Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) Leadership To Participate in the Irregular Warfare Symposium

A leadership team of IW subject matter experts representing the Irregular Warfare Center is scheduled to attend the Irregular Warfare Symposium at Fort Bragg, N.C., from May 1-3, 2023. The event is hosted by the National Defense University (NDU) and College of International Affairs (CISA) in conjunction with the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

The May Symposium blends two events, (1) the CISA-Fort Bragg student thesis presentations, and (2) the IW Forum. CISA-Fort Bragg students are officers, warrants, and non-commissioned officers from SF, CA, and PsyOp, and include two USASOC civilians, two Department of State, and three international students for AY22-23. Two CISA-McNair students will also join the Symposium, from Estonia and ODNI.

This year’s Forum theme is “Getting to How: Organizing and Educating for Irregular Warfare.” This event is unclassified and does not include a virtual option. This event is scheduled to bring together around 100 diverse participants from across the policy, academic, interagency and military communities to share ideas and research on the theory and practice of IW.

The 3-day event will include a variety of CISA student thesis panels, IW breakout sessions, IW plenaries, networking & collaboration opportunities, presentations, workshops and more.

(Click here to download the full agenda)

The National Defense University educates joint warfighters and other national security leaders in critical thinking and the creative application of military power to inform national strategy and globally integrated operations, under conditions of disruptive change, in order to prevail in war, peace, and competition.

NDU’s master’s degree in strategic security studies program is designed to prepare practitioners for the challenges of operating in an environment marked by strategic competition, particularly through irregular warfare. All students complete an MA thesis project, along with courses as broad as “politics and legitimacy,” and as specific as “information and influence.”

The College of International Security Affairs is the Department of Defense flagship for education and the building of partner capacity in combating terrorism, irregular warfare, and integrated deterrence at the strategic level. Since 2021, CISA-Bragg has run a bi-annual Irregular Warfare Forum with policy, IA, civilian, military and PME participation.

The College of International Security Affairs at Fort Bragg provides select special operators and special operations enablers from across the joint force, along with interagency and international partners, a comprehensive grounding in strategic security studies paired with in-depth course offerings on issues of contemporary operational and strategic relevance.

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 also serves as the only global DOD center which works in close collaboration to amplify regional centers’ IW efforts.

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 Center’s foundation is built upon three Lines of Effort:

• AMPLIFY and collaborate to build an innovative and adaptable global networked IW community of interest.
• Strategically ILLUMINATE current and future irregular threats, crises, and obstacles.
• ADDRESS current and future irregular threats to the US, allies, and partners by providing optionality to leaders.

Through these LOEs, the Irregular Warfare Center addresses current and emerging security concerns and challenges with world-class research, rigorous analysis, top-tier strategic education and training for U.S. and international partners.

The IWC recently hosted several informative and educational irregular warfare-themed events including its inaugural event, The IW Medical Resiliency Workgroup (Feb. 2022), IWC International IW Week (March 2023), IWC IW Seminar at Georgetown University (March 2023) and University Days at the Defense Security Cooperation University (April 2023).