The Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) is dedicated to advancing the understanding and application of Irregular Warfare (IW) across the defense community and the global network of partners had an incredibly productive period focused on refining the IWC’s educational offerings and standards. This included providing expert subject matter input to the Joint Staff to ensure the joint force capabilities are perfectly aligned with IW requirements. The Center is expanding its digital education footprint with the successful deployment of IW110: Approaches for Homeland Security and Defense Course, a vital resource now available to a broad audience from Department of War (DoW) personnel to international partners. The IWC also significantly grew the reach of its flagship course, IW101, which is now a mandatory prerequisite for all special operations forces students attending the Army Command and General Staff College. Through extensive Key Leader Engagements (KLEs) and specialized training, including the IW Analysts Course for the Army’s 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne), the Center is actively synchronizing cutting-edge IW educational content across diverse units and global commands, reinforcing its unique value as a coordinating body.
Beyond education, the IWC is focused on being a catalyst for critical IW research and fostering meaningful collaboration across sectors and borders. The Center successfully hosted its third annual University Research Colloquium, which brought together junior scholars and senior practitioners to expand the functional area networks and strengthen the vital bridge between academia and the operational community. The Center’s commitment to informing the strategic discourse is also reflected in the relaunch of PRISM: The Journal of Complex Operations, which continues to serve as the leading scholarly journal for irregular warfare with a wide-reaching print distribution. Strategically, the IWC has engaged in complex analyses from examining China’s maritime gray zone operations to supporting the development of actionable foresight products on critical scenarios, such as the Taiwan Occupation Foresight Workshop. These efforts ensure the Center remains at the forefront of national security and resilience strategies.
On the global stage the IWC’s engagement and training efforts have amplified the ability to coordinate solutions for complex security challenges. The Center provided leadership and subject matter expertise to international bodies and led vital planning conferences on resistance and defense with key partners in Moldova, Latvia, and Estonia. In the homeland, the IWC co-hosted the successful Intelligence Support to Irregular Warfare Symposiums and launched the inaugural Operations in the Information Environment (OIE) Functional Area Network working group, bringing together hundreds of top-tier stakeholders to advance critical OIE initiatives. In the training field, the IWC’s specialized training programs including the Transformational Irregular Warfare Leaders Thought Courses (TILT-C) were conducted at multiple locations globally, tailoring instruction for both U.S. and international forces. By convening experts from defense, interagency, and the private sector at high-impact events like the Defense of the Homeland: Aviation and Transportation in IW Workshop, the IWC is proving its role as the central hub for innovation and synchronized effort in irregular warfare.
The IWC is proud of the growth and impact of our online learning catalog, which is making foundational and advanced irregular warfare (IW) knowledge more accessible than ever before!
The Center’s flagship course IW 101, has seen phenomenal success with over 2,300 enrollments, providing a crucial understanding of IW concepts, operations and global trends. Building on this foundation, the IWC successfully launched the self-paced course IW 110: Approaches for Homeland Security and Defense, which pivots essential IW knowledge to professionals focused on the homeland. For those ready to deepen their expertise, IW 201 is already making waves, offering sophisticated comparative analysis and timely case studies, including China’s gray zone strategy and Russia’s use of IW in Crimea. The Center also launched IW 105: Effective Writing for DoW professionals to ensure that community can communicate these complex issues with clarity and precision, demonstrating the IWC’s holistic commitment to professional development.
Beyond the classroom, the Center’s role as a central coordinating body and knowledge repository is stronger than ever. The Center is actively connecting the global IW community through high-impact events and expanding our digital reach. The IWC’s Annual Symposium on Total Defense was a resounding success, bringing together over 300 experts from government, academia, and industry across five continents to foster a dynamic “epistemic community.” This commitment to collaboration extends globally, as the Center actively enhances Integrated Deterrence by embedding critical IW insights into scenario development alongside more than 20 allied nations. These central coordination activities ensure that U.S. irregular warfare priorities are integrated into multinational planning.
The IWC’s focus on information dissemination and knowledge management has dramatically expanded our ability to inform and engage a wider audience. The IWC has grown its strategic engagement on LinkedIn by over 3,000 new followers, pushing its total community past the 17,000 mark. Correspondingly, the monthly “Spotlight” newsletter is reaching over 10,700 subscribers, ensuring timely and relevant IW insights are delivered directly to practitioners and scholars alike. Additionally, the IWC is actively working to develop critical relationships through collaborative efforts, such as co-hosting the Intelligence Support to IW Symposium. This event successfully brought together key stakeholders from the defense, intelligence, and academic communities to develop integrated and innovative approaches to countering emerging irregular threats, affirming the IWC’s commitment to being the central repository for cutting-edge IW knowledge and collaboration.
