Does your College have these Veteran Friendly Benefits?

Switching from a military career to civilian life can be tricky, but making the transition also provides unique opportunities if you know where to look. One such opportunity? Free IT certifications for qualifying veterans. There are several programs you can research to get started including one offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Starting new careers in Information Technology can be intimidating, especially if you feel you have a lack of experience with the advanced features of computers, networks, and systems administration.

But for those who apply for IT certification and/or IT training will find that it pays to explore your options, especially when those options require a time investment, but not a financial one.

What Are IT Certifications?

Getting trained and certified in an Information Technology discipline is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. There are many facets of IT work including network systems administration, information security, and cybersecurity. Some prefer to go into administration, others want to pursue skills in information security.

The experience level some vets bring with them to this training may be elevated, but even if you have no prior experience, these programs do include screening processes to ensure candidates are academically suited to this kind of training.

At least one program has a math screening test and other testing procedures to determine the math and reasoning aptitude of potential students.

IT certifications vary depending on discipline, may have multiple levels of complexity or authority, and certifications may be required to be re-accomplished on a regular or semi-regular basis. Certification requirements are always subject to change based on federal regulation, changing industry standards, changes in technology, etc.

Some IT certifications also require continuing education. You will need to discuss the disciplines you are interested in with a program representative to see what you can expect once obtaining the credentials you seek.

Free IT Certifications For Veterans: Program Considerations

A quick Google search of the phrase “free IT certification programs for veterans” returns a wide range of results-often a bit confusing, as your search will bring results that are often not free, but targeted at service members and their families.

For the purpose of this article, only free IT training programs for veterans are discussed. Some programs are regional, some may be national but offered only in major cities, and some may be college-specific or location-specific and not available at the national level.

You will need to read the fine print on all offerings carefully to insure you incur no obligation and under what circumstances you may be required to pay or pay back scholarships, tuition vouchers, etc.

Some IT programs may require successful completion in order to be truly cost-free, others may offer students experiencing trouble while taking the coursework an “out” depending on how long they have attended and where. No two programs are identical, so it’s never safe to assume the terms and conditions for one will apply to another, even in the same state or the same specialty.

Free IT Programs For Veterans

The Federal Virtual Training Environment (FedFTE)

FedTFE is run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with Hire Our Heroes to provide U.S. veterans with free cybersecurity training. This program offers more than 60 different classes at all skill levels (beginner to advanced) including:

• Security +
• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• 101 Coding
• 101 Critical Infrastructure Protection
• 101 Reverse Engineering

Applicants must register for a FedVTE account to get started. Learn more about this program at the Department of Homeland Security official site.

SANS CyberTalent Immersion Academy

The goal of SANS is to help qualifying students including veterans and military members currently serving within a certain time range before retirement or separation. SANS applicants are first screened to make sure they meet Academy standards.

Those who do are invited to sit for the the SANS CyberTalent Enhanced Assessment test. The results of that test may result in an invitation to apply.

Following the application, candidates are screened further, and those who pass the screening process are invited to an interview.

Eligibility for SANS includes the following:

• Must be a permanent U.S. citizen
• Retiring or separating service members who are not more than six months away from their ETS date, or final out processing date
• Veterans with less than five years out of the service who are not currently employed in information security jobs and do not have past experience in the field
• Active duty spouses with no experience in information security

Preferred experience levels include the following:

• Bachelor’s degree
• At least one year of work experience in information technology, information security, or audit, from the military service, OR
• Associate’s degree and at least 3 years of work experience in information technology, information security, or audit experience from the military
• Applicants who do not have a college degree should have between three and five years of work experience in information technology, information security, or audit preferably from serving in uniform

This program operates on a fast-track training schedule and the program may last between four and six months. The official site says it generally takes about 80 hours of preparation for each certification.

More information is available at the official site.

NPower Tech Fundamentals Program

The NPower Tech Fundamentals program is one of several offerings to veterans and young adults that can help advance IT skills at no cost to the learner.

There are multiple tracks to choose from, but the NPower program does not permit veterans to attend ALL tracks (some seem to be aimed specifically at young adults) and some tracks are offered only on an in-person, regional basis.

What all coursework for this program has in common? There is in-person classroom training expected in addition to any online labs or coursework. Applicants should expect to spend actual in-classroom time working in the program, which is why it is very important to check the regional availability of these programs near you.

