April 13, 2026 Scaling of SOF Authorities and Permissions from Competition to Conflict How can SOF authorities and permissions be structured to scale from competition to conflict at the speed necessary to gain a joint force advantage, particularly when operating in a degraded communications environment?
April 13, 2026 Ethical Performance and Moral Injury How can the SOF enterprise develop a comprehensive ethics program that not only identifies and learns from ethical lapses and measures performance but also effectively inculcates ethical behavior to mitigate moral injury and post-combat trauma?
April 13, 2026 Generational Differences How do generational differences in approaches to leadership, followership, recruitment, retention, and training impact the military, and what strategies can be developed to effectively manage these differences for optimal organizational performance?
April 13, 2026 The Future of the All-Volunteer Force What alternative models for recruitment, career progression, and retention can the DoD develop, analyzing lessons from allies and associated risks, to ensure the Joint Force has the talent needed to meet its defense obligations?
April 13, 2026 Human Rights as a Weapons System How could the USAF utilize the promotion of human rights as a weapon system to isolate strategic competitors like China and Russia, forcing them to either become international pariahs or alter their behavior to be less threatening to U.S. interests?
April 13, 2026 SOF Interdependence, Interoperability and Integration with Conventional Forces How can Special Operations Forces and Conventional Forces enhance their interdependence, interoperability, and integration to create a decisive joint force advantage over adversaries within the frameworks of Joint All-Domain Operations and the Joint Warfighting Concept?
April 13, 2026 Security Cooperation and Capacity Building How effective are defense capacity building programs at expanding and enabling a network of likeminded, capable, and interoperable allies and partners to perform desired roles and achieve regional security objectives?
April 13, 2026 US Approach to Strategic Partnerships What are strategies that can be used to enhance the Department's approach to strategic security, economic, and technology partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region?
April 13, 2026 Space-Cyber-SOF U.S. Strategic Command Nexus: How to Build Capability Greater than the Sum of Its Parts to Achieve Joint Effects How can space, cyber, SOF, and STRATCOM entities move beyond ad-hoc relationships to form an enduring partnership that allows for formal joint training and deployment, enabling combatant commands to better employ these integrated forces to achieve strategic objectives?