Announcement of the Marine Corps Cyber Games for the Fall Service-Wide Capture the Flag Competition

1. Purpose. This message announces the Fall
Service-wide Cyber Capture the Flag (CTF) competition taking
place from 29 September – 06 November 2026.  The Fall event will
be a Cyber Red Zone CTF, focused specifically on Offensive
Cyberspace Operations (OCO).  The Deputy Commandant for Information
(DC I), in partnership with the National Cyber Range Complex (NCRC)
under the DOD Test Resource Management Center (TRMC), will organize
a remote CTF event provided through the Joint Information Operations
Range (JIOR). The CTF competition provides a venue where Marine
cyberspace operators can compete in a tailored scenario to complete
cyber challenges of varying difficulty to capture objectives,
referred to as cyber flags. The teams are given 16 hours over a
two-day period to obtain as many cyber flags as possible. 
2. Background. These events have provided a venue to foster
camaraderie among the community and opportunities for Marines to
display their keyboard skills in a competitive environment. The
intent of the Marine Corps Cyber Games is ultimately to accelerate
excellence through competition. 
3. Action Items.  The intended participants for this event are
cyberspace operators from the DCO-IDM Companies and the Cyber
Mission Force.  To find an open session, please go to the event
registration site located at: 
https://intelshare.intelink.gov/sites/te/CyberRedZone/ and register
your team for this event. If you are unable to access the link, 
please email the following information to: GySgt Weston Warren at
weston.warren@usmc.mil and Dr. Wells at wwells@ida.org. 

Session: _________ 
Team name:  ______  
Service/Agency: ______ 
Command/Organization: ________ 
Participation Location: _____ 
JIOR/JMN Designator: _____ 

Site POCs: 
Primary POC: _______ 
Email: _________ 
Phone: _________ 
Team POC: _________
Email: _________ 
Phone: ________ 

3.A. The Event Owner will permit up to eight teams to participate
in each session of this event.  Due to range constraints, the
competition will split into nine two-day sessions, for a total of 
72 teams.  Finalized team participant rosters are due prior to the
associated session communications check.  Recommended team size is
between 5-10 members (limit of 10 per team) with defensive/offensive
cyberspace skillsets. 
3.B. Command Representation.  This CTF is open to all services to
enhance competition.  DC I will sponsor the winning Marine Corps
teams (one Active, one Reserve) to represent the Marine Corps at the
System Administrator, Audit, Network and Security (SANS) Service Cup.
If funding is available, only the winning Marine Corps team will
receive funding to the SANS Service Cup. Teams at SANS Service Cup
are limited to five members. 
3.C. Timeline.  The timeline for the CTF competition is in paragraph
3.C.1 through 3.C.5.  Dates are subject to change and will be posted
on the registration portal. 
3.C.1. Information Maneuver Division (IMD) will submit the initial
Interconnection Security Agreement (ISA).  Any new or
unidentified range sites must be submitted NLT 31 July so that an
addendum to the ISA can be submitted.  (*Participation in CTF is
subject to ISA approval.) 
3.C.2. 31 July: CTF registration deadline. 
3.C.3. During Comms Check, a CTF Intelligence drop and virtual
fly-away kit will be provided to participants. 
3.C.4. Session Dates: 
Session # 1        Dates: 29 Sep - 30 Sep   Comms Check: 28 Sep 
Session # 2        Dates: 5 Oct - 6 Oct     Comms Check: 2 Oct 
Session # 3        Dates: 8 Oct - 9 Oct     Comms Check: 7 Oct 
Session # 4        Dates: 14 Oct - 15 Oct   Comms Check: 13 Oct 
Session # 5        Dates: 19 Oct - 20 Oct   Comms Check: 16 Oct 
Session # 6        Dates: 22 Oct - 23 Oct   Comms Check: 21 Oct 
Session # 7        Dates: 27 Oct - 28 Oct   Comms Check: 26 Oct 
Session # 8        Dates: 2 Nov - 3 Nov     Comms Check: 30 Oct 
Session # 9        Dates: 5 Nov - 6 Nov     Comms Check: 4 Nov 

3.C.5. All participating teams are required to provide an
After-Action Report NLT two weeks after session completion. 
4. Administration and logistics.  Units are responsible for
the travel costs of their representatives as needed. 
4.A. Teams are responsible for arranging access to a JIOR node
on Secret Internet Protocol Router (SIPR) network to participate
in the event. 
4.B.  Participants who complete the event will be eligible for a
participation certificate from the Test Resource Management Center
for 16 hours of continuous learning credit. 
4.C. Awards will be mailed to the winning team. 
5. Please direct all questions to the MARADMIN POC. 
6. Release authorized by Lieutenant General J. A. Matos III,
Headquarters Marine Corps, Deputy Commandant for Information.