The Department of Veterans Affairs VET TEC Program

The VA pilot program Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses offers a unique spin on free IT certification training for veterans. VET TEC offers free tech training through its partners (the VA itself does not conduct the training) in the following areas:

• Information science
• Software
• Computer Programming
• Data Processing
• Media Application

The VET TEC programs are quite diverse. There is a sizable list of training partners and your options run from low-impact coursework around 40 hours total to more extensive training environments with class hours above and beyond 600 hours for one type of program.

Unlike some of the programs listed here, you may find that via VET TEC, there is a combination of in-person and online classroom training environments. Some may require a hybrid of traditional classroom instruction and online learning, others may be 100% classroom-only or online-only coursework.

What makes VET TEC unique is that it requires (but does not use entitlement for) a single day of GI Bill benefits eligibility to participate.

Your GI Bill eligibility is not affected by this, but students admitted into VET TEC programs are allowed to receive a housing allowance (BAH) similar to that offered under the GI Bill program.

The allowance is calculated as the BAH paid to an E-5 (Staff Sergeant) at the with-dependents rate, based on the zip code where you physically attend most of your classes. For online-only VET TEC instruction the stipend is half of the monthly BAH for an E-5 at the with-dependents rate Housing stipends are pro-rated for training that does not last a full month.

All applicants for VET TEC must have a completed Application for VA Education Benefits (VA Form 22-1990).

How To Apply For VET TEC

Apply online to start your consideration process for VET TEC courses. The VA will contact you by mail with their decision. Those approved to enter the program will have to select from a list of VA-approved training providers to find the program you want.

Once you find the right program you will need to contact the training partner to learn what it takes to sign up for classes under VET TEC.

VET TEC Is A Pilot Program And Is Subject To Change

In 2019, the VET TEC pilot program was announced, with some $15 million set aside to help pay for the program. Pilot programs are always subject to change, cancellation, revision, or alterations based on federal law or changes to the program guidelines.

Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter for Air Force Television News

Anyone trying to get a foot in the door of the IT world as it pertains to the defense industry will want to ensure they meet or exceed DoD standards as previously set by DoDD 8570, now governed by DoDD 8140.

Department of Defense Directive 8570 (DoDD 8570) was an official federal government policy covering requirements for training and certifying those with access to certain information assurance functions of the Department of Defense.
This DoD policy was replaced in 2015 by DoDD 8140, which is the official policy today and supersedes the prior DoDD 8570 (see below). DoDD 8570 codified the policies and duties of DoD information assurance operations, detailed training and certification requirements and related issues.

A Brief History Of DoD 8570

Before 2005, there were no requirements or provisions for certification training to do information assurance work for the federal government. In 2005, DoDD 8570 was established to give specific guidance and requirements for these workers.

DoDD 8570 made important changes in the way system administrators, technicians, and security managers did their jobs and met their training requirements.

Streamlining Standard Requirements

DoDD 8570 caught on in the federal workplace, becoming more popular and widely used until there was a need to break down requirements into a variety of categories or contexts. Those categories include:

• Information Assurance Technician
• Information Assurance Manager
• Computer Network Defense
• Information Assurance System Architecture and Engineering
• Computing Environment

Thanks to 8570, workers in these areas could be assigned specific certification requirements and some fell across more than one single category.

DoDD 8140 Replaces 8570

Ten years later, a replacement (which ultimately became DoDD 8140) was desperately needed; much of the original technology and/or software had been supplemented, upgraded, or replaced by newer, more efficient systems with their own sets of vulnerabilities.

Work began to update DoDD 8570 in 2012, with the required tasks doubling as a result.

It was clear that a more comprehensive policy would be needed and in 2015 DoDD 8140 was rolled out to replace the older DoDD 8570.

The alphabet soup-style letter and number combinations may be a bit confusing, but the new policy outlined by DoDD 8140 would provide much more clear and relevant-to-current-systems-and-threats policies.

Ultimately, DoDD 8570 was incorporated into DoDD 8140 with expanded features, but until the new requirements could be fully implemented, compliance with the original standard was still necessary.

There were interim fixes including a document known as DoD 8570.01-M which was billed as something that would “remain in effect until it is canceled formally” according to the DoD Cyber Exchange official site, public version. In the end, DoD Directive 8570 was replaced by the newer updated DoDD 8140.

8140 Updates Standard Requirements

DoD 8140 is known today as the Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program and many sources cite the directive’s most common 8140-compliant IT and security certification as including A+, Network+, Security+, CEH, and CISSP.

