VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Members of the District of Columbia Air National Guard’s 113th Communications Squadron joined more than 900 participants from across the U.S. military and allied nations for Cyber Shield 2025, a two-week unclassified cyber defense exercise.
The training, held in Virginia Beach, serves as a gateway to ensuring Soldiers and Airmen are equipped to succeed and guarantees they develop new skill sets.
For the first time, the D.C. Air National Guard teamed up with the Jamaican Defence Force, or JDF, in a cyber-focused effort through the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program. It marked a significant milestone in the evolving partnership between the two partner nations.
“It was also the first time we partnered with the Jamaican Defence Force in the cyber domain, and it was a great opportunity to build that trust and technical cooperation,” said 1st Lt. Rebecca Montalvo, operations officer for the 113th Communications Squadron.
Cyber Shield is the Department of Defense’s largest unclassified cyber defense exercise. It is designed to simulate real-world cybersecurity threats and test participants’ responses under pressure. In an ever-changing world, the exercises bridged innovation from the community to the battlefield.
The event, held from May 30 to June 13, was split into two phases: a training week followed by a hands-on exercise. During the second phase, participants took part in a simulated mission to defend critical infrastructure against cyberattacks. The scenario for the D.C. Air Guard and JDF involved protecting a fictional agricultural company’s systems against malicious cyber actors.
“The scenario focused on threats to farming infrastructure, like drones and tractors used for harvesting crops,” Montalvo said. “It really hit close to home because if we can’t farm, we can’t eat. That’s a real-world impact.”
The joint team of 15 members — six from the D.C. Air National Guard and nine from the JDF — served in various roles, including blue team defenders, opposition force, and penetration testing that simulates a cyberattack on a computer system. They defended virtual networks against persistent threats, aligning their strategies with the National Institute of Standards and Technology cybersecurity framework.
“We were assessed on how well we identified, reported and briefed threats, and how we built and shared mitigation plans,” Montalvo said.
The exercise also included competitive events such as Capture the Flag and Hack the Box, where participants tested their cyber skills by identifying vulnerabilities in simulated networks.
“Sometimes our usual tools went down,” Montalvo said. “That forced us to be flexible and pivot to new tools, which was challenging but critical for building real-world adaptability.”
The exchange of knowledge and tools extended beyond the technical. Before the exercise, the D.C. Air National Guard and JDF conducted a Cyber Subject Matter Expert engagement to share their unique approaches and common challenges. This cross-training element supports the National Guard’s broader transformation efforts, ensuring units are prepared for the evolving nature of cyber threats.
For Montalvo, one of the most significant takeaways was how the exercise revealed the changing nature of warfare and the need for the public to understand it.
“The threats we face aren’t always going to be visible or kinetic,” she said. “It’s not just bombs or boots on the ground anymore. We’re also fighting in cyberspace, and those threats can affect real-world essentials like power, water and food.”
Cyber Shield 2025 included participants from more than 28 U.S. states and territories, as well as representatives from 12 partner nations, and reinforced the global emphasis on cyber readiness and cooperation. The multi-state and international collaboration exercise fosters an environment for advancing community-driven solutions that facilitate rapid modernization across the force.
“This exercise helped us identify weaknesses and learn something new every day,” Montalvo said. “It sparked a lot of interest in cyber within our team and showed us how far our Jamaican partners want to take their cyber capabilities. They’re excited to come back next year, and so are we.”