Naval Warfare Studies Institute
Newsletter  -  27 August 2024

Happy Tuesday!

This summer the team has been working hard to build more creative thinkers and team facilitators in the domain of naval warfare while continuing to strengthen connections between NPS and the joint force.

• In July, we hosted a team of military-focused storytellers to run a workshop on crafting narratives for a purpose.
  • In this case, our purpose was preparing for the scenarios used in NPS’ annual Warfare Innovation Continuum (WIC) Workshop, which runs next month, 23-26 September. Join us!
  • Read the full NPS recap of the recently completed WIC on Integrated Naval Campaigning, which has already delivered ideas being considered by the Chief of Naval Operations for future force designs.
• In June, USMC Chair for Information Dr. Christopher Paul visited the Combat Support Training Exercise, where he saw Army reserve solders creatively build and deploy decoys to support logistics in an exercise focused on drone warfare.
• We pay homage to Maj. Gen. Bill Mullen (Ret.), who supported NWSI’s Critical Thinking and Learning branch by collaboratively teaching, researching, and writing with NPS students and faculty. He passed away this summer.

Among our notable upcoming events:

• The deadline for the next JIFX is this Friday, August 30. The focus is on Uncrewed Systems & Counter-Uncrewed Systems, and the event will be held 4-8 November.
• The next Naval AI Summit is on the East Coast at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Dates are 24-26 September.
  • Interested in learning more about AI but embarrassed by how little you know? Attend the bonus day of “AI for Knuckledraggers” on 23 September.

Have questions or want to get involved?

Force Writer’s Room Workshop Imagines Future Battlespace

NWSI hosted experts from the University of Southern California’s (USC) Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) Force Writers Room (FWR) in July to offer a workshop on innovative storytelling tools.

• These techniques can be used to develop a realistic and compelling futuristic scenario that September’s Warfare Innovation Continuum (WIC) workshop will explore.

Why it matters: “At NWSI, we’re tasked with addressing future, complex military problem spaces – things that keep naval leaders up at night,” said NWSI Concept Branch Lead Lyla Englehorn.

• “To effectively address these problem spaces, we need to create the world in which they exist, and the most effective way to do this is through a scenario. Tools of narrative fiction allow us to effectively and efficiently create that world, so we can easily understand what we might face in a future battlespace.”

How it works: FWR is a joint effort of the Office of Naval Research and the Institute for Creative Technologies, a DoD University Affiliated Research Center.

• With years of experience in TV and film, FWR co-leads Dava Casoni and U.S. Navy Reserve Capt. Ric Arthur, along with their team, presented a range of cutting-edge storytelling approaches aimed at enhancing the representation of future complex military challenges.

Lt. Vince Vanterpool, a U.S. Navy surface warfare officer on track to graduate from NPS’ Operations Research program in September, said the workshop was impactful:

• “You have creative people whose jobs are creating stories, concept art, and movies. Then you have subject matter experts, like one guy fresh from a Marine Littoral Regiment, who’s on the forward edge of Marine thinking,” he said.
• “The cognitive diversity in the room is the merging of military experts with creatives, and that collision is really cool and important for working different parts of the brain.”

Decoys Integral to Battlespace at Combat Support Training Exercise

Dr. Christopher Paul and COL David Acosta stand in front of garages at Ft Hunter Liggett

USMC Chair for Information Dr. Christopher Paul traveled to Ft. Hunter Ligget in June to observe the annual Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX 24-01) put on by the Army Reserve’s 91st Training Division.

• The CSTX is a joint and combined logistics exercise that incorporates large scale combat operations simulated through the data environment and real-world events.

Dr. Paul was hosted by Army reserve COL David Acosta, who is also a NPS Alum (Defense Analysis, 2007). COL Acosta commands the 2nd Brigade, 91st Training Division, and his soldiers were supporting the exercise as observer/controllers.

• COL Acosta guided Dr. Paul around the exercise, which included decoy tactical operation centers built by soldiers to frustrate opposition force drone intelligence collection.

Seeing an underutilized engineer company supporting the exercise, COL Acosta tasked them with creating realistic command post decoys.

• Interestingly, Dave’s thesis here at NPS back in the day focused on the use of decoys and deception (“The Makara of Hizballah deception in the 2006 Summer War”).