8140 was designed based on something known as the National Institute of Standard and Technology and National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education standard. 8140 requirements are listed under categories including:

• Security Provision–may include jobs such as architecture and engineering. As well as operations that include information assurance compliance, software, and security engineering, system development, research, etc.
• Operate/Maintain–this may include customer service, tech support, data administration, knowledge management, network service, and security analysis.
• Protect/Defend–involving defense against cyberattacks, defense analysis, incident reporting, vulnerability assessment, and related areas.
• Analyze–pertaining to different types of network analysis, resource intelligence, exploitation analysis, threat analysis, etc.
• Operate/Collect–defined as applicable to cyber operations and planning, collection operations, planning and implementation.
• Oversight and Development–pertaining to the legal consequences of conducting operations in the digital realm, with emphasis on planning, education, and awareness-raising.
• Investigate–relevant to investigations and forensics work as it relates to online security or related issues.

Who Must Comply with DoD 8140?

Regardless of who (contractors, active duty, interns, civilian employees, etc.) is associated with work involving Defense Department information systems or how they are associated, DoD requirements under DoDD 8140 must be met. The following groups are just some of who may be required to be DoDD 8140-compliant:

• Office of the Secretary of Defense
• Military Departments
• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Combatant Commands
• Office of the Inspector General of the DoD
• Defense Agencies
• DoD Field Activities
• Anyone performing IAT and IAM functions must be certified
• Anyone in CSSP and IASAE roles must be certified
• All IA jobs require certification whether categorized as ‘Technical’ or ‘Management’ Level I, II, or III positions

How To Identify Information Assurance Positions That May Require IA Training

In the context of identifying who must become 8140 compliant, the best way to proceed is to review the job position and job description of those jobs.

Anyone performing Information Assurance functions may be required to be compliant, no matter if they are active duty, Guard, Reserve, civilian, Civil Service worker, or contractor.

According to the Department of Defense, “Any person” filling such jobs are considered “automatically part of the Cyber or IA Workforce” regardless of the hours filled in that capacity as a part-time, full-time, embedded, or other types of duty.

At the time of this writing, those seeking certification may be required to become familiar with one or both versions of the DoD compliance manual; IA Technical (IAT), and IA Management (IAM). Additionally, there are a pair of specialties at the time of this writing: Cyber Security Service Provider (CSSP) and IA System Architects and Engineers (IASAEs).

Learn More About DoD 8140

You can view the official site of the DoD 8140 Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program Office or Call the Defense Information Assurance Program (DIAP) Office at 1-800-490-1643.

Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter for Air Force Television News.

President Trump has signed an executive order directing the Department of Education to forgive all federal student loan debt owed by veterans who are “completely and permanently” disabled. The presidential memorandum also clears those eligible veterans from having to pay any federal income tax on the loans.

The Higher Education Act of 1965 and updated Higher Education Act of 2008 discharged the student loan debt for “totally and permanently disabled” veterans. However, veterans seeking loan discharges have been required to submit an application to the Secretary of Education with proof of their disabilities obtained from Veterans Affairs. The process has been overly complicated and difficult, and prevented too many of our veterans from receiving the relief for which they are eligible. This has inflicted significant hardship and serious harm on these veterans.

It was my honor to sign a Presidential Memorandum facilitating the cancellation of student loan debt for 25K of our most severely disabled Veterans. With today’s order, we express the everlasting love & loyalty of a truly grateful Nation. God bless our Vets, & God Bless America! pic.twitter.com/MMMsX3RDQM

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2019

Only half of the approximately 50,000 “totally and permanently disabled” veterans who currently qualify for the discharge of their Federal student loan debt have availed themselves of the benefits provided to them due to a burdensome process. Trump said he was “taking executive action to ensure that our wounded warriors are not saddled with mountains of student debt,” vowing to “eliminate every penny of federal student loan debt owed by American veterans who are completely and permanently disabled.” The move will wipe out “hundreds of millions” in student loan debt owed by more than 25,000 disabled veterans, Trump said. The average amount forgiven would be about $30,000, he said. This represents a fraction of the national student loan debt amount, $1.6 trillion, the largest non-mortgage debt in the U.S.

The executive action directs the government to develop an expedited process so veterans can have the debt discharged “with minimal burdens.” The executive order also directs the Education Department to automatically identify veterans eligible for loan forgiveness and give them the option to opt out for 60 days before moving ahead with canceling the debt. Additionally, Trump called on all 50 states to immediately “waive all applicable state taxes” on the forgiven loans.