Amplify. Illuminate. Address.

IWC Milestone Highlight Reel

We invite you to check out our new Irregular Warfare Center milestone highlight reel showcasing some of our significant initiatives, engagements and accomplishments since standing up officially in October 2022.

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Actively Engaged In Fulfilling Our Mission

January 2024: Hosted the third iteration of IW Medical Sustainment in Bethesda, MD that facilitated tabletop exercises and working group discussions to develop courses of action to provide policy and doctrine suggestions to meet medical community requirements to provide sustained, prolonged field care to casualties in denied areas.
January 2024: Facilitated a one-day Transformational Irregular Warfare Leaders Thought Course (TILT-C) for a classified operational unit of the Intelligence Community (IC) supporting a real-world strategy and campaign reframing at a TS/SCI compartmented level program.
January 2024: Conducted introductory meetings with the Head of Strategic Foresight, at NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) to explore collaboration opportunities between IWC and NATO ACT on topics such as future warfare and Future Operating Environment(s) of NATO.
January 2024: Presented “Lessons from the Ukraine-Russia Conflict” during the U.S. Special Operations Command’s professional development week at MacDill AFB, Florida to provide an insight into current and relative, resistance to invasion strategies and tactics.
January 2024: Conducted a National Resistance Applications Course (NRAC) to participants to address national strategy design and campaigning focused on implementing a national resistance concept.
January 2024: Provided academic support to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s Silent Quest experimentation series academic week at Ft. Liberty, NC to deepen an understanding of the IW in SOF, Space and Cyber (TRIAD).
January 2024: Completed curriculum development of the first Irregular Warfare (IW) 101 course that will be used as a foundation for the Army University’s IW education elective program.
December 2023: Facilitated a Comprehensive Defense Workshop and Wargame scenario with the Navy Post Graduate School in INDOPACOM, attended by 40 partner nation officers and non-commissioned officers, to assist regional Special Operations Command (SOF) in planning national comprehensive defense strategies.
December 2023: Conducted a 2024 and 2025 IWC strategic and operational-level resistance support planning with Special Operations Forces - Europe to continue developing and validating European national resistance planning concepts.
December 2023: Participated in the Partnership for Peace Consortium Annual Conference in Garmisch, Germany to contribute to regional stability through multinational defense education.
December 2023: IWC’s Director of Training at Finland’s Hybrid Center of Excellence (HCOE) conducted a virtual tele-conference with SWCS to convey the mandate of the HCOE and potential synergies between programs.
December 2023: Co-hosted the Irregular Warfare (IW) Forum with the U.S. John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (SWCS) and the College of International Security Affairs, to provide a collaborative avenue bringing IW to the forefront of discussions within the Department of Defense (DOD), academia and the inter-agency.
November 2023: Conducted engagements with the Commander, Norwegian Special Operations Command to discuss collaboration to provide IW education in Europe’s High North to address Russian threats in the region.
November 2023: Briefed Special Operations Liaison officers from eight allied and partner nations assigned to United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) on the mission of the IWC and gathered key information on what their nations’ number one IW priorities are.
November 2023: Met with the Intelligence Community Irregular Warfare Community of Interests’ (IC IW COI) leadership to discuss the partnership between IWC and IC IW COI.
November 2023: Conducted an interview with Dr. Sinduja Jayaratne from the Sri Lankan Sir John Kotelawala Defence University as part of IWC`s Irregular Warfare (IW) Conceptualization in the Indo-Pacific Region Study.
November 2023: Conducted a National Resistance Design Course for the Moldovan Ministry of Defense General Staff and Inter- ministerial partners supported by Special Operations Command Europe and United Kingdom Special Forces.
November 2023: Met with the Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Hybrid Threat Resilience Group, Mobilization and Civil Resistance Department, and the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union and his advisors to discuss the designing of a comprehensive defense education program.
November 2023: Participated in a combined IWC, Special Operations Command Europe, and United Kingdom Special Forces effort to support the Georgian General Staff develop their Chief of Defense-directed draft of the National Resistance Operations Planning Guidance.
