The New Battlefield: Veteran, LSU Student Still Serving Through Cybersecurity

Coming back to LSU felt full circle for Scott Sonnier. He first attended the university in 2001, but after the events of 9/11, he made the life-changing decision to join the Navy.

After years of serving and a decade working for the federal government, his life took a turn. Medical retirement brought him back home to Louisiana and eventually back to the university he left behind. This time with a new mission.  

Now a cybersecurity major, he’s continuing his life of service by learning to defend a different kind of territory: the digital world. At LSU, cybersecurity offers veterans like Sonnier a bridge between military experience and technology, allowing them to bring a mission-focused mindset to the classroom. 

“In the Navy, I focused on the hardware and was tracing signals to find the fault,” said Sonnier. “Finding problems in software requires the same troubleshooting mentality while utilizing a different sort of testing.”

While the cybersecurity field feels familiar to Sonnier on both the military and academic levels, he said he had to adjust to life as a student. For Sonnier, getting the support he needs means going to the William A. Brookshire Military & Veterans Student Center each morning, a place he calls his “base of operations.”

“I have a difficult time relating to many of my classmates because I am much older than the average student,” he said. “The veterans community gives me a place to go and spend time with people of similar ages and experiences.

After graduation, Sonnier aims to work in cyber defense, information security, or national security. For him, it’s another way to serve his country, this time through technology and prevention. 

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