In sum, the Irregular Warfare Center has continued its mission to advancing the understanding and application of Irregular Warfare (IW) across the defense community and the global network of partners. The Center continued to develop its online IW courses and offered specialized training to both U.S. forces and allies and partners. The Center also provided expert subject matter expertise to Key Leaders including the Joint Staff and catalyzed research and discussion of IW topics through its events like the Annual Symposium, University Research Colloquium, and working groups. The IWC will continue to serve as a central coordinating body and knowledge repository of irregular warfare.
The Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) has firmly established itself as the Department of Defense’s congressionally mandated Center of Excellence for Irregular Warfare, making significant strides in developing and disseminating irregular warfare knowledge across the defense enterprise and international community, with particular emphasis on countering Chinese malign activities and strengthening Indo-Pacific security. Throughout 2024, the IWC conducted more than 130 high-impact events and engagements with interagency stakeholders, academia, industry, and 51 allied and partner nations, including 17 priority countries, delivering education and training to more than 1,000 international participants and 300 U.S. personnel. These engagements placed special focus on enhancing force protection capabilities and increasing joint force lethality in contested environments.
The Center achieved several transformative milestones this year, including the launch of its first openly available online course, Irregular Warfare 101, which attracted more than 1,100 students globally. The IWC also expanded its academic influence by assuming publication of the premier peer reviewed journal of IW and complex statecraft, PRISM: The Journal of Complex Operations. The Center also achieved a landmark by publishing its first book, “The Future Faces of Irregular Warfare,” which included groundbreaking analysis of Chinese irregular warfare tactics and appropriate countermeasures. The Center’s digital presence grew substantially, surpassing 16,000 followers across three social media platforms (LinkedIn, X, Facebook) and generating more than 720,000 audience impressions.
In Eastern Europe, the IWC deepened its commitment to resistance and resilience capacity building, working closely with Moldova, Georgia, and the Baltic states to develop and implement national resistance strategies. The Center established a critical partnership with the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, creating an essential alliance for addressing contemporary security challenges. In the Indo-Pacific, the IWC advanced regional understanding of irregular warfare through targeted workshops and research initiatives, engaging seven allied and partner nations to enhance regional security in support of the Combatant Commander. These efforts included specialized training programs focused on detecting and disrupting Chinese gray zone operations, strengthening maritime irregular warfare capabilities, and developing coordinated responses to economic coercion.
The IWC strengthened its collaboration across the Defense Department, particularly through its collaboration with the West Virginia National Guard in the Ridge Runner program, where it established the IW Medical Ridge Healer scenario. This innovative program has become a leading DoD platform for enhancing force protection and survivability in denied environments, training hundreds of U.S., allied, and partner nation medical personnel in life-saving capabilities critical for irregular warfare operations. The Center also established five active Functional Area Networks (FAN), including a Medical, Intel, Operations in the Information Environment (OIE), and Student Working Group FAN, with diverse participants including uniformed and civilian Defense Department, interagency, international partners from nine countries, creating a robust framework for addressing irregular global challenges and augmenting U.S. lethality.
Looking ahead, the IWC continues to adapt to emerging irregular warfare challenges while maintaining its position as a trusted partner in building capacity to counter irregular threats, particularly those emanating from China. The Center FY2025 initiatives included focus on illuminating the challenges of Chinese-sourced fentanyl trafficking networks and combatting them, while enhancing the lethality of U.S. forces necessary to deter China. Through its comprehensive approach to education, research, and international engagement, the Center remains committed to preparing the United States and its allies for the evolving irregular warfare landscape. The establishment of the IW Global Network and the successful hosting of the inaugural IW Community of Interest Symposium demonstrate the Center’s growing influence in shaping the future of irregular warfare education and practice, with particular emphasis on increasing force lethality and survivability in contested operating environments.
Since its establishment, the Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) has met Congressional intent as defined in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023. The irregular challenges facing the United States and key partners and allies are extensive. Before the creation of the IWC, the Department of Defense (DOD) lacked a central mechanism for developing irregular warfare (IW) knowledge and advancing IW concepts and doctrine in concert with the international community.
To accomplish its mission, the IWC conducted activities with more than 20 countries in 2023, developed solid links with the US Interagency, and began outreach to industry partners and civilian academia. The IWC established a solid foundation in Eastern Europe in resistance and resilience (R2) capacity building, which will lead to an irregular deterrence capability deterring further aggression in the region. In the INDOPACIFIC region, the IWC began work to counter Chinese influence among at-risk populations. Both of these regional efforts will continue in 2024 and beyond.
The IWC developed a strong partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and conducted several Interagency programs overseas. These programs built on the FBI’s capacity-building efforts to include whole-of-government programs to counter irregular threats.
With its early successes, the IWC has become the partner of choice in building the capacity to counter threats and shape active responses to IW challenges. Several partner nations have contacted the IWC directly for enhanced, whole-of-government capacity building.
Despite these successes, much work remains to adequately prepare the United States and its partners and allies to meet and counter irregular challenges. The IWC is actively adapting and using foresight methodology to keep its programs current and ahead of these challenges.