October 2023: Moderated a roundtable at the National Defense Transportation Association/Transportation Command’s Fall Meeting and incorporated the IWC into TRANSCOM strategic education and training with a session on austere logistics. Met with USTRANSCOM Commander and set groundwork for collaboration regarding contested logistics.
October 2023: Attended the Information Operations – Phoenix Challenge in Honolulu, Hawaii and participated in classified discussions to identify gaps in current IW curriculum.
October 2023: Conducted the second Top Secret/Secret Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) Transformational Irregular Warfare Leaders Thought Course (TILT-C) in support of 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) and Task Force 40-25 Irregular Warfare Analysts Couse (IWAC) pipeline at Fort Liberty, NC.
October 2023: Led a collaborative effort involving Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR), US Ministry of Defense Advisor (MODA), United Kingdom Special Forces, and Romanian Special Forces, to assist the Republic of Moldova General Staff in developing their Moldovan National Resistance Concept.
October 2023: Attended the International Studies Association Annual Conference at the U.S. Air Force NCO Academy in Colorado Springs, CO to discuss IWC support to education and curriculum alignment across departments.
October 2023: Held classified discussions with the Office of the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Security (OUSD(I&S)) Directorate of Human Intelligence and Special Activities staff, to discuss IWC strategy and campaign planning support to sensitive OUSD(I&S) efforts.
October 2023: Facilitated a workshop for eight Scandinavian and Baltic countries, U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) J3I, and NATO Allied Special Operations Forces (SOF) Command at the Swedish Defense University in Stockholm, Sweden.
September 2023: Met with Directorates of the National Security Council to discuss IWC efforts and capabilities and to discuss relevance and effectiveness of current U.S. irregular warfare efforts.
September 2023: Attended and participated in an irregular warfare panel hosted by U.S. Army Central in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to discuss the conceptualization of irregular warfare as it pertains to the Middle East.
September 2023: Supported the National Defense University`s College of International Security Affairs’ course titled, Strategic Competition in the Cognitive Domain: From Analysis to Action in Sofia, Bulgaria delivered to over 60 Bulgarians from civil society.
September 2023: Supported the 2023 Comprehensive Defense Working Group (CDWG) run by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia that assists with the nation’s development of a resistance handbook.
September 2023: Met with Estonian Special Operations Forces in Tallinn, Estonia to discuss IWC’s participation to hone the nation’s resilience and resistance capabilities to bolster Special Operations Command – Europe’s operational intent in the region.
September 2023: Presented at the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy’s annual Retrainer in Ghent, Belguim, hosting over 100 senior law enforcement officers from 22 European nations, to illuminate the necessity to develop a whole-of- government approach to resiliency in Europe.
September 2023: Presented at the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy’s annual Retrainer in Oman, Jordan with over 70 senior law enforcement officers from 17 Middle East and African nations, providing vignettes of real-world hybrid threats.
September 2023: Coordinated with Latvian military commanders in Riga, Latvia to develop understanding of application of Irregular Warfare (IW) to address and prepare for hybrid threats to their national security and sovereignty.
September 2023: Conducted a follow-up key leader engagement with the Lithuanian Parliamentary Chair for the National Security and Defence Committee (HASC and SASC equivalent) and the Head of Threat Management and Crisis Prevention at the Lithuanian Prime Minister’s Office in Vilnius, Lithuania to provide feedback regarding irregular warfare actions.
August 2023: Attended an Irregular Warfare Initiative (IWI) seminar titled Irregular Warfare (IW) in the Australian Context to better understand how allies and partners conceptualize IW in the Indo-Pacific region.
August 2023: Sponsored a Hybrid Wargame for 14 nations including Ukraine government officials at the Helsinki Center of Excellence for countering Hybrid Threats in Finland.
August 2023: Facilitated the IW Sustainment Resiliency Working Group for 40 participants from the DoD, academia, and industry to discuss challenges associated with sustaining operations in contested and denied environments in Bethesda, MD.
