Table of Contents
Download the PDF
Foreword
Jonathan P. Braga, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army Special Operations Command
Irregular Warfare: Defining the Debate
Col. Todd Schmidt, PhD, U.S. Army
Write for Military Review: Suggested Writing Themes and Topics—2024–2025
2025 General William E. DePuy Special Topics Writing Competition
This year’s theme: “The challenges of planning for security in a world that is increasingly borderless, multicultural, and economically interdependent.”
Testimony of Ronald E. Neumann for the Afghanistan War Commission, July 19, 2024
Ronald E. Neumann
The former deputy assistant secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to Algeria, Bahrain, and Afghanistan provides insights and lessons learned from U.S. foreign involvement during his career.
Unconventional Warfare on the Conventional Battlefield
Lt. Gen. Ken Tovo, U.S. Army, Retired
Maj. Kyle Atwell, U.S. Army
2nd Lt. Anthony Marco, U.S. Army
History suggests that irregular warfare will play a prominent role in both strategic competition and large-scale combat operations.
Change the Incentives: An Information Theory of Victory
Maj. Don Gomez, U.S. Army
Achieving success in the modern information environment requires a shift in thinking away from an outcomes-based model and toward an information-age model that recognizes and accepts the subjective messiness of audiences and incentivizes output in conjunction with a theory of victory.
Democratization of Irregular Warfare: Emerging Technology and the Russo-Ukrainian War
Treston Wheat, PhD
David Kirichenko
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shows how technological development has furthered democratization of irregular warfare to a level never seen before because weapons of war like drones and cyber capabilities are available to the masses at an extremely low cost as a barrier to entry.
Cunning Tools of War: Moving Beyond a Technology-Driven Understanding of sUAS Infiltration
Maj. Nathaniel Martins, U.S. Army
Successful sUAS infiltration is far more than a technological battle, it is a tactical art that can provide opportunities to produce effects in areas otherwise inaccessible or even denied to military operations.
Confronting Irregular Warfare in the South China Sea: Lessons Learned from Vietnam
R. Kim Cragin, PhD
The People’s Republic of China has used a combination of its military, law enforcement, and militia to expand its presence and control over the South China Sea, and the U.S. military should anticipate this trend to continue and work to refine its responses.
Clash in the Gray Zone: China’s System to Win Without Fighting
Maj. Dustin Lawrence, U.S. Army
Analyzing China’s gray-zone system against India—a partner with a diverse population, a stable democracy, global economic reach, and a functioning nuclear arsenal—offers valuable insights for the United States to counter China globally in the gray zone.
Redefining Irregular Warfare: Partnerships and Political Action
Henry C. Pulaski
Fortifying U.S. influence against rising global threats and providing U.S. policymakers with low-cost options to expand U.S. influence requires the cultivation of a new concept within the U.S. special operation forces spectrum of activities that incorporates political action as deliberate component.
Refilling the Suwar Canal: An Irregular Warfare Case Study in Infrastructure Effects
Maj. Nathan Hall, U.S. Army
Andrew Brock, PE, SE
The expedient bypass repair of destroyed pump stations on the Suwar Canal in Syria highlighted the need for highly enabled special operations forces-aligned engineers and logisticians and demonstrated the potential of using nonstandard infrastructure as a vector for humanitarian, information, and tactical effects.
Health Security in the Indo-Pacific: A Modern Approach to Irregular Warfare
Lt. Col. Lauren M. Hamlin, U.S. Army
Health diplomacy and health security should be regarded as more than humanitarian aid and knowledge exchange. They are nonkinetic, nonprovocative tools capable of influencing populations and shaping geopolitics, and the integration of health cooperation efforts will be crucial for nations employing an irregular warfare strategy.
Pursuing Global Impact: Special Operations Forces’ Vital Role in Achieving Objectives Through Global Health Engagement Initiatives
Col. Bert E. Kinkead, PhD, U.S. Army, Retired
Col. Jamie C. Riesberg, MD, U.S. Army, Retired
Lt. Col. Cynthia A. Facciolla, DVM, U.S. Army
Lt. Col. Bobbi S. Snowden, DrPH, U.S. Army
Master Sgt. Jan M. Krieg, MSL, U.S. Army
Sgt. 1st Class Paul E. Loos, U.S. Army, Retired
The application of global health engagement initiatives through an indigenous approach by Army special operations forces can be a deterrence to foreign influence in other countries and help the United States gain an advantage in the future global operational environment.
The Strategic Imperative: USASOC’s Role in Advancing Civil Resistance Movements during Irregular Warfare
Maj. Daniel Eerhart, U.S. Army
The persistent rise in civil resistance movements to challenge oppressive authority cannot be ignored by U.S. Army Special Operations Command. It must integrate a mission to advise civil resistance movements as part of its unconventional warfare strategy.
Civil Resistance and Irregular Warfare Education
Col. Brian Petit, U.S. Army, Retired
The practice of nonviolent resistance might appear disconnected from the study of armed, violent warfare, but the inclusion of civil resistance in an irregular warfare education is essential.
Lessons from the Underground: How the Joint Multinational Readiness Center Trains Resistance to Occupation
Lt. Col. Daniel Jackan, U.S. Army
Rodrigo Reyes
Ian Rice
The Joint Multinational Readiness Center’s innovative approach to training resistance to occupation by placing special operations forces and NATO resistance force elements on the opposing force side of maneuver exercises has yielded lessons unique to the combat training center and the European area of operations.
Escalation and Irregular Warfare: We Need to Be Irregular Warfare Hustlers, Not Just Irregular Warfare World Champions
Dr. Thomas R. Searle
Russia’s irregular warfare campaign against Ukraine went badly wrong, and the United States and its allies should employ a “hustler” strategy to avoid similar mistakes in future irregular warfare.
Index
Maj. Richard James “Dick” Meadows
Back to Top