The Leap I’m Making

by Douglas | Jul 9, 2026 | Doug Was Built Not Born, Thoughts, What Doug's working on now

There are moments in a career where you can feel the window opening. The question is whether you have the nerve to climb through it. I’m climbing through it. I’ve accepted a position as a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Assessor, and I...

The AI Sandbox: How I Used Claude and Gemini to Master CMMC and NIST Controls

by Douglas | Jul 7, 2026 | Doug Was Built Not Born

In the contracting world, stability is a luxury. When a contract enters a recompete phase, you don’t wait around to see which way the wind blows; you get ready for whatever comes next. For me, that meant aggressively closing the gaps in my compliance...

My Third Duty Station Taught Me That Auditing Isn’t About Hiding Problems. It’s About Owning Them.

by Douglas | Jul 7, 2026 | Doug Was Built Not Born

After Cutler, I didn’t get to choose my next assignment. The detailer had a critical fill in Guam and I was the body that fit the billet. The person replacing me in Cutler was — literally — the person I was replacing in Guam. That’s how the Navy works...

Eight Certifications, Zero Bootcamps: What They Taught Me (and What They Didn’t)

by Douglas | Jul 5, 2026 | Doug Was Built Not Born

I currently hold eight active certifications: CISA, CISM, CISSP, CEH, PMP, PSM, CCA, CCP, and ITIL. I’ve also let four lapse over the years – CCNA, CFCM, Security+, and Network+. Not because I failed to maintain them, but because they’d done their...

My Second Duty Station Was the World’s Most Powerful Radio Transmitter. I Worked Inside It.

by Douglas | Jul 5, 2026 | Doug Was Built Not Born

Imagine, I was the SME and Lead Supervisor here – when I was only in my mid 20’s! I was stationed at Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Cutler, Maine — a remote posting in Washington County on the Down East coast, not far from the Canadian...
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Recent Posts

  • The Leap I’m Making
  • The AI Sandbox: How I Used Claude and Gemini to Master CMMC and NIST Controls
  • My Third Duty Station Taught Me That Auditing Isn’t About Hiding Problems. It’s About Owning Them.
  • Eight Certifications, Zero Bootcamps: What They Taught Me (and What They Didn’t)
  • My Second Duty Station Was the World’s Most Powerful Radio Transmitter. I Worked Inside It.

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