WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency’s ability to recruit and retain top talent is key to meeting the demands of the future, agency Director Army Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, said today.

Nakasone said the rapid evolution of technology continues to reshape the national security landscape and how his agency responds to new threats, but people remain central to the NSA’s mission.

“A lot of times we think about the incredible technological capabilities and the high-speed computers that are there, but, at the end of the day, what makes us the agency that we are is our talent,” he said during a discussion in Washington hosted by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, a trade organization focused on public-private national security partnerships.

Earlier this year, the National Security Agency launched its largest hiring surge in three decades with a goal of hiring more than 3,000 new employees by the end of 2023.

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Nakasone said the NSA is “moving very quickly” to meet that goal, but said numbers are only part of the overall objective.

He said the agency has also focused on improvements to its recruiting and retention practices to ensure it attracts a “future-ready workforce.”

“How do we think about a population that is over 50% today millennials and [Generation Z]?” he said. “Ten years ago, 70% of our workforce was baby boomers. Five years ago, Gen Z and millennials overtook baby boomers. Five years from now, 70% will be Gen Z and millennials.”

“This is the workforce that is coming into our agency, so this is an agency that is looking much differently in how we retain our workforce,” he said.

That approach includes a focus on adapting to work-life balance demands and easing career mobility between the government and private sector.

That workforce will be on the frontlines of significant change as the agency adapts to technologies — such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing — that Nakasone said will have a significant impact on the national security landscape.

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The NSA has been forward-leaning in its approach to game these game changers.

Earlier this year, Nakasone, who also commands U.S. Cyber Command and serves as the chief of the Central Security Service, announced the creation a new entity to oversee the development and integration of artificial intelligence capabilities within U.S. national security systems.

The AI Security Center will become the focal point for developing best practices, evaluation methodology and risk frameworks with the aim of promoting the secure adoption of new AI capabilities across the national security enterprise and the defense industrial base.

The new entity will consolidate the agency’s various artificial intelligence, security-related activities.

Nakasone said on Friday that the AI Security Center has begun bringing together a series of partners to tackle the issues linking AI to national security.

Recently, he said, the group released a report on AI security infrastructure in partnership with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the United Kingdom’s Government Communications Headquarters and other organizations.

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“Artificial intelligence is probably the most transformative things that we’re going to experience in our lifetime,” he said. “We have to ensure that the information, the infrastructure, [and] the ability for AI to operate within this nation [is] secure.”

“That’s where the National Security Agency comes in,” he said.

By Joseph Clark, DOD News

FORT CARSON, Colo. — For an entire month, Ivy Soldiers prepare, practice and perfect more than 40 tasks in order to successfully execute a five-day evaluation. Upon sufficing the tasks, Soldiers are able to earn one of three Army-sponsored badges: the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Expert Soldier Badge and the Expert Field Medical Badge.

1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, recently hosted the three badge evaluations, known as E3B, at Fort Carson from December 4-8, 2023.

“This is a great opportunity for Soldiers to hone and sharpen all of their skills,” said Sgt. 1st Class Julian Pacheco, E3B lane noncommissioned officer in charge assigned to 1st SBCT, 4th Inf. Div. “Whether you get it or not, there is a positive outcome out of this. Soldiers get an opportunity to come out here and train.”

Each testing lane evaluated is a skill level 10, or entry level, task. Pacheco says the badge helps a Soldier’s career progression regardless of their occupational specialty, however, it is no easy feat.

“There is a very high rate of attrition because it’s very methodical and procedural,” said Pacheco. “It asks a lot of the Soldiers throughout the week in order to get their GOs.”

To put the attrition into perspective, 1,100 hundred Soldiers submitted a packet for E3B. By day 3 of the testing, 252 remained in the running for one of the three badges.

Pfc. Angelina Shabelina, a cavalry scout assigned to 2nd battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1st SBCT, 4th Inf. Div., felt added pressure to her participation as she aspired to gain her ESB.

“I am nervous about earning my ESB because I am the only female from the battalion who is testing for the ESB,” Shabelina said. “It’s a lot of pressure and work.”

Shabelina says there is a lot of preparation behind E3B testing, which consists of events ranging from land navigation to weapon familiarity. The first event started with the expert physical fitness assessment and then moved onto land navigation.

However, the testing doesn’t end there. Throughout the week, Soldiers must pass 10 different stations that tested their knowledge of tactical combat casualty care, weapons functions checks and basic knowledge of different weapon systems, patrolling and tasks associated specifically to the badge they were testing for.

For example, the EFMB conducts three testing lanes with a varying number of evaluated skills. These lanes test the practical ability and keen eyes of candidates while performing evacuation and warrior skills tasks.

“EFMB is a test of a candidate’s attention to detail,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Bland, flight paramedic, 2nd Battalion, 4th General Support Aviation Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Inf. Div. “All of the grade sheets and standards are published and that is really where the rubber meets the road.”

Soldiers are graded on each task to a strict standard. Participants are eliminated if they receive two no-go’s on a task. Soldiers who complete all the tasks perfectly are recognized as earning their “True Blue” for EIB, “Perfect Edge” for ESB and “No Blood” for those who earned their EFMBs with perfect scores.

Despite a plethora of rigor during the first few days of competition, the remaining Soldiers enter the final event, a 12-mile road march completed within three-hours. After crossing the finish line, Soldiers must disassemble and reassemble their weapon within five minutes.

“If you feel like you are losing yourself when you’re training up, you get everything right, you are in line to test out, and your mind goes completely blank, try to remember the Soldiers who are motivating you,” Shabelina said. “For me it’s my first sergeant and my team leader.”

In the end, 172 out of 924 Soldiers earned one of the E3B awards. Ivy Division alumni were able to pin the respective badges onto the recipients during the award ceremony at the conclusion of the final event.

Story by SPC Jason Klaer

Photos by PVT Cecilia Ochoa and SPC Mark Bowman