/rant - recruiting more people won't fix cyber command. Even if you find thousands of people with all the skills (unlikely), they still need to be trained on CYBERCOM tools, tradecraft, and policies. This is a huge time suck for each new employee. 1/n
Instead of just talking about recruiting, let's talk about something more important: retention. There are a number of reasons people leave any job and the retention rates at CYBERCOM aren't public AFAIK. But let's talk about some things that might lead someone to leave 2/n
1. Mission confusion. I'm still in contact with a lot of people working behind the fence. In the post-Snowden era, things that used to get people promoted gets them vilified today. The missions are changing, hopefully for the better. But people hate change - this is a factor 3/n
2. Pay. Go ahead and talk about benefits, but there is a pay gap. I personally think this will change over time as corporate infosec salaries normalize. But it's a factor today.
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3. Internet access - most don't have it. I would never work in a job without internet access again. When I left, I realized how much more productive I was with unfiltered access to the information I need. This is a bigger issue for the younger crowd. 5/n
4. Mobile devices - you can't have them. Who really wants to be away from their phone? Not me. Think about what a culture shock this is for kids who have had the phone at their side since grade school. This is huge for many. 5/n
5. Extra duties - is cyber important enough to remove people from extra duty rosters? I'm not opening this can of worms against, but I personally know people who are leaving/have left because of this. 6/n
6. Marijuana - it's legal in a lot of places. It's insane that we are blacklisting candidates because they smoked some weed at a conference in Vegas. I don't care about your feelings on weed. It's hurting recruiting and retention, that's the topic I'm addressing here. 7/n
I'm not going to pretend that any or all of these things would have kept me at NSA. But who cares what motivates me? I'm just sharing what I hear people still inside (and those who have left) saying is driving/drove them away. 8/8
Also, thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the fine men and women who are defending our nation's cyber space. Thank you CYBERCOM peeps. 9/9