Why it matters: With a “train as you fight” mentality, exercise control needs to pose realistic challenges to the training forces and to help them to practice techniques that will increase survivability and effectiveness. 

• COL Acosta and his Brigade help bring both the threat (observation by enemy unmanned arial vehicles) and a mitigating precaution (use of decoys) to the training audience.

Decoys and camouflage are tools of information warfare that have become central to sustainment, which itself has become part of the modern battlespace. Sustainment forces need to be prepared to complete their mission under austere conditions and under threat.

• “Recognizing the threat of contested logistics in future operations is important,” shares Dr. Paul, “and recognizing the role of capabilities for leveraging information (such as signature management and deception) in mitigating some of the threat to sustainment forces is also important.
• “Information warfare isn’t just about delivering effects on adversaries; it is also about limiting adversaries’ ability to affect the friendly force. It’s great to see this being considered and rehearsed in training.”

How it works:  Dr. Paul toured the cantonment, some of the exercise maneuver area, and went to see a decoy command post in person.

• Then he had a conversation with personnel who coordinate the activities of the exercise opposing force (OPFOR) and the kinds of threats they try to simulate in order to stimulate and test the exercising formations. These include the use of unmanned arial vehicles and a simulated chemical weapons attack.

Ingenuity at play: Soldiers crafted many of the decoys by combining found objects with old military equipment.

• In the picture below, the expandable truck is empty (a decoy) and the dish on top of it is an old DirecTV receiver the engineers found on a recycling pile that they upcycled into the decoy by spray-painting it and then mounting it on the truck.

The team promoted observable “pattern of life” activity by suggesting that soldiers in the area of the decoy take advantage of the shade provided by the decoy’s camo netting and eating their chow in the shade, or otherwise taking a break in the shade.

• Note that the decoys are out in the open rather than concealed in a tree line because of safety concerns; many old, dry trees in the maneuver area at Ft. Hunter-Liggett can drop branches without warning, so tents, camps, etc. need to be clear.

The NPS impact: We’re thrilled to see an NPS alum leading the charge, and to remind others that the opportunity to observe and learn at exercises like this is open to NPS faculty.

What’s next: COL Acosta’s soldiers will have a similar role in the CSTX next July, and we can’t wait to see what they’ll choose to emphasize.

Honoring the ideas of Maj. Gen. William Mullen (Ret.)

With the recent passing of Maj. Gen. William Mullen (Ret.), we lost not only an amazing warrior scholar and learning leader, but also a valued friend, colleague, and educator.

Bill Mullen had been co-teaching (with Mie Augier) our thinking and learning courses for the last few years, not only sharing his own approach to learning and leadership but remaining a learning leader himself.

• As a co-teacher, he never missed a class, always was engaged in the back-office work (that is often invisible but essential to ensure the courses run well), and passionate about educating through questions and discussions rather than PowerPoints or lectures.
• He was passionate about the topics of thinking, learning, and leadership, and enjoyed learning from and with the students.
• This year, we miss him being with us in class every week.

Students in the critical thinking course honored his ideas last month, discussing what they learned from his approach and writings on the topic.

• Student comments ranged from embracing his approach of developing one’s own habits of mind to dedicating time for learning and reading; being careful to understand the assumptions we make (and not think everyone else thinks the way we do); and the centrality of leaders building not only a mindset but a culture of learning in their organizations.
• A little later in the course, students will apply these ideas to specific organizational contexts, so we hope to be able to learn from (and build upon) Mullen’s ideas.
• Our fall course on The Art and Science of Learning (MN 4012) also continues Mullen’s efforts to prioritize individual and organizational learning.

As a warrior-scholar and lifelong learner, Mullen worked with us on research, education, and writing. We are grateful to have known him and learned from him.

• Our thoughts are with Vicki and his family.

Mullen’s work with us included some of the following publications with students:.

