Photo By Staff Sgt. Tryphena Mayhugh | Col. Cory Damon, left, 22nd Air Refueling Wing commander, and Chief Master Sgt....... read more read more
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The 22nd Communications Squadron Cybersecurity Office hosted 22nd Air Refueling Wing leadership for an unconventional interview in support of Cybersecurity Awareness Month Oct. 7, 2024, at McConnell.
Airman Omar Presley, 22nd CS communication security clerk, guided Col. Cory Damon, 22nd ARW commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Markiesha Crawford, 22nd ARW command chief, down a path of fire and flavor while asking questions pertaining to cybersecurity and their careers during the communication squadron’s first ever Spicy Ones challenge.
During the on-camera interview, Presley, Damon and Crawford ate chicken wings dipped in hot sauces ranging from 1,700 to almost 2.7 million Scoville units, pairing each increasing spice level with a question in front of a crowd of Airmen assigned to the 22nd CS.
After munching on a kimchi-flavored wing clocking in at 18,000 Scoville units, the two leaders were asked their opinion on cybersecurity becoming a critical component of modern warfare and how McConnell is adapting to it.
“[Cyber] has expanded to so many things,” Damon replied. “When you talk about the KC-46[A Pegasus] and KC-135 [Stratotanker], the mission defense team here has been the best. All the new weapons systems are getting more and more dependent on a strong cyber-resilient network. For here, everybody that touches those jets is having to think about cyber vulnerabilities.”
Halfway through the questions, Presley paused to check how Damon and Crawford were doing and if they were ready to continue. Both commander and command chief promptly replied, “Are you ready?” Undeterred, they moved on to the next question and next spice level.
Paired with a Trinidadian scorpion pepper sauce rated at 54,000 Scoville units, another question posed to the leaders concerned the top cybersecurity priorities for McConnell.
“Protecting the mission – OPSEC, OPSEC, OPSEC,” Crawford said. “The things that we utilize are so advanced now, we need to be mindful that every little thing matters. I know people say, ‘What does it matter if I use the same laptop here that I use at home and get onto a certain Wi-Fi?’ It matters a lot. Everything we do is connected to the mission and how we can intentionally and unintentionally expose information that we absolutely would not want to.”
The group stopped for a moment to recuperate after the second-to-last wing: a fruity-flavored Apollo pepper sauce with a 700,000 Scoville unit rating. Damon commented on how they had left the flavor realm and were now only into spice, which Crawford agreed, proclaiming she could not even taste the fruit.
After a few moments to compose, Presley asked the duo how they saw the relationship between cybersecurity and mission assurance.
“Just on the warfare aspect, it used to be land, sea and air – it was all we needed to worry about,” Damon said. “Then we started getting into space and cyber, and now cyber touches and links them all, and provides vulnerabilities to them all. That is a big challenge, not only in those domains, but in the information domain, which cyber has almost complete control over. Here at McConnell, it’s always at the forefront, cyber is at the nexus of it all. The other missions won’t happen at the speed and relevance and efficiency and effectiveness without cyber.”
It had been a tough journey filled with garlic, jalapeño, habanero and more, but the three Airmen reached the final question and spiciest sauce, made from Pepper X and rating in at 2,693,000 Scoville units.
The final question posed to the leaders was what advice they would give to younger Airmen who aspire to be in leadership roles like themselves in the Air Force.
“I always say, in a safe environment – nothing illegal, immoral or unethical – fail forward,” Crawford said, pausing to let the crowd in on the fact that she had a great poker face, but the inside of her mouth was on fire. “Fail forward and learn fast from how you failed and then apply that to how you move going forward. Taking in those life and work lessons and applying them, then being open to input. Be a sponge. While you may know everything in this moment, there’s somebody, I guarantee you, who knows a little bit more. Be willing and able to do that.”
Presley congratulated Damon and Crawford for completing the Spicy Ones challenge, marveling at their ability to provide long answers after eating the spicy chicken wings and thanking them for their willingness to participate.
Since 2004, Cybersecurity Awareness Month has been held every year in October focusing on enhancing cybersecurity awareness, encouraging actions to reduce online risk and generating discussion on cyber threats on a national and global scale.
| Date Taken: | 10.07.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.23.2024 12:21 |
| Story ID: | 483751 |
| Location: | MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, KANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 55 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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