Image: bls.gov
A student at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA, Nicholas Leonard focuses on informatics with an emphasis on data analysis. Having undertaken analytical projects on campus in Athens, GA, Nicholas Leonard has a strong interest in areas of technology such as cybersecurity.
As reported in CSO, the United States government is currently looking to bolster its technological capacities. The congressionally mandated National Commission on Military, National and Public Service has a particular focus on modernizing the Selective Service System.
The idea is to have a “skills draft,” under which those with specific skills spanning medicine, engineering, linguistics, and cybersecurity could be conscripted in situations where the country has a “critical need.”
The practice of conscripting highly skilled workers has been around for decades, with M.A.S.H. units of doctors and nurses serving in the Korean War under such arrangements. Under current rules, medical professionals as old as 44 can be conscripted in situations of conflict.
The new wrinkle offered by the commission, which was established in 2017, is to include technology professionals who would serve with the U.S. Army Cyber Command within this umbrella. One obstacle is that while promotion and recruiting incentives can secure a certain level of cybersecurity talent, it is extremely challenging to compete with the private sector. Feasibility and advisability findings of the current process are currently being collected and will be presented to Congress in 2020.
Nicholas Leonard 
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