Since the release of the Department of Defense's directive, DoD Directive 8570.1, and its accompanying guidance manual, DoD 8570.01-M Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program, uniformed military, DoD personnel, civilian contractors, and foreign nationals with privileged access to a DoD Information System (IS) have been maneuvering to become trained and certified in one of 13 commercial Information Assurance (IA) credentials called out in the directive. This directive is part of a new National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, requiring all IA Technical (IAT) and IA Management (IAM) personnel to be fully trained and certified to baseline requirements to perform their IA duties. Failure to meet the certification provisions could expose individuals to loss of position and the agencies they serve to possible loss of funding by the U.S. Congress.

Failure to meet the certification provisions could expose individuals to loss of position and the agencies they serve to possible loss of funding by the U.S. Congress. In support of its ongoing efforts to train and certify shore and fleet based sailors, the United States Navy needed high quality IA certification training that was scalable, reasonably priced, and yielded successful pass rates on IA exams. Global Knowledge was selected as the training partner to deliver the Navy and civilian contractor Security+ training. It was chosen based on its ability to deliver a tailored, comprehensive 8570.1 workforce compliancy solution that provided the training and tools needed to help students pass the Security+ certification exam. Global Knowledge's experience in training more than 10,000 government personnel each year has helped it realize that successful data transfer occurs when more than one learning modality (visual, auditory, and tactile) is employed.

Global Knowledge delivered a Security+ certification training solution, offering an end to-end 8570 Certification Continuum, tailored for the client and only delivering the components needed to complement the customer's existing training assets. Global Knowledge's solution accommodated up to 50 personnel in a seminar-styled classroom and included the Certification Preparation/Program Management and Post Training/Testing components that were comprised of the following:

• Course registration and logistics services via a customized Web portal, ActiveForce
• CompTIA Security+ pre-assessment diagnostic testing
• Expert live, instructor-led training delivery
• Take-home materials and homework assignments
• Test-prep software, including practice exams in certification mode
• Post-course testing for students desiring to take the CompTIA Security+ exam following the class
• Test vouchers and testing

The compliancy solution was a success. One hundred percent of the students who began the class completed the entire regimen and reported they recommended the class to others. The instructor received a perfect student satisfaction score of 5 on a 5-point scale.

"The instructor was excellent. He was very knowledgeable and able to keep everyone involved. I appreciate the support and assistance and his professionalism!" said an IT Specialist.

A Government Civilian who also attended the training believed this training was imperative to passing the exam, "I would recommend this class to anyone who has done some studying on their own and needs to get a great review in before the big exam."