On the outskirts of the bustling city of Surabaya, nestled against the coastline of Indonesia, the latest in information technology took center stage at a sprawling naval base. Here, dimly lit conference rooms were converted into cyber operations training rooms where teams of multinational service members collaborated to solve perplexing challenges in cyberspace.

From Aug. 26 to Sept. 5, Headquarters Naval Warfighting Training Center, Indonesia, became an epicenter of cyber technology collaboration as 46 service members from four countries converged for a cyber exercise (CYBEREX) as part of Super Garuda Shield 2024 (SGS24).

“The objectives of the cyber exercise are to pull together U.S., Indonesia, Singapore, U.K., and some observer countries to develop partnerships, develop technical skills,” U.S. Air Force Col. Glen Hayase, a Hawaii Air National Guardsman and commander of its 154th Mission Support Group said. “They work through some of the processes of cyber incident response, cyber defense, in order to collectively have a more secure communication environment.”

Hayase, who served as the cyber facilitator for the CYBEREX said the exercise was a unique and rare chance for service members from allied and partner nations to get together in the same space to collaborate to solve cyberspace issues.

“You don’t always get these chances to have these multinational service members in the same space, working together to get through these really complex cyber challenges, most of which they’ll be exposed to in the real world,” said Hayase. “So it really is a great opportunity to collaborate, learn from each other, to network, and build those mutually beneficial relationships.”

While building relationships was a key tenant of the cyber-focused exercise, building up the participants’ skill sets and setting the foundation for future iterations was paramount.

“We’re using it as a baseline to build on future years,” Hayase said. “Going forward, the plan is to make things more complex, to expand the multinational participation, and further develop technical skills for our partner nations.”

Participants were exposed to overarching strategic concepts and methodologies during the academic phase of the CYBEREX. Fine-tuning defensive cyber technical skills became the focus in subsequent phases. In the final phase, a capstone scenario-driven exercise challenged participants where they were required to put all their skills to use.

During the exercise, one group of cyber professionals acted as the red team providing penetration testing and feedback. Meanwhile, blue team members playing in the virtual range applied their skills to defend their respective networks.

This iteration of the CYBEREX was the first time an exercise of its kind was conducted as part of the larger Super Garuda Shield exercise portfolio. Garuda Shield is an annual exercise that has significantly grown in scope and size since 2009. SGS24 is the third consecutive time this exercise has grown into a combined and joint event focused on commitment to partnership and a free and open Indo-Pacific.

CYBEREX was included at the request of the highest echelons of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. Recognizing the importance of IT networks and, more importantly, their defense, direction came down from Gen. Agus Subiyanto, commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, or “Panglima”, to develop and include a cyber-focused event into SGS24. As a result, CYBEREX was added into the Super Garuda Shield 2024 portfolio.

“The Panglima is the driving force for our CYBEREX,” Hayase said. “Without his direction and endorsement, as well as support from Indonesian Armed Forces senior leaders, this event might have never come to reality.”

Planning and execution of the CYBEREX was a collaborative effort between the Indonesian Armed Forces and the Hawaii National Guard, whose relationship with Indonesian counterparts spans years through engagements via the U.S. National Guard’s State Partnership Program.

Although the CYBEREX success metrics are extracted from a virtual world, the actual value of the exercise lies in face-to-face interactions.

“So much of the relationship building happens outside the cyber scenario. It’s during coffee breaks, during lunch before and after, hopefully, we make lifelong friends and partners,” Hayase said. “Hopefully we’ll never need to call on each other, but it’s good to know that we have those friends that we could call upon if we really need to.”