Last night, Rep. Pete Aguilar passed a critical cybersecurity amendment through the House of Representatives, which was added to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. The NDAA is an annual defense policy bill that directs the United States defense programs. Aguilar’s amendment establishes a pilot program to expedite the process for individuals in the cybersecurity field to become officers in the United States Army and the United States Air Force. This would incentivize students graduating from schools like California State University, San Bernardino that specialize in cybersecurity training, to enter the armed forces and become “cyberwarriors” quickly and efficiently.

“As cyberwarfare continues to develop, we need to make sure we have the best and brightest helping us to take the fight to those who threaten our national security,” said Rep. Aguilar. He added, “The San Bernardino community knows all too well the difficulty that lies in finding expertly trained cybersecurity personnel to help us combat cyberattacks at home and abroad.”

An example of a cyberwarrior is an agent who works for the Department of Defense (DOD) and is responsible for mitigating the threat of cyberattacks. Rep. Aguilar’s amendment on cyberwarriors was added to the NDAA, which will go before the House of Representatives for final passage later today. The amendment can read in full here.  

During the committee markup of the bill, Rep. Aguilar passed three other critical national security amendments. These amendments help veterans translate their skills to jobs at home; incentivize the development of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education programs at Hispanic Serving Institutions; and help sync DOD Cyber Training Equivalency programs to support students entering the cybersecurity field. Additional information about these amendments is available here.

Rep. Aguilar serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Subcommittees on Strategic Forces and Emerging Threats and Capabilities.