August 2023: Hosted 50 medical professionals from across the Department of Defense (DoD), Non-Government Organizations, Department of State and partners and allies from Canada, Poland, and the United Kingdom for IWC’s Irregular Warfare (IW) Medical Resiliency Wargame event in Bethesda, MD.
August 2023: Funded senior Taiwanese Officers to attend the Strategic Leaders International Course designed for senior military leaders, diplomats, and senior government officials from U.S. partner nations.
August 2023: Presented Irregular Warfare (IW) case studies to U.S. and international universities at the International Studies Association – Asia Pacific Conference in Tokyo, Japan.
August 2023: Conducted a three-day tailored Transformational Irregular Warfare Leaders Thought Course (TILT-C) for the Latvian National Resistance and Unconventional Warfare Working Group.
August 2023: Met with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Military Liaison Office and Global Partnership Unit to discuss future domestic and transnational relationship to address threats to U.S. national security and develop a whole-of-government approach to resiliency for international partners and allies.
August 2023: Met with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security to discuss increasing collaboration on intelligence support to irregular warfare, curriculum, and doctrine development.
July 2023: Participated in the Homeland Defense Awareness Symposium in Colorado Springs; developed relationships to collaborate on educating hybrid threat awareness for homeland defense practitioners.
July 2023: Supported the Special Operations Integration Course at the NATO School (NSO) in Oberammergau, Germany, educating 25 officers from 14 different countries.
July 2023: Held a series of European key leader engagements with the Commanding General of Poland’s Territorial Defense Forces, the United Kingdom Rangers and 77th I/O Brigade and the Commander of the Special Operations Command – Europe.
July 2023: Facilitated a five-day Transformational Irregular Warfare Leaders Thought Course (TILT-C) for United States Special Operations Command medical strategists and campaign designers.
July 2023: Hosted national security scholars from 15 universities during the first IWC University Colloquium, a two-day event presenting irregular warfare research to IW professors and practitioners.
July 2023: Met with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Military Liaison Office and Global Partnership Unit to discuss future domestic and transnational relationship to address threats to U.S. national security and develop a whole-of- government approach to resiliency for international partners and allies.
July 2023: Conducted a series of meetings with Latvian Special Operations Forces and the Latvian Ministry of Defense for IWC support to the implementation and development of the Latvian National Resistance Concept and national continuity of governances’ concepts.
June 2023: Met with representatives from Office of IWC and Foreign Service Institute to discuss cosponsoring a future Irregular Warfare/Strategic Competition Seminar to be held in November or December 2023 in Washington DC.
June 2023: Participated in the Phoenix Challenge working group on the 2023 Strategy for Operations in the Information Environment (SOIE) Implementation Plan Framework.
June 2023: Conducted a classified Transformational Irregular Warfare Leaders Thought Course (TILT-C) to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
June 2023: Participated in the Partnership for Peace Consortium IW Working Group which has the task to adapt an existing Swedish Defence University Senior Leader Program for Ukrainian senior military.
June 2023: Presented IWC’s mission to the Naval War College’s IW Maritime Symposium attended by DoD, IA, Allies, Partners, and civilian stakeholders.
June 2023: Met with representatives from Indo-Pacific Command’s Federal Bureau of Investigation Detachment, Homeland Security Investigation to discuss collaborative efforts to counter Chinese influence.
June 2023: Delivered a lecture on "Special Warfare Deterrence and Resistance" for the Higher Command Studies Course (War College equivalent) at the Baltic Defence College in Estonia.
June 2023: In conjunction with the West Virginia National Guard, hosted a Distinguished Visitor Day, providing government officials, allies and partners an overview of the full spectrum Ridge Runner IW training facility for U.S. and international forces to validate strategic and operational concepts to address global security concerns.
June 2023: Met with the Chief Technology officer of the U.S. Army Development Command (DEVCOM) Research Laboratory and staff to discuss partnering on the use of relevant IW emerging technology.
June 2023: Briefed the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) on areas of partnership including August 2023 Resilience Conference as means of countering the adversaries' use of irregular warfare.
