VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Hidden within a discreet concrete building, teams from various states and countries collaborate across screens and keyboards for Cyber Shield 2025.
For the May 30 to June 13 exercise, 28 states and 15 state partners have come together to share best practices and lessons on how to defend the cyber front. One cyber team, composed of Air and Army National Guardsmen from Nebraska and Texas, has been working closely with its shared partner, Czechia.
Czechia became partners with Texas and Nebraska in 1993 through the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program. The program involves cooperation between both militaries, cultural exchanges and shared training. Exercises such as Cyber Shield allow both partners to use their knowledge to train for and react to real-world scenarios.
1st Lt. Karina Abella, a cyber operations officer from the 72nd Brigade Combat Team with the Texas Army National Guard, is working alongside members of the Czechia cyber team. She believes it is important to participate in this exercise and work with different units to understand the reach of cyber.
“It’s important to work with our state partners because we do not know everything that is out there,” Abella said. “Bringing in our state partners through the program allows us to understand how they operate in the cyber world and helps us build alliances.”
This is Abella’s third year participating in Cyber Shield. She first attended as a white cell member and then as a blue team member before serving as a team lead this year.
Staff Sgt. Alejandro Hernandez, a digital network exploitation analyst with the 273rd Cyberspace Operations Squadron, Texas Air National Guard, also participated in the exercise.
“I believe it’s important to work with everyone because we should be able to work with our partners across different fields,” Hernandez said. “I have learned that it takes a lot of work to put something like this exercise together, and there are different roles and expertise that come together to make this happen.”
Cyber Shield is the longest-running and largest Department of Defense cyber exercise. This year, about 900 National Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, Guardians and civilian cyber professionals from around the world are gathering to participate in training and a cyber defense exercise. Additionally, 15 countries within the State Partnership Program collaborated to share a unified approach to defending against cyber threats.
“I recommend that, for those who would like to come and do an exercise like this, they should do it as it is a good experience,” Hernandez said. “In the future, I believe that warfare is going to take a different approach towards cyber, so we should always be ready.”