169th CPT Tests New Skills During Inauguration
By Staff Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan, Maryland National Guard Public Affairs Office
The 169th Cyber Protection Team, Maryland National Guard, put newly-learned skills to the test during a proof-of-concept training engagement over the week of the 59th Presidential Inauguration on Jan. 18-21, 2021, at the District of Columbia Armory in Washington, D.C. Just weeks prior, the members of the 169th CPT trained on protecting the Joint Incident Site Communications Capability (JISCC) platform, which is used during emergency situations to connect the communications of first responders and provide high bandwidth capability anywhere.
“JISCC is a communications interoperability platform designed to support an incident commander with command, control, communications, and computers, allowing for radio interoperability between military and other local, state, and federal agencies,” said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Clarence Nowell III, a cyber network defender manager and rear detachment officer-in-charge for the 169th CPT. “The JISCC provides unclassified internet and voice through a satellite reach back, in addition to video teleconferencing and radio interoperability and extension.”
The JISCC platform has been used by the Maryland National Guard to support past inaugurations, both presidential and gubernatorial, and emergency situations such as with Hurricane Sandy. However, this is the first time the 169th CPT had the opportunity to put their training to the test alongside a real-world event.
“This opportunity was a happy coincidence to occur during the inauguration, said Nowell. “My team was able to enhance our training event due to the fact we were able to network with JISCC teams from around the nation. Additionally, we were able to passively view live network traffic on a [Department of Defense] system.”
The 169th CPT is able to protect the JISCC platform by responding in a cyber-support capacity involving monitoring and assessing network vulnerabilities, a skill set they acquired through training conducted on Jan. 8, 2021, at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation near Reisterstown, Maryland.
“Training for any event requires familiarity with the environment,” said Nowell. “We don’t train in the jungle if we are going to be in a desert environment. In the [169th CPT’s] case, we [familiarized] ourselves with the real equipment so that we [could] determine avenues of approach, weaknesses in the system, assess possible human error that exposes the system, etc.”
The 169th CPT was able to further familiarize themselves with this virtual environment while training concurrently with DC Task Force Cyber’s mission to monitor and analyze the JISCC platform for suspicious activity through the 59th Presidential Inauguration.
“Our mission is important because nearly everything connects to the network and it’s our job as cyber warriors to ensure that we’re protecting the Department of Defense’s infrastructure from malicious threats,” explains U.S. Army Capt. LeTasha C. McFarlane, commander for DC Task Force Cyber, District of Columbia National Guard. “When we observe things, we immediately report our findings to our Operations and Intelligence. [DC Task Force Cyber played] a vital role in the safety of the 59th Presidential Inauguration.”
While the members of the 169th CPT trained alongside DC Task Force Cyber, they were still able to support their mission through the sharing of key information.
“The 169th CPT epitomizes professionalism and stewardship of the cyber branch,” said McFarlane. “They are subject-matter-experts who provided us with key exchanges of information. They went above and beyond to share their best practices, tactics, and procedures.”
Nowell explained that through their training engagement, the 169th CPT improved the overall cyber posture of the JISCC platform and demonstrated their ability to perform key mission essential tasks and that they are trained, capable, and ready for the next opportunity to serve Maryland and the nation.
