed , opportunity is not , so building the capacity might shift the paradigm so the opportunity will come .” •
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