Mikulski Announces $120 Million to Construct Center for Cyber Security Studies at U.S. Naval Academy Located in Annapolis

Press Release

U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015 includes $120 million to construct a Center for Cyber Security Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. The Naval Academy is implementing a new cyber warfare curriculum including two core courses, as well as a cyber major. The legislation was signed into law this week by President Obama.

"Maryland is the global epicenter of cybersecurity, leading the way in finding cyber tech solutions that make our country safer and developing cyber workforce to make our economy stronger," said Senator Mikulski, Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "Through hands-on learning in a real-world environment, we are preparing our midshipmen to be future cyber warriors that will protect our country from cyber terrorists, spies and thugs. With Maryland's world-class educational institutions, leading federal assets and dynamic private sector, America's cyber defense starts in Maryland. We are Fort Cyber. The battlefield is real and the battleships are being built right here in Maryland."

Senator Mikulski fought to include funds in the legislation to support the construction of the new Center for Cyber Security Studies building including, among other things, a multi-story academic building with classroom and research labs, offices, secure compartmented intelligence facility (SCIF) space and lecture halls. The state-of-the-art facility will allow midshipmen at the Naval Academy to receive real-world, experiential training preparing them to take on cyber threats.

The Naval Academy has developed a curriculum that reaches into all aspects of educational training including ethical implications, leadership opportunities, warfare training and most directly through the computer science fields of study. The center will encompass support for all programs that contribute to knowledge, study and research of cyber warfare at the Naval Academy.

The mission of the Center for Cyber Security Studies is to enhance the education of midshipmen in all areas of cyber warfare, to facilitate the sharing of expertise and perspectives in cyber warfare from across the Yard, to provide a streamlined means of identifying priorities, to enhance inter-disciplinary research in cyber warfare, and to disseminate information, harmonize efforts and shape a common framework for cyber warfare related efforts at USNA.

Source