Douglas Zipay
Cybersecurity Analyst
About Me
I’m a career veteran, and my post military career path wasn’t exactly a straight line – but it was, or is, a rewarding journey..
When I left the Navy, I wanted nothing to do with IT or DoD. I went back to school, earned my MBA in Financial Management, and stepped into operations management — a clean break from the world I’d just left. It lasted about two years. The pull back to the gear was stronger than I expected, and before long I was back in IT, and back in DoD.
That second act started with Special Forces communications — supporting SF communicators across every kind of system, from SATCOM antennas down to the laptops running on them, and everything in between. I deployed wherever they went, keeping the link up. Over time I moved back into management, then project management, and spent more than ten years supporting SOCOM before deciding it was time to see what else was out there. From there I moved to the Department of the Interior, then to the Defense Logistics Agency — and most recently, into a new role as a Cybersecurity Analyst, focused on CMMC.
Along the way, I’ve also made it a point to mentor people moving into tech and cyber — career-changers, veterans, folks at every age and stage figuring out their own way in. If that’s you, I’m always glad to talk.
Below, you’ll find my blog, where I write about some of the experiences, lessons, and milestones along this path.
The "Doug Was Built, Not Born" Blog
Here I share past and present experiences where I’ve grown professionally and personally – and some opinions along the way. There’s no particular order to my postings as I add subject matter often.
My Third Duty Station Taught Me That Auditing Isn’t About Hiding Problems. It’s About Owning Them.
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 sometimes. My new home was Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Western Pacific — NCTAMS WESTPAC — in Dededo, Guam. The jump from a small, specialized VLF transmitter station in rural Maine to a multi-floor master station supporting the Third, Fifth, and Seventh Fleets was significant. This wasn't a detachment. This was the communications hub for an entire ocean area. The critical billet I was filling: VERDIN/ISABPS — same as Cutler, but now at a command that operated at...
Eight Certifications, Zero Bootcamps: What They Taught Me (and What They Didn’t)
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 job and my career had moved past where they were needed. Letting a cert expire on purpose is its own kind of decision, and I don't regret a single one of them. It does cost money and time keeping certs. Here's the part I want to be upfront about: I didn't bootcamp my way through any of these. No weekend crash courses, no test dump memorization, no shortcut path. I bought the books, built the study plans, and put in the hours myself — nights, weekends, whatever time I could carve out around a...
My Second Duty Station Was the World’s Most Powerful Radio Transmitter. I Worked Inside It.
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 border. Most people drive past it and see nothing but forest and fog. What they can't see is what lives below those towers. The station runs a 2 megawatt VLF (Very Low Frequency) transmitter - 20 times the output of a major commercial radio station making it one of the most powerful radio transmitters in the world. Its mission: maintain a continuous communications link between the Navy's command authority and submarines operating in the North Atlantic, Arctic Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea, in...
Don’t Be Afraid to Pivot – I Did Several Times
During my career in the U.S. Navy, I specialized in IT and Communications. When retirement approached, I was convinced I was done with both IT and the defense sector. Looking for a complete shift, I earned an MBA in Finance and took my first civilian role as an Operations Manager. That chapter lasted about a year and a half before the pull of technology brought me back. I re-entered the IT world- effectively hitting the reset button as a junior technician. From there, the journey was anything but linear: Worked my way back into Operations Management Saw the World Transitioned into Project Management Specialized into Cybersecurity Project Management Pivoted into federal IT Audit, with my sights now set on becoming a CMMC Assessor Some...
How I Became a VERDIN Tech Before the Navy Knew I Was One
There is a moment in every military career where you realize nobody is coming to hand you the thing you want. You either go take it yourself or you watch someone else get it. Mine came in Scotland. Thurso: The Training Nobody Asked Me To Do When I was stationed at Naval Communications Station United Kingdom - Thurso, Scotland - my primary role was crypto tech. But the station needed VERDIN/ISABPS support (the premier positions), and bodies were thin. So they started training me on the job. It wasn't formal. It wasn't guaranteed to lead anywhere. But the system was there, the need was real, and I was willing. Then two brand-new VERDIN techs arrived — fresh out of school, orders in hand, and with all the attention that comes with being the...
Current Certifications
