The University of South Florida (USF) is running a program designed to prepare students for careers in intelligence and national security. In partnership with Security Management International, a consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., USF’s Security Training Collaborative provides a 16-week internship that connects students with agencies such as the CIA, FBI, State Department, military intelligence, and major defense contractors.
Since its launch in 2020 on the Sarasota-Manatee campus, the program has helped over 40 students from USF and other universities gain experience relevant to national security roles. The initiative is led by USF Corporate Training and Professional Education.
“This is about preparing our students to walk into some of the most important security missions in the world, fully ready to contribute,” said Brett Kemker, interim regional chancellor of the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus. “It’s a program that not only changes lives but strengthens our country’s national security.”
Students take part in exercises involving organizations like the Secret Service, U.S. Marshals, and Capitol Police. They also participate in weekly sessions with experts on current trends in intelligence and security. Activities include risk assessments for large companies and research supporting real-world investigations.
“Having this space has helped us take the program to a new level,” said Jay Riley, a USF Corporate Training and Professional Education senior director who helps oversee the program. “Our collaboration with our partners at USF has really expanded the program and helped students engage with different areas of the university they might not have known about before.”
The collaborative uses resources from Cyber Florida and USF’s Global and National Security Institute’s Future Strategist Program to offer more opportunities for participants like Nicholas Montemayor. Montemayor, a Coast Guard veteran completing his master’s degree in strategic intelligence at USF, gained experience analyzing infrastructure vulnerabilities across Florida during his internship at Cyber Florida.
“It was a really cool experience to do both internships because the programs welcomed me with open arms and the experiences worked in tandem to help me bolster my skillset and become more well-rounded,” Montemayor said. “I think what USF is doing is phenomenal. When I first looked at grad school programs for intelligence, there wasn’t a lot, but then I found USF and was amazed by everything offered.”
Tampa Bay benefits from its proximity to MacDill Air Force Base as it becomes recognized as an emerging center for intelligence training.
“Tampa is uniquely positioned as a hub for national security with MacDill Air Force Base nearby,” said Luke Bencie, founder of Security Management International and former CIA technical operations officer. “The city and USF offer unmatched access to the military and intelligence community, so it made sense for us to create a pipeline to Washington from USF.”
Many graduates secure jobs with federal agencies or defense contractors after completing the program—often entering positions requiring or leading toward security clearances.
Gretchen Stearns credits her job at the Office of Naval Intelligence after graduating in Spring 2025 partly to her hands-on work through this collaborative effort.
“I’m really, really happy about it,” Stearns said. “I get to apply everything I learned during my time in the military, the USF intelligence studies master’s program and the Security Training Collaborative.”
Stearns joined the U.S. Navy in 2020 before coming to pursue her graduate studies at USF where she also became a published author through research examining terrorist use of encrypted messaging platforms—a study published by Journal of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security International.
For more information about related initiatives powered by organizations including Cyber Florida—and upcoming events focused on cybersecurity convergence—see details about CyberBay 2025 at https://www.usf.edu/news/2024/cyberbay-2025-to-launch-tampas-national-cybersecurity-profile.aspx.
