Ensuring the nation maintains its considerable edge in air, space, and cyberspace is among the Department of the Air Force’s highest priorities. A large portion of that important mission includes ensuring its advanced weapon systems perform as expected, even in the most hotly contested cyber environment.
That responsibility falls on the shoulder of CROWS, the Cyber Resilience Office for Weapons System.
It is staffed by highly dedicated and highly skilled civilian and active duty cyber, intel, computer science, and engineering professionals, two of which you’ll meet during this month’s Aim Hire: “As the CROWS Fly.”
They’ll describe CROWS’s essential mission and the many roles civilians play in making it such a success.
Watch the webinar in its entirety by clicking the video above, or, if your time is limited, check out the highlights below:
11:04 Steve outlines CROWS’s mission and structure and describes the characteristics that make great CROWS team members.
17:08 Elmo describes the perfect CROWS employees and how CROWS approaches solving its unique challenges.
20:07 Elmo contrasts a career in the private sector to one in AFCS and lists some of the benefits of civil service that often go overlooked.
23:12 Steve fields a question from the audience on whether there is a remote work option for CROWS. You might be surprised by what he says about telework and its impact on productivity. Equally surprising, it turns out that “remote” and “telework” are not the same thing.
27:08 Steve offers some advice to those who may be sitting on the fence between a private sector job and one in public service.
28:55 Elmo relates how CROWS embraces ideas, encourages creativity, and listens to the input of everyone from every position.
31:22 Elmo describes what it is like to have such a mission-critical position but also work for an organization that realizes how important work-life balance is to keeping employees sharp.
34:10 Steve reiterates the importance AFCS places on employees maintaining a healthy work-life balance but from a Human Resource perspective.
36:35 Host Bob Hall reinforces just how valuable diversity of experience is to AFCS and how the skills learned in other occupations often enhance the mission at hand. Sometimes, he suggests, the job description is a better indicator of whether you are qualified than the job title.
40:19 Steve says having a diverse background of experiences is crucial because many of the things CROWS are doing have never been done before. He also explains how every CROWS team member is given the training they need to come up to speed.
42:08 Elmo explains how if someone is interested in professional growth and expanding their skill sets, CROWS not only encourages it but moves heaven and earth to make it possible.
45:38 Steve and Elmo share what they consider to be some of the most satisfying moments of their CROWS careers.
55:55 Steve answers a question we get a lot. “Do you need an active security clearance to work for CROWS?”