The world of cyber has become a vital support role for flying squadrons, and for the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) Flight Lieutenant Kyle Storeywood it's where passion meets purpose.
What began as an early fascination with gaming and computer modifications grew into a career in Defence's vast cyber domain.
When he was accepted into the Australian Defence Force Academy as an air combat controller, the news was celebrated in the Storeywood household.
"My dad was a pretty big fan of the Air Force," Flight Lieutenant Storeywood said.
"He pointed me towards potential careers in the RAAF at a time when I wasn't too sure about my future."
After a couple of years in training, he realised his strengths and interests were better suited elsewhere.
Transitioning into the cyber domain opened new opportunities and placed him at the forefront of an area that is rapidly becoming one of the ADF's most critical capabilities.
'Cyber is such an up-and-coming field, and there's a huge amount of innovation happening every day.'
That move eventually led to Flight Lieutenant Storeywood being deployed on Operation Kudu, leading a cyber team in support of Task Element 631.10.7.
"Under Operation Kudu, we run detection dashboards to monitor any malicious activity and assess whether it requires further investigation," he explained.
"We also conduct a detection engineering cycle, which involves taking an attacker's technique and mapping it across the information terrain."
To his mates, Flight Lieutenant Storeywood sometimes describes his role as defending the ADF's networks from malicious cyber activity.
To others, he admits with a laugh, he's "just an IT guy".
"People are often surprised when they find out the things we can see, do and monitor," Flight Lieutenant Storeywood said.
"It's a really rewarding role. Cyber is such an up-and-coming field, and there's a huge amount of innovation happening every day.
"Knowing that what we do directly supports operations and protects Defence networks makes it all worthwhile."
