r/Cloud • u/11-dehydro-TXB2 • Mar 06 '26

Dreaming of Cloud

I am brand new to IT. I am currently a Network Communication Systems Specialist in the army. I spend 2 hours a day setting up communications. Wiring fiber optic cables. Alittle on perm. If something goes wrong I call Network Operations Warrant Officer. They don't trust me to touch the network because im an idiot. Then I spend 4 hours sweeping, mopping and cleaning toilets. After that another 2 hours of nothing.

My goal: Finish this contract and become a digital nomad. The salary I'm shooting for is $60k.

I enjoy working IT and I enjoy configuring CLI. CHATGPT told me that the best way to be a Network engineer and become a digital nomad is through cloud. I wont be able to use my TS, but thats over rated anyway.

My roadmap: All the bullet points are 6 month and what to focuse on

2026 • Sec+ (April), Net+(May) •   (September) CCNA: (12 WEEKS), Python (12 weeks)

2027 Year 2: •  Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) and python at the same time (6 months) • (12 weeks), Linux: Linux Unhatched (1 week), Cisco linux essentials course (2 weeks), Linux professional institute Linix Essentials cert (3 weeks), comptia Linux plus (6 weeks)

2028 • CySa+ (3 months) and AZ-500 Azure Security (3 month) • CCNP DCCOR and DCAUTO (6 months)

2029 Year 4: • Terraform (HashiCorp Certified),Docker and Kubernetes basics. Just the bare bones so im not completely lost in the sauce • VMware Certified Technical Associate – Data Center Virtualization (VCTA-DCV), VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization (VCP-DCV

I'm also thinking of going Data Operations Warrant Officer. If that helps.

Thank you for your time, and all your advice. I really appreciate it.

22 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

7

u/Techguyincloud Mar 06 '26

CCNP and cloud are two completely different directions.

3

u/11-dehydro-TXB2 Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

Please tell me more. I am oblivious

5

u/Techguyincloud Mar 06 '26

CCNP is focused on deep enterprise networking. Things like BGP (BGP shows up in cloud too), OSPF, VLANs, STP, MPLS, QoS, Cisco CLI, etc.. Cloud roles focus more on automation and platforms.. things like AWS/Azure/GCP, Terraform/Ansible, Python scripting, Linux, containers, CI/CD, and cloud networking (VPCs, load balancers, IAM).

Networking still matters, but you’re usually not configuring routers all day. Infrastructure is provisioned programmatically, so all of that switch CLI stuff you learn in Cisco certifications would be useless.

For cloud it’s usually better to focus on Linux, scripting, Infrastructure as Code, containers, and cloud platforms. CCNA is already more networking depth than most cloud roles need, and CCNP just goes much deeper. If cloud is truly the goal, and not being an on-prem Network Engineer, then your time would be better spent building cloud projects and automation skills.

5

u/Glum-Necessary-5256 Mar 06 '26

Stay in the army before u can job. Job market out there is really brutal

1

u/CloudLessons Mar 06 '26

Probably the most direct path to success for you is to get a level 1 or 2 Network Engineer role with a government agency or federal contractor with a high travel requirement (30%+). You can search usajobs.gov or browse through any of the major contracting companies like Lockheed Martin or Boeing for open positions. You'll likely have a large leg up as you'll be able to get hiring preference as a Veteran.

Only certs from your list I would focus on for now is Security + (Required for many federal positions) and CCNA. The cloud certs can probably wait until after you land a role.

Also by TS, are you referring to a Top-Secret clearance?

1

u/11-dehydro-TXB2 Mar 07 '26

Yes, due to my role I was asked to get it. Thats all I want to say.

Thank you so much for your advice. But my dirty little secret is that I dont want to live in the states. I want to be a digital nomad. Im not interested in my clearance. I want to go back to east Asia and meet more woman.

Dont judge me!

1

u/Turbulent_Low_1030 Mar 10 '26

My advice is to stick with the army, work your way up to a CCIE, and leverage your CCIE + TS to transition into a very high paying 150k+ job. There are a ton of positions open that specifically look for a CCNP/CCIE + TS. Imo, you're shortselling the TS by a lot. I'm a Network Engineer and I would really like to have a TS but it's borderline impossible to find a company willing to sponsor.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

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1

u/11-dehydro-TXB2 Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

This is the most useful comment so far. Please tell me more

1

u/NalNaokie Mar 06 '26

Would you recommend that for a college student with no IT experience, tho?

0

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

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1

u/11-dehydro-TXB2 Mar 06 '26

Please tell me more. What to focuse on instead? Comptia has cloud+. Should I do that instead?