June 2023: In partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), attended the Asia Pacific FBI National Academy Retrainer Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia presenting the importance of a Whole-of-Government approach to deterring hybrid threats to national security.
June 2023: Discussed collaborative opportunities with the Irregular Warfare Community of Interest (IWCOI) to introduce key leaders to the Center and establish the IWC's permanent membership on the IWCOI.
June 2023: Staffed DoD Directive 3000.07 Irregular Warfare Policy, updating DoD policy that assigns responsibilities for conducting irregular warfare (IW) across the full spectrum of conflict.
June 2023: Submitted Irregular Warfare Center 180 day Congressional Review report.
May 2023: The IWC participates in the Joint Staff Irregular Warfare Working Group collaborative monthly meeting with stakeholders from DoD, IA, and Allies to address and coordinate IW policy, doctrine, and other critical IW issues relevant to U.S. National Security.
May 2023: Conducted Cultural Evolution/Human Domain work and how this topic fits within IW and develop concepts for DoD.
May 2023: Ongoing engagements with WPS (Women, Peace and Security).
May 2023: Conducted key leader engagements with the Lithuanian Defense and Parliamentary Officials.
May 2023: Working with INDOPACOM, and Interagency liaisons to discuss security cooperation and collaboration.
May 2023: Coordinated with interagency offices to conduct a TILT-C.
May 2023: Conducted the first Counter Threat Finance (CTF) engagement with functional and global combatant leaders.
May 2023: Secured General Fenton’s Vision and Key Themes, with him stating that he is committing a significant portion of his resources to IW.
May 2023: Networked the IWC with all the Theater Special Operations Command teams and SOCOM staff to strengthen our network.
May 2023: Coordinated two Transformational Irregular Warfare Leaders Thought Course (TILT-C) events with United States Army Special Operations Command and with the U.S. Army 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne).
May 2023: Completed a syllabus re-design for the Special Operations Force Integration Course (SOFIC) at the NATO School in Oberammergau (NSO).
May 2023: Co-sponsored NSIN, Critical Resource Summit addressing Chinese efforts to monopolize critical assets.
May 2023: Presented and participated at the Special Operations Medical Association conference.
May 2023: Sponsored international officers to attend the Colombian Regional Center for Strategic Studies, Irregular Warfare in a Complex Security Environment Seminar.
May 2023: Coordinated the IW Symposium at Ft. Liberty with National Defense University and U.S. Army Special Warfare Center.
April 2023: The IWC participated in the Joint Staff Irregular Warfare Working Group collaborative monthly meeting with stakeholders from DoD, IA, and Allies to address and coordinate IW policy, doctrine, and other critical IW issues relevant to U.S. National Security.
April 2023: Instructed the Irregular Warfare Campaigning course at the Lithuanian Military Academy and provided a brief to the Lithuanian Parliamentary National Security and Defense Committee.
April 2023: Participated with Moldovan Ministry of Defense (MoD) and Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) at the Moldovan Comprehensive Defense Cross-Sector Workshop in Chișinău Moldova.
April 2023: Coordinated with Department of Homeland Security at INDOPACOM to explore collaboration on security cooperation efforts.
April 2023: Coordinated with the Director of Counterintelligence & Security Integration and Representative to the National Counterintelligence Task Force to conduct a Transformational Irregular Warfare Leaders Thought Course (TILT-C) focused on maintaining technological advantage.
April 2023: Participated in the University of North Georgia's conference on human security.
April 2023: Conducted the first Counter Threat Finance (CTF) engagement with the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) to explore CTF as a professional military education topic.
April 2023: Hosted fourteen Department of Defense Professional Military Education (PME) Institutions for the Center’s PME Day, identifying how the institutions can leverage the IWC to better prepare the department to conduct IW.
April 2023: Hosted the inaugural IWC University Week, attended by sixteen civilian universities to create partnerships with numerous academic institutions on transdisciplinary research.
March 2023: The IWC participated in the Joint Staff Irregular Warfare Working Group collaborative monthly meeting with stakeholders from DoD, IA, and Allies to address and coordinate IW policy, doctrine, and other critical IW issues relevant to U.S. National Security.
March 2023: Interviewed Counter Threat Finance (CTF) experts at SOCOM and CENTCOM on the transformation of CTF from the counternarcotics and counterterrorism domains to great power conflict.
March 2023: Briefed the Defense Intelligence Agency Joint Military Intelligence Training Center (JMITC) on IWC support to the Irregular Warfare Analyst Course redesign.
