SAN ANTONIO – Thirteen Alamo City veterans graduated Friday from the first-ever Rackspace Open Cloud Academy's cybersecurity tech boot camp.
The boot camp is a 12-week program launched in September. It's a hands-on learning environment where veterans are given the tools they need for an entry-level cybersecurity job.
"It's going to be kind of like an arms race. The new developments, push new tech and trying to really expand our boundaries and our capabilities against other foreign governments or malicious hackers that are also in that same arms race," graduate Mauricio Ramirez said.
With recent reports about election hacks and national security concerns, the grads know their chosen career path is more important then ever.
"It's affecting our day-to-day lives. Everything we have is connected to the internet, and there are bad people out there that want to do harm to the United States. We need to make sure to invest in our people to fight against it," graduate Jacob Mireles said.
San Antonio is the second-largest city in the cybersecurity industry, only behind Washington, D.C.
All 13 veterans have already lined up jobs through the program.
"It just gives you that satisfaction in your career field that you could be making a difference going forward, whether it's somebody's livelihood, you know, their financial information, or national security," Ramirez said.