diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c1bb27b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+name: Publish Zarf Init Package for AWS on Tag
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - "v*"
+
+jobs:
+  release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      packages: write
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+      # Checkout the repo and setup the tooling for this job
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@3df4ab11eba7bda6032a0b82a6bb43b11571feac # v4.0.0
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Install latest version of Zarf
+        uses: defenseunicorns/setup-zarf@main
+
+      - name: Install tools
+        uses: defenseunicorns/zarf/.github/actions/install-tools@main
+
+      - name: "ECR Credential Helper: Login to GHCR"
+        uses: docker/login-action@343f7c4344506bcbf9b4de18042ae17996df046d # v3.0.0
+        with:
+          registry: ghcr.io
+          username: dummy
+          password: ${{ github.token }}
+
+      - name: "ECR Credential Helper: Build and Publish the Image"
+        run: docker buildx build --push --platform linux/amd64 --tag ghcr.io/defenseunicorns/zarf-init-aws/ecr-credential-helper:$GITHUB_REF_NAME .
+
+      - name: "ECR Credential Helper: Sign the Image"
+        run: cosign sign --key awskms:///${{ secrets.COSIGN_AWS_KMS_KEY }} -a release-engineer=https://github.com/${{ github.actor }} -a version=$GITHUB_REF_NAME ghcr.io/defenseunicorns/zarf-init-aws/ecr-credential-helper:$GITHUB_REF_NAME
+        env:
+          COSIGN_EXPERIMENTAL: 1
+          AWS_REGION: ${{ secrets.COSIGN_AWS_REGION }}
+          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.COSIGN_AWS_KEY_ID }}
+          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.COSIGN_AWS_ACCESS_KEY }}
+
+      - name: Build AWS init package for release
+        run: make release-aws-init-package CREDENTIAL_HELPER_IMAGE_TAG=$GITHUB_REF_NAME
+
+      - name: Publish AWS Init Package as OCI and Skeleton
+        run: make publish-init-package ARCH=amd64 REPOSITORY_URL=ghcr.io/defenseunicorns/packages
+
+      # Create a CVE report based on this build
+      - name: Create release time CVE report
+        run: make cve-report
+
+      - name: Save CVE report
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@a8a3f3ad30e3422c9c7b888a15615d19a852ae32 # v3.1.3
+        with:
+          name: cve-report
+          path: build/zarf-known-cves.csv
+
+      # Create GitHub release and upload the AWS init package as a release artifact
+      - name: Create GitHub release and upload AWS init package as release artifact
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN}}
+        run: gh release create "$GITHUB_REF_NAME" ./build/zarf-init-*.tar.zst --generate-notes --verify-tag
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 320fe5c..869e6de 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 # Provide a default value for the operating system architecture used in tests, e.g. " APPLIANCE_MODE=true|false make test-e2e ARCH=arm64"
 ARCH ?= amd64
+CLI_VERSION ?= $(if $(shell git describe --tags),$(shell git describe --tags),"UnknownVersion")
 CREDENTIAL_HELPER_BIN := ./build/zarf-ecr-credential-helper
 CLUSTER_NAME ?= ""
 INSTANCE_TYPE ?= t3.small
@@ -48,6 +49,15 @@ build-local-credential-helper-image: ## Build the ECR credential helper image to
 aws-init-package: ## Build the AWS Zarf init package
 	zarf package create -o build -a $(ARCH) --confirm .
 
+# INTERNAL: used to build a release version of the AWS init package with a specific credential-helper image
+release-aws-init-package:
+	zarf package create -o build -a $(ARCH) --set CREDENTIAL_HELPER_IMAGE_TAG=$(CREDENTIAL_HELPER_IMAGE_TAG) --confirm .
+
+# INTERNAL: used to publish the AWS init package
+publish-aws-init-package:
+	zarf package publish build/zarf-init-$(ARCH)-$(CLI_VERSION).tar.zst oci://$(REPOSITORY_URL)
+	zarf package publish . oci://$(REPOSITORY_URL)
+
 eks-package: ## Build the EKS package
 	zarf package create packages/eks -a multi -o build --confirm