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As technology proliferates it becomes increasingly important to integrate science into operational practice. Two years ago, the United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS) embarked on an aggressive campaign to overhaul its management information system. This overhaul included a massive paradigm shift moving the organization from a transactional data approach to that of a transformational one – an approach that proactively anticipates and solves problems in advance to supplement human knowledge and inform decision making. This significant shift demanded the forging and fostering of a strong relationship between science and operations in order to realize progress and mission accomplishment. This article explores the importance of this sacred relationship and its impact on the organization by utilizing lessons learned from the past two years of work at the USAJFKSWCS.

To the American military eye, the first impression of the Ukrainian Army is that it’s more a quasi-uniformed biker gang than an army.  An occasional pony tail, many beards in various stages of maturity, a variety of mixed uniforms, and footwear that ranges from combat boots to flip flops.  However, this impression would be dead wrong.  To an individual, these are totally committed Soldiers.  Life on the front line is anything but easy, but the dedication and love of country is universal.  There is an easy camaraderie, and all tasks are performed with professional efficiency.  From the commanding general to the brigade and battalion commanders, to the front line troops, this is a dedicated, motivated, war hardened army.  

Dynamics over time are the key to analyzing just about anything, and they (“why”) clearly favor Ukraine in Russia’s failing war of conquest, meaning Ukraine can possibly push Russia out entirely in the coming months by sweeping through the south all the way to Donetsk (“how”)

This timely book review of Tricia L. Bacon and Elizabeth Grimm, "Terror in Transition: Leadership and Succession in Terrorist Organizations" is essential reading for understanding terrorist organizations and leadership succession.

These words were meant to inspire the world to view space travel as an inevitability. In the same vein, those in the Special Operations Force (SOF) Enterprise must view further space integration as the inevitable next step in our evolution. The twin rise in space capabilities and strategic competition makes evident the need to leave the proverbial “cradle”. While strategic changes have been signaled or initiated at higher levels, there persists a need for one more link between SOF and Space. Units and individuals must do what they can to expand space knowledge within special operations from the ground up. This article will explore the relevant background behind this need and how action can be taken.

Events in Ukraine demonstrate people’s willingness to take up arms, fight, and do all that is necessary to protect themselves, their families, communities, and country. When states fail to provide security, individuals step forward and security networks develop. Pictures of men accompanying loved ones to a safe border then returning to the fight provide compelling evidence of people’s willingness to protect what is theirs; physically, mentally, and spiritually. The development of new technologies, energy sources, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), etc. may have make daily life a bit easier, but they have done little to change people’s desire to live freely, safely, and securely. Comfort alone is not good enough for a meaningful life. Freedom is. Ukraine is resilience in action and the conflict provides a laboratory for the study and advancement of individual resilience and Open Security in the 3rd Millennium. Open Security is all-of-society defense against all possible threats, internal and external, to Human Security. Open Security is self-organizing and resists formal coordination, command, and control. A way of thinking of Open Security is as a living organism. Biology, not management, explains Open Security systems.   

The media is a potent tool. The transformation of media from something that could only be accessed through wires to something that was everywhere brought about a significant change in how people interacted, created narratives, and shared tales. Because they form and affect people's views on political and social issues, narratives play a significant part in our lives. Your story, and the way you choose to tell it as the state's leader, directly affects the people and states around you.

For the past twenty years, the United States has been dealing with insurgencies, most prominently the one in Afghanistan. While the U.S. has conducted insurgency campaigns since the beginning of the 20th century in the Philippines, the United States still is unable to properly perform a counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy. While they have been successful in individual provinces and districts of nation-states they are involved in, some have opined that “poor outcomes in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam before them are the result of a poor implementation of the U.S.’s counterinsurgency strategy” and that the U.S.’s COIN doctrine and policies are ineffective in combating insurgencies.

Security cooperation with partner nations is increasingly important for the success of American security policy in an era of strategic competition. After twenty years of large-scale counterinsurgency operations, during which security cooperation largely consisted of the rapid building of (often inappropriate) “mirror imaged” partner forces, new thinking is required. We provide a novel and scalable mechanism for partner force enablement efforts here: grassroots innovation among partner force personnel through the leveraging of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies. More specifically, we show the potential for partner forces to create affordable, sustainable, and tailored solutions to their own capability gaps as a mechanism for better partnering.

Recent history has shown that irregular warfare (IW) can be used as a tactic and a strategy to grind down the willingness and capacity of a larger power to pursue its objectives. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. experienced firsthand the difficulty of engaging combatants dedicated to irregular methods. Now, IW is playing a key role in Ukraine’s ability to resist Russia’s invasion. In the future, it can and likely will be a crucial aspect of small states’ resistance to revanchism. Drawing from recent and ongoing conflicts, the U.S. can harness its knowledge and experience in IW to counteract China and Russia on the global stage, while continuing to engage non-state violent extremist organizations (VEOs). This can be accomplished primarily in two ways: preparing partners and allies to engage in irregular warfare in the event of an attack, and intimidating adversaries by utilizing the prospect of IW as a deterrent.