Augusta College College of Laptop and Cyber Sciences senior Noah Whitacre was ranked as the highest cadet this summer season throughout an internship at Fort Gordon with Military Cyber Command.
Whitacre is a cybersecurity scholar, Jaguar Battalion cadet and observe athlete at AU. Along with being ranked as the highest cadet, Whitacre was coined by Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Thomas Nelson of the 782nd Navy Intelligence Battalion. Receiving a commander’s coin, or “being coined,” is a recognition of excellent service within the army.
“Being in a piece atmosphere, particularly one within the army, the classroom can solely put together you for a lot,” Whitacre stated. “Whereas there have been undoubtedly areas I used to be extra assured in (ideas of cybersecurity, ethics, fundamentals of networking and protocols), there have been many different issues that went utterly over my head. I needed to deal with the internship like a category, acknowledge once I didn’t know one thing and be open and prepared to study.”
He stated the most important lesson he discovered in the course of the internship was to be versatile and adapt to completely different eventualities. Whitacre stated whereas cybersecurity is an fascinating and enjoyable profession, he’s needed to discover ways to overcome roadblocks in modern methods.
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Keenan, chair of the Division of Navy Science at Augusta College, stated he couldn’t be prouder of Whitacre’s success in representing Augusta College and the Jaguar Battalion at ARCYBER.
“We’re really happy with how Noah represented Augusta College this summer season,” Keenan stated. “He does a terrific job balancing calls for whereas acting at a excessive stage. His success is a good story for Augusta College.”
Whitacre stated he first realized this “calling like no different” throughout his senior 12 months of highschool, when he first heard of AU’s cybersecurity program.
“Ever since I heard about Augusta College establishing the College of Laptop and Cyber Sciences and providing cyber-focused majors, I’ve turn out to be very passionate and excited in regards to the subject of cyber,” he stated. “I stay up for its continued progress at AU and solely hope that I’m establishing a brand new pattern of recent cyber officers from the ranks of the Jaguar Battalion at Augusta College.”
This particular recognition Whitacre obtained from ARCYBER is a first-of-its-kind achievement for an Augusta College Military ROTC cadet.
“We’re proud to have such excellent college students as Noah at Augusta College,” stated Alex Schwarzmann, dean of the College of Laptop and Cyber Sciences. “We stay up for seeing Cadet Whitacre’s success past the classroom and within the subject, defending and serving our nation.”