• “Sustaining-Our-Competitive-Advantage,” Marine Corps Gazette
• “Assumptionitis in Strategy,” The Strategy Bridge
• “Sailors Matter Most: Incentivize Education and Cultivate Learning Leaders,” Center for International Maritime Security
• “Lifelong Student-Centered Learning: A PME Paradigm for Honing Our Intellectual Edge,” Center for International Maritime Security
• “Learning to Get Real and Get Better: A Conversation with Learning Leaders,” Center for International Maritime Security
• “Active Learning for Active Minds: A Conversation with Learning Leaders,” Center for International Maritime Security

NPS in the News

Navy, DOD Leaders Discuss Space Capabilities During Second Naval Space Summit at NPS
Lt. Cmdr. Ed Early, Naval Postgraduate School

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Alexander Holme, a student at NPS, discusses his research on command and control processes with Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus, Chief of Naval Research, during a student showcase at the second annual Naval Space Summit. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Janiel Adames)

Recognizing the importance of a rapidly evolving space domain to U.S. national defense, key leaders from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Department of Defense gathered at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) for the second annual Naval Space Summit, July 9-11.

The summit, sponsored by the Secretary of the Navy and organized by the office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare (N2N6), provides an essential venue for top DOD and Department of the Navy officials to discuss the state of space operations and capabilities within the services, as well as the latest issues and opportunities in the space domain.  Read more.

Impact at RIMPAC: NPS Students Enhance Fleet Readiness with 3D Printing Technology
MC2 Andrew Langholf, NPS Public Affairs

U.S. Navy Machinery Repairman 2nd Class John Jones (left) and U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Jordan Blake, assigned to the Marine Innovation Unit, fit a 3D printed component into a reverse osmosis gear in one of the main engine spaces aboard the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Somerset (LPD 25) during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024 while underway in the Pacific Ocean, July 16.

When the team of engineers from the Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research and Education (CAMRE) loaded their 3D hybrid-metal printer onboard Somerset as part of the experimentation sector of Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2024, they had no idea that they would soon be asked to solve a real-world engineering casualty.

Hours after being loaded on board, a critical component of the reverse osmosis pump, which generates clean water for the crew – an absolute necessity for ships spending long periods at sea – shattered.

“What we didn’t expect was that we would have the opportunity to directly help ship readiness so soon,” said Lt. Charles Wallace, a mechanical engineer from the Naval Postgraduate School, and one of the team members onboard. “Especially for something as mission-essential as a reverse osmosis pump, where if you run out of water you’re going to be coming home pretty quick.”  Read more.

NPS' Warfare Innovation Continuum Drives Students' Concept Generation
Matthew Schehl, Naval Postgraduate School Public Affairs

The Naval Warfare Studies Institute (NWSI) at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) recently completed the latest cycle of its annual Warfare Innovation Continuum (WIC), a 12- to 18-month interdisciplinary exploration of a central theme of naval interest achieved through various research projects, capstone class projects, experiments, workshops and seminars.

This year’s WIC campaign of analysis, entitled “Integrated Naval Campaigning,” was a resounding success, according to retired U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Kline, NWSI WIC Director and Operations Research Professor of Practice at NPS.

“At the CNO’s Futures Wargame, I briefed the Chief of Naval Operations and other Navy leadership on an alternative force design specifically for sea control that was based on our campaign of analysis during the WIC,” Kline said. “The alternative fleet took ideas from the workshops we held, from our joint campaign analysis class and from a wargame we just completed, all of which dealt with integrated naval campaigning. The CNO’s staff is now looking at an alternative force design to their program forces. I don’t think you can get a better mark of success than that.”  Read more.

ICYMI: Naval News of Note

Marines release new AI strategy
Jon Harper, Defense Scoop

The Marine Corps issued a new artificial intelligence strategy that is expected to guide the service’s efforts to integrate the technology across its enterprise, from the back office to the battlefield.

Lt. Gen. Matthew Glavy, deputy commandant for information, described the release of the document, which was announced publicly Wednesday, as a major milestone in the Marines’ pursuit of digital modernization.

“Our fight for and with information needs AI now,” he wrote in the foreword for the strategy, noting that the war in Ukraine is demonstrating how the tech can enable faster decision-making. Read more.

Becoming ‘data fluent’: Navy rolls out updated ‘Information Superiority Vision’
Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., Breaking Defense

The Department of the Navy today issued a new top-level Information Superiority Vision to guide its IT initiatives, updating the original 2020 ISV with a distinct new emphasis on data.