March 2023: Instructed a strategic IW course at the Baltic Defense College (PME) in Estonia.
March 2023: Met with the Lithuanian Parliament National Defense Committee to assist in developing national Total Defense.
March 2023: Supported the Ridge Runner Irregular Warfare Exercise by instructing the operational and strategic-level National Resistance Application Seminar (NRAS) to USSOF and foreign allies and partners.
March 2023: Supported a U.S. Special Operations Command engagement with Interagency to deconflict and provide transparency for an IWC regional USSOCOM event.
March 2023: Hosted the Georgetown IW seminar with students, cadres, and university staff from Georgetown, George Washington, American and Catholic Universities.
March 2023: Hosted an international panel of professors from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, and the Netherlands to discuss Europe’s approach to IW.
February 2023: The IWC participated in the Joint Staff Irregular Warfare Working Group collaborative monthly meeting with stakeholders from DoD, IA, and Allies to address and coordinate IW policy, doctrine, and other critical IW issues relevant to U.S. National Security.
February 2023: Collaborated with USASOC to develop IW operation concept for the Army.
February 2023: Met with the School of Advanced Military Studies to instruct an IW Strategic Thought Course (TILT-C) and develop a unified effort to teach IW curriculum in Professional Military Education Institutions.
February 2023: Collaborated with the government of Latvia and providing assistance on developing security cooperation efforts.
February 2023: Participated in the Georgian government’s Inter-ministerial Collaboration Forum focused on improving national resilience through inter agency collaboration.
February 2023: Conducted initial discussion with INDOPACOM and the IA partners regarding the Asian Pacific Retrainer.
February 2023: Participated in the USSOCOM IW Logistics Conference.
February 2023: Instructed an IW Strategic Thought Course (TILT-C) for USSOCOM.
February 2023: Engaged w/ SOCOM on Joint Collective Training to support Security Cooperation.
February 2023: Hosted the IW Medical Resiliency working group.
January 2023: Briefed the A/DASD SO/LIC on IWC’s achievements through Q1, FY3 which was met with praise for beyond-expected accomplishments.
January 2023: Conducted a KLE with the NATO Special Operations School to coordinate partnering and collaboration on current and future courses and other educational opportunities as well as review curriculum and identify educational gaps in IW.
January 2023: Worked with the George C. Marshal Center to evaluate IW curriculum and was invited to a Hybrid Threat course at the Regional Center.
January 2023: Conducted outreach with foreign partners and attended the SOCEUR-led Moldova Advisory Mission to provide solutions for the Moldova Ministry of Defense.
January 2023: Met with the West Virginia National Guard Commanding General and Chief of Staff to discuss IWC opportunities for strategic application during the Ridge Runner exercise.
January 2023: Met with IA partners in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command region to explore collaboration opportunities to address security concerns from a justice perspective.
January 2023: Conducted KLEs with the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to provide an overview of the IWC to USSOCOM leaders and staff members.
January 2023: Established relationships with ten U.S. Embassies and Foreign Defense Attachés to coordinate travel for 16 international attendees for upcoming IW events.
January 2023: Launched the IWC website, meeting all security requirements of the Department of Defense (DoD) and allowing access across all NIPR platforms within DoD.
January 2023: Established a partnership with NSI to work on Chinese Irregular Warfare activities report and a separate work on Russian Irregular Warfare Activities to provide the IW Community with in-depth analytical products.
January 2023: Published six organic IWC publications.
December 2022: Participated in the SOCEUR-led Moldova Advisory Mission.
December 2022: Attended the SOF & Worldwide Ops Conference in Tampa.
November 2022: Attended and presented at the Gray Zone Conference at GW University.
November 2022: Engaged with USAID to discuss the Global Fragility Act.
November 2022: Attended the NDIA SOLIC Conference.
November 2022: Participated in the IWSFA Working Group.
November 2022: Conducted PDSS to Lithuania to discuss and plan IW curriculum, IW Medicine and Counter-Hybrid Threats.
November 2022: Attended the USASOC and Global SOF Modern Warfare Week Engagement.
November 2022: Initial discussions with USAID Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization.
October 2022: IWC officially established.
October 2022: Provided Republic of South Africa IWC support options.
October 2022: IWC achieved Initial Operating Capacity.

