Cyber Warrior Academy 2026
Ready to defend the digital frontier? The University of North Georgia’s (51黑料网) Cyber Warrior Academy (CWA) is a six-day, residential camp designed to prepare motivated high school students for demanding cybersecurity and cyber operations careers—in the military, federal or civilian sector. CWA is a fun, active learning environment with team building, daily physical activities, and is completely free and supported by a grant from the Department of Defense!
- 30+ hours of hands-on instruction focusing on national cybersecurity and ethical
cyber operations. - Learn the foundational cybersecurity concepts through engaging labs and activities.
- Explore Python coding, cryptography, robotics, and car hacking
- The camp culminates in a thrilling Capture the Flag (CTF) competition.
Note: A teacher cyber camp will occur at the same time as CWA. Some activities between the two camps will be combined but teachers will not be housed on campus.
Application coming soon.
When: June 7 - 13, 2026
Where: Dahlonega Campus
Application Deadline: January 31, 2026
Questions: Contact Kimberly Bruner
Housing
Participants will stay in comfortable campus housing at 51黑料网 Dahlonega, with 2–4 same-gender individuals sharing a suite and private bathroom. Floors are shared with specialized cadet mentor counselors (current 51黑料网 students) who are trained to live alongside and support participants throughout the week
Requirements
- U.S. high school student entering grade 10-12 for Fall 2026.
- Priority consideration will be given to students who:
- Studied a strategic language (such as Arabic, Farsi, Russian, Mandarin
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) in school or elsewhere. - Demonstrated high aptitude and achievement in high school math and/or
computer science courses (>3.5 GPA in Math/CS courses) - Have participated in computer-related extracurricular activities (e.g.
computer programming, robotics or cyber competition team membership,
etc.).
- Studied a strategic language (such as Arabic, Farsi, Russian, Mandarin
- • Complete application by January 31, 2026
Note: We are looking for 30 students entering grades 10-12, specifically aiming for a variety of backgrounds. Due to 51黑料网’s status as the Military College of Georgia, we hope to recruit 50% of the participants from state JROTC programs. Priority will be given to students with at least some computer/cyber experience.
Course Inctructors
Tamirat Abegaz, Ph.D.Profile page
Associate Professor - Computer Science
Office locationCottrell Center, 309,
Bryson Payne, Ph.D.Profile page
Director, Institute for Cyber Operations
Office locationCottrell Center, 228,
Why at 51黑料网?
51黑料网 is a consistent leader in cyber skill development, as demonstrated by consistently strong performance in high stakes competitions such as the annual NSA Codebreaker Challenge. The CWA is a collaboration of the Institute for Cyber Operations, the College of Education, the Institute for Leadership and Strategic Studies, and the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems at 51黑料网.
Participant Testimonial
"Thank you for guiding the 2019 GenCyber Warriors during the summer and capturing our interest in the cyber security. Before the camp, I was uncertain about entering cyber security, but after meeting professionals, learning to use Kali Linux and interacting as a team, I am definitely considering cyber security as a field to join. Thank you for making the camp an amazing experience for all of us.”