“ISV 2.0 represents our continued commitment to securely move information from anywhere to anywhere to enable our warfighters to act at the speed of mission,” said Navy Department CIO Jane Rathbun, who oversees IT for both the Navy and the Marine Corps. The evolution from the 2020 original to this new version, she wrote in her LinkedIn post releasing the strategy, “reflects the learning that has occurred and the progress we have made in the last four years.”  Read more.

Events

Warfare Innovation Continuum Workshop
23-26 September 2024

This year’s event will focus on Non-Permissive Global Sea Control.

With one overarching design challenge, eight teams of junior officers and early career engineers will be facilitated through a rapid concept generation process using tools of human-centered design. Each team will present their best concepts on the final morning of the workshop, and these seeds of ideas will inform class projects, thesis work, and research across the NPS campus throughout FY25.

Teams will be formed in the following areas:

MDA for Sea Control – maritime domain awareness (MDA) involves sensing and making sense of the maritime domain and includes METOC, undersea awareness, and creating a common operating picture (COP).

Integration of Maritime Stakeholders – these include the U.S. Coast Guard, maritime forces of U.S. allies and partner nations, U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), Military Sealift Command (MSC), and industry/global/commercial/white shipping.

Logistics to and in the WEZ – including resupply, replenishment at sea, reload to rearm, providing on-board defense on logistic ships, and recovery and salvage in the weapons engagement zone (WEZ)

EAB for Sea Control – including Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), Stand-in Forces (SIF), integration with forward Navy forces, and Forward Arming and Refueling Points (FARPS)

UW/IW for Sea Control – (possibly classified) includes leveraging Special Operations Forces (SOF), unconventional means and measures, indigenous and host nation assets for unconventional warfare (UW) and information warfare (IW).

Robots & Drones – includes artificial intelligence (AI), intelligent autonomous systems (IAS), and unmanned vehicles (UxVs) in all domains

Counter Sea Denial

Undersea and Seabed Warfare – (likely classified).

Ops in the Information Environment in Support of Sea Control – (possibly classified) includes electronic warfare (EW), information warfare (IW), CYBER, counterintelligence (CI), psychological operations (PSYOP), human intelligence (HUMINT), space operations (SPACE), and counter SPACE (XSPACE).

C2 for Decision Advantage – includes mesh networking to create an intelligence, surveillance, targeting, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) web to support a maritime operation center (MOC)

Register now.

Naval AI Summit
24-26 September 2024
United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD  |  in-person and remote

Who: Defense AI leadership (DoD, DoN, USN, USMC, other Services, Joint Force), Navy AI Task Force leads, other AI practitioners across the Naval Establishment, industry partners, and Allies and partners.

What:  Information sharing and collaboration event

Why:  Artificial Intelligence promises better ways to understand the Services' man, train and equip-associated opportunities and challenges and to accelerate, adopt, and integrate AI-related concepts and capabilities in ways that make us a more capable, efficient, and effective force in peacetime and a more lethal force in wartime.  Doing so will require we collectively seize this opportunity. 

In conjunction with the Summit, a day-long "AI for Knuckleddraggers" course will be held Monday, 23 September.  Please sign up for that separately.  It will only be conducted in-person.  Attendance at the course is not required for the Summit nor is Summit attendance required if you only want to take the course.

AI for Knuckledraggers
23 September 2024
United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD  |  in-person only

This is a 1-day (7 hour) overview of Artificial Intelligence for non-technical people who do not have a deep understanding of AI.  It addresses current concerns and issues about AI, separating myth from fact and providing a framework for how to think about AI as a technology including how it can be harnessed by people and organizations.  The course does not teach coding or AI engineering skills but instead touches on a wide range of topics:

• How to think about machine intelligence 
• Its history and growth over the years
• The analytical foundations that can produce intelligence
• Different types of AI and how they work (e.g. Gen AI)
• AI use cases
• Deploying AI at scale across and enterprise
• Ethical considerations and Responsible AI
• AI in the DOD

JIFX 25-1: Uncrewed Systems & Counter-Uncrewed Systems
4–8 November 2024
NPS Field Laboratory at Camp Roberts
Proposals due by 30 August