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Watch this short informational video from
Acting Director Dr. Dennis Walters

WHAT WE DO

Creating innovation and adaptability in national security.

The IWC serves as the central mechanism for developing the Department of Defense’s (DOD) irregular warfare knowledge and advancing the Department's understanding of irregular warfare concepts and doctrine in collaboration with key allies and partners. The IWC lines of effort are to AMPLIFY and collaborate to build an innovative and adaptable global networked IW community of interest; To Strategically ILLUMINATE current and future irregular threats, crises, and obstacles; and to ADDRESS current and future irregular threats to the US, allies, and partners by providing optionality.

COORDINATION AND COOPERATION AMONG MANY

UNIFIED & COMPREHENSIVE

With our eyes over the horizon, the IWC is reaching beyond what was ever thought possible. We cut through the red tape and bring stake holders across the Irregular Warfare domain together to establish a distinct IW capability advantage. The IWC's elite corps of subject matter experts from the world of Intelligence, Academia, Defense, Special Operations, Industry, Medicine, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Logistics and much more are the key to the Center's effectiveness in multi-disciplinary cohesion.

GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT MAP

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Translations

The Irregular Warfare Center provides translations of original Russian and Chinese language primary source material on irregular warfare-related topics to facilitate fair use of the provided publication by researchers, practitioners, and partners upon request.

2023 Book Recommendations

In the spirit of the Chairman of the Joint Chief’s reading list and the Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program, the leadership of the Irregular Warfare Center offers its irregular warfare reading recommendations for 2023.

LATEST NEWS

The Center Hosts IWC Community of Interest Symposium & INDOPACOM IW Conceptualization Workshop

April 3, 2024

The Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) hosted its Irregular Warfare Center Community of Interest Symposium (IWCCOIS March 11-13, 2024) and INDOPACOM...

March 2024 Newsletter

March 29, 2024

Welcome to the monthly newsletter for the IWC. This newsletter is designed to keep our community up-to-date on the latest...

The Center to Host IWC Community of Interest Symposium & INDOPACOM IW Conceptualization Workshop

March 8, 2024

The Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) is scheduled to host its Irregular Warfare Center Community of Interest Symposium (IWCCOIS March 11-13,...

February 2024 Newsletter

February 29, 2024

Welcome to the monthly newsletter for the IWC. This newsletter is designed to keep our community up-to-date on the latest...

IW 101 Has Launched

February 22, 2024

The Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) has just launched its first openly available online course and it is called Irregular Warfare...

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE

Transformational Irregular Warfare
Leaders Thought Course
(TILT-C)

A course to develop select senior US Government leaders from across the departments and agencies to collectively understand and apply irregular warfare as both a tool of US policy (including policy design and implementation via the execution of strategies and campaigns), as well as its uses by near-peer adversaries against the US.