I served in the Marines for 4 years as a Cyber Security Specialist. Those 4 years taught me a tremendous amount about the Information Technology field, as well as how to be a competent and inspiring Leader. My training began with Cisco and VMware Virtualization as well as Tactical Data Communications. My Unit led the help desk for the entire Regiment, supporting multiple other battalions while in garrison. When in the field for training we were expected to build the entire network from the ground, having all Cisco switches/routers configured for security as well as scalability. Our virtual servers were expected to have redundancy so all Domain, AD, Email, and CAC Access (Common Access Card) services were available 24/7. With proper pre-planing and coordination with peers we were able to stand our entire Command and Operations Center up in less than 4 hours, blowing previous time records out of the water.