Irregular Warfare Center (original) (raw)

Amplify. Illuminate. Address.

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.

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.

Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) is extremely proud to announce the Center will assume publishing duties and responsibilities of PRISM: The Journal of Complex Operations, effective Sept. 3, 2024.

The Future Faces of Irregular Warfare: Great Power Competition in the 21st Century

An edited volume of essays on the future evolutions and trends of irregular warfare and competition written by leading scholars and practitioners of irregular warfare and national security.

Actively Engaged In Fulfilling Our Mission

To view all significant accomplishments, please click here.

• June 2024: Attended the Center for Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups maritime conference at the US Naval War College, supporting the Center of Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups (CIWAG) effort and develop future collaboration with the Navy’s IW focus group.
• June 2024: Supported the publication of PRISM Volume 10, Issue 4, the second issue of PRISM cobranded with the IWC and National Defense University (NDU), extending the IWC’s ability to inform the national defense community of the latest research into IW.
• June 2024: Provided academic support to USASOC’s Silent Quest, instructing US Army Special Operations Forces on the convergence of TRIAD capabilities and IW concepts and strategies.
• May 2024: Supported the inaugural Regional Defense Program Climate Literacy Working Group, hosted by the Naval Postgraduate School. The working group consisted of current RDFP students and alumni from the INDOPACOM region in collaboration with US Government representatives and IWC to examine ways that IW research and RDFP curricula can address partner nations’ concerns about climate, energy, and water in ways that further both climate literacy and the USG’s IW goals.
• May 2024: Facilitated the first of two initial IWC train-the-trainer Transformational Irregular Warfare Leaders Thought Course (TILT-C) events in support of the US Army Irregular Warfare Proponent and the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School’s (USAJFKSWCS) designated Irregular Warfare advanced skill battalion, 6th Battalion, 2nd Special Warfare Training Group.
• May 2024: Co-hosted the Spring IW Forum at Ft. Liberty, NC along with Special Warfare Center and School and the College of International Security Affairs for graduating academics. Providing IW breakout groups to discuss efforts in irregular warfare topics.
• May 2024: Provided a keynote presentation at the Allied SOFCOM SOF Advisor (SOFAD) Conference held at NATO Allied Land Command in Izmir, Turkey, addressing Irregular Warfare and Comprehensive/Total Defense. Attendees from various NATO commands and nations with a NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU), and members of NATO LANDCOM attended the IWC presentation.
• May 2024: The IWC co-hosted the IW Forum, and spoke about current and upcoming education opportunities, such as IW 101, and curriculum development.
• May 2024: Participated in the SOMA Conference, providing information and contacts related to our medical functional area network.
• May 2024: Participated in the Army Futures Command discussion on IW and new technologies. Provided information about the IWC’s functional area networks (FAN’s).
• May2024: Attended and participated in the international Special Operations Forces (SOF) week.
• May 2024: Attended the Partnership for Peace Consortium’s inaugural Irregular Warfare & Hybrid Threats Working Group, collaborating with allies and partners to better understand strategic competition, emerging technologies, and threats in IW and how the IWC can assist with education and training opportunities.
• April 2024: Supported the Ridge Runner and Ridge Healer academic week for members of the U.S. Special Operations Command, multiple allies, and partners. This is the third Ridge Runner and Ridge Healer event of FY 24 that reinforces the National Defense Strategy to work together with Allies and partners to modernize denial capabilities, increase interoperability, improve resilience against attack and coercion.
• March 2024: Deliver TILT-C for SPACECOM at Patterson AFB.
• March 2024: Hosted the INDOPACOM IW Conceptualization Workshop in Northern Virginia, to collaboratively examine IW in the region as perceived by allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.
• March 2024: Hosted the IWC Community of Interest Symposium in Northern Virginia, to collaborate across the Department, interagency, academia, industry, and international partners. Additionally, to introduce the IWC Functional Area Network to the IW community, which will provide the Department and key allies and partners with a rapid method for globally crowd-sourcing solutions to irregular challenges.
• February 2024: Delivered the National Resistance Applications Course (NRAC) and an Irregular Warfare (IW) 101 course to multi-national European allies and partners SOF and intelligence personnel.
• February 2024: Led an academic week for the British Army Special Operations Forces (SOF) Brigade and multinational partners.
• February 2024: Facilitated the Transformational Irregular Warfare Leaders Thought Course (TILT-C) methodology for the non-DoD Intelligence Community's strategic leadership development workshop.
• February 2024: Attended the Partnership for Peace Consortium (PfP-C) Steering Committee meeting in Europe, as a co-chair for the newly established Irregular Warfare and Hybrid Threats Working Gro
• 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.

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

LATEST NEWS

RECENT NEWS

August 2024 Newsletter

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

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.