Air Force Cyber Surety Personnel – AFSC 3D0X3
The Air Force’s IT specialists are known as Cyber Surety staff. They perform all of the duties of a civilian IT professional. Monitoring, reviewing, and maintaining processes, practices, and procedures are examples of such responsibilities. Clients, networks, data/voice systems, and databases are all protected thanks to their efforts.
Identifying possible cybersecurity risks and handling compliance breaches are among the responsibilities. These airmen are in charge of following particular procedures. They are in charge of the entire Information Assurance (IA) program, which includes:
- The safety of communications (COMSEC)
- Emissions control (EMSEC)
- COMPUSEC (Computer Security) programs
This work is classified as Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) 3D0X3 by the Air Force. Enlisted members may apply for the role, which has the potential to progress through promotion based on staffing needs.
Duties
This role entails a long list of highly technical responsibilities. These experts carry out risk and vulnerability evaluations, ensure that enterprise IA policies meet all legal and regulatory criteria, and ensure that IA policies are implemented in new and current IT.
Identifying IA flaws and making tweaks and suggestions for change is an essential part of this work. It entails keeping track of policy and enforcement, as well as recommending IT security controls. In addition to auditing and enforcing enforcement programs, cyber surety experts investigate security incidents and perform IT forensic investigations. They also keep up with the most recent cybersecurity best practices.
Training
Airmen in this work spend 50 days in technical school at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi after completing basic training and Airmen’s Week. These airmen report to their permanent duty assignment after tech school, where they begin 5-level (technician) upgrade training.
Airmen in this job are assigned to 7-level or craftsman training until they reach the rank of staff sergeant. It will have supervisory responsibilities, as well as shift leader responsibilities. When promoted to the rank of senior master sergeant, airmen in this role become Cyber Operations Superintendents and supervise lower-ranking airmen.
Air Force staff in this role are likely to be stationed at an Air Force base.
Qualifications
You must have a composite score of 64 on the general Air Force Aptitude Qualification Area of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) tests to be considered for this role.
Due to the confidential nature of the data and information handled by Air Force surety experts, applicants must receive top-secret security clearance from the Department of Defense. It entails a financial and character background check. You may be disqualified from this role if you have a history of drug or alcohol abuse.
For this work, you must also be a U.S. citizen and have a high school diploma or its equivalent. Advanced math and computer science coursework is not mandatory in high school, but it is advantageous for this job. You’ll be well-prepared for this Air Force role if you’ve worked in systems management, software development, or quality assurance. It is desirable to conduct testing and quality assurance.
Average Promotion Times
- Airman (E-2): 6 months
- Airman First Class (E-3): 16 months
- Senior Airman (E-4): 3 years
- Staff Sergeant (E-5): 5 years
- Technical Sergeant (E-6): 10.8 years
- Master Sergeant (E-7): 16.1 years
- Senior Master Sergeant (E-8): 19.7 years
- Chief Master Sergeant (E-9): 22.3 years
Learn more about salary of different designation on cybersecurity field.
