A group of middle and high school students from all over the Kenai Peninsula competed virtually in three rounds of the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition last fall. The five participants in the Kenai Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol Alaska Wing received the highest score in the state despite competing for the first time. Nearly 5,000 teams from across the nation participated in the competition.
The nonprofit Air & Space Forces Association hosts the annual event to inspire students to pursue careers in cyber security and STEM fields. Captain Timothy Cole, Squadron Commander of the Kenai Composite Squadron, coached the team. Jason Kirby served as the team’s primary cyber security mentor, offering technical mentorship and cyber defense instruction.
The Kenai Composite Squadron aims to expand opportunities for youth leadership, aerospace education, emergency services and cyber security training as part of the U.S. Air Force auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol. Cole said the team’s victory highlights the growing cyber education opportunities on the Kenai Peninsula.
“This achievement speaks volumes about the dedication, teamwork, and technical skill of our cadets,” Cole said in a Feb. 1 press release. “For a first-year team to earn first place in the state — while competing above their age level — is something our entire community can be proud of.”
The cadets — who range in age from 12 to 18 and hail from Sterling, Soldotna, Kenai and Nikiski — began learning to secure and protect computer networks from cyber attacks last August. They competed in three separate four-hour-long competitions held on Saturdays in October, November and December.
Jacob Ries, a homeschooled student in his junior year, said a typical practice consisted of an explanation of the subject and instruction from Kirby before the cadets began working on the project. At the end of each practice, they’d debrief and discuss areas of improvement.
Ries said there’s a myriad of ways in which he can utilize the skills he learned on the team.
“It can be used for a future in IT, or something like that for sure,” Ries said. “For me personally, I’ll probably just use it in my day-to-day life. It’s very useful knowledge that can be applied to everyday life when you’re working with computers.”
Ries said his experience in the Civil Air Patrol has helped him pursue his goal of getting his private pilot’s license. He’s considering joining the Air Force after high school.
Declan Cobb, an eighth grade student at Kenai Classical, said he mainly joined the Kenai Composite Squadron because one of his friends was doing it. Cobb also heard he’d have the opportunity to learn to fly in the Civil Air Patrol.
Cobb said winning the competition was one of his favorite experiences from his time in the Kenai Composite Squadron — second only to learning how to assist the Coast Guard in rescue missions during a week-long camp at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson over the summer.
“We kind of came in with lower expectations,” Cobb said of the competition. “We didn’t think we were going to score that high, but we were all kind of in for the experience.”
Ries said he was “honestly kind of stunned” when he heard the team won.
“Like Declan said, we came in with pretty low expectations — we were just like, ‘Hey, let’s do this and see how far we get,’” Ries said. “And I think everyone kind of gave it 110%. And it worked out.”
Cole said he was extremely proud of the team, which he referred to as a “melting pot.”
“We have public school students, private school students and a homeschooled student,” he said. “We have two middle schoolers all the way up to a junior in high school, and they’re from multiple communities … and they succeeded as a team. It was wonderful to see.”
To learn more about the Kenai Composite Squadron of the Alaska Wing, Civil Air Patrol, visit kenai.cap.gov.
