The Michigan City High School (MCHS) Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (MCJROTC) participated in the first round of the Cyber Patriot competition on November 3rd. Cyber Patriot is a national youth cyber education program. The competition puts high school students as Information Technology specialists tasked with managing the network of a small company. The cadets are given a set of virtual images that represent operating systems and are tasked with finding cyber security breaches and hardening the system while maintaining critical services in a six hour period. MCHS is competing to be the top team in Indiana and the Midwest Region. Regional winners earn an all-expenses paid trip to the national finals competition where they can earn national recognition and scholarships.
The cadets on MCHS’s team attended a cyber camp at Purdue Northwest in Hammond during the summer. The captain of the team, Cadet Captain James Steinhagen, who also attended a cyber camp at the Military College of South Carolina in Charleston, SC, two years ago, plans on becoming a Cyber Security Officer in the U. S. Air Force. “I think Cyber Patriot has been a great opportunity for me to learn the basics of cyber security, so that I can build on those skills to become a Cyber Security Officer in the Air Force.”
Major Tom McGrath, the Senior Marine Instructor, is grateful to the expertise provided by MCHS Engineering Instructor Ralph Gee in preparing the team for the competition. “Ralph has tremendous knowledge of this field and he is very unselfish with his time to assist us in this competition.”
Master Sergeant Jeff Benak, the Marine Instructor, echoed McGrath’s comments as to the importance that Gee plays in the preparation of the cadets. “We are very fortunate to have Ralph on our staff at MCHS.”
“This program provides skills that students can build that could lead to very rewarding and lucrative careers in both the private and public sectors,” said Gee.
The results of round one will be released in about a week. The second round of Cyber Patriot will be December 8th. The competition and camps are conducted at no cost to the cadets or to MCHS. The only requirement for students is that they be enrolled in the MCJROTC.