This blog is part of a series about the 2025 Modern Warfare Week, which took place in Ft. Bragg, NC, from 17 – 20 NOV 2025.
See more blogs in the series here.
The doors of the Iron Mike Conference Center (IMCC) opened right at 0730, kicking off the second full day of Modern Warfare Week with a Networking Breakfast, sponsored by Mass Virtual, and of course–coffee, sponsored by GDIT.
Chatter in the hall included a lot of feedback on the Day 1 speakers: as one attendee from Lockheed Martin said: “It’s really great for Industry to hear from these senior military leaders… not only to know what they’re thinking about, but also to hear about what they need from us.”
It’s great to hear that kind of feedback, as a key tenet of this event is the industry to government engagement and conversations.
Read on to hear how we kept that train going on Wednesday, 19 NOV, aka Day 2 of Modern Warfare Week (MWW).
Global Conflict, Live and Unfiltered
The General Session kicks off with Opening Remarks expertly led again by MC Ms. Jessica Gronert.
Ever the champion, she gracefully helped us with some tech and translation issues on the morning’s first session: a Virtual Keynote Address – Live from Ukraine. Once we had the translation going, our speaker, Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, the Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, provided an unfiltered look at the conflict.
Lt. Gen. Budanov emphasized that hybrid warfare is fully present in Ukraine. He shared that Ukraine is successfully conducting deep strikes, which he views as Ukraine’s form of sanctions against the Russian energy sector.
Looking ahead, he warned that the war will become even more technological, and the kill zone will become bigger and wider, but crucially, nothing can replace the soldier on the ground.
Next on the stage was a panel called, “Warfighters + Information: Building the New Maneuver,” moderated by Dr. Ian Edgerly, an Assistant Professor at the National Defense University.
This panel dove deep into the strategic challenge where network competition and the cognitive domain make defining victory increasingly difficult:
- Lieutenant General (Ret) Maria R. Gervais shared that the decisive ground in modern warfare is mental, stressing the difference between data and actual information, and the necessity of building cognitive agility in soldiers.
- Ms. Nataliya Bugayova added crucial context, stating that while Russian information operations are effective, we are capable of defeating them. She explained that Russian cognitive warfare extends beyond mere disinformation, utilizing everything as a communication tool to place Europe and the West in a perpetually reactive stance.
Bugayova views this Russian cognitive warfare model as a template for China, Iran, and North Korea. To achieve true victory, she suggests we must attack the strategic reasoning underpinning Russian narratives—for example, challenging the idea that Russia deserves a sphere of influence—rather than getting bogged down in tactical details on social media. - Mr. Bill Wall lamented that the defense community has forgotten the “I” in DIME (Diplomatic, Information, Military, Economic) at a time when adversaries are aggressively exploiting this domain. He calls for leveraging social media as part of the Information element in DIME.
The last session of the morning was a Keynote focused on Power Generation at the Edge: Nuclear Power at Scale.
Mr. Isaiah Taylor, CEO of Valar Atomics, reframed the concept of force projection as power projection. He highlighted the military’s dependence on fuel and electricity, noting that attacks on tankers could severely hamper US operations. Taylor pointed out that the U.S. Navy already powers Ohio-class submarines for 20 years, proving the military can handle advanced nuclear power. His company, Valar, just became the first startup to split the atom on Monday (!!) and their goal is to have an entire reactor that fits in just three shipping containers operational by July 4, 2026. Impressive stuff!
From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of… Ohio?
The final networking lunch of the week was also the last chance to visit all of the Exhibition spaces. Hopefully everyone took the chance to see all 80+ booths in the ballroom, the dozen on the patio, the vendors with large-scale equipment in the parking lot, the non-profits in the SOF Community Corridor, and of course… Accelerator Alley!
After a final spin of allll of those options (and some lunch time at the tables outside in this lovely weather), attendees headed into the General Session for the final speakers of the week!
The last panel, The View from MARSOC, was moderated by Major General (Ret) Mark “Droopy” Clark, and featured Major General Peter Huntley, Commander of United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command, along with key leaders from the 2nd and 3rd Marine Raider Battalions and MARSOC staff.
MajGen Huntley explained that MARSOC was built during wartime, established in February 2026. He considers MARSOC lucky to have been established late and during combat, as it forced them to “get it right from the beginning”. Today, the command must be ready for adversaries who are more on par with the U.S. in terms of capability. Huntley identified the proliferation of tactical abilities as a significant current challenge.
A major takeaway from the panel: “MARSOC is people-centric organization and not a platform-centric organization.”
The symposium officially concluded with the Closing Keynote Speech delivered by Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and renowned college football coach, Jim Tressel.
He spoke of establishing an “attitude of gratitude,” and his great appreciation of what the military does for the United States.
“The team, the cause, the country…is bigger than you,” he said, as he discussed the sacrifice that is sometimes required for the greater mission.
“Leadership is not a position. Leadership is the action that you take to serve others.”
It was incredibly inspiring to hear him talk and share his leadership expertise… many of us will certainly be reflecting on his points well beyond today!
It was amazing to have him join us… our team even snuck on the stage for a photo op with him!
Although the main stage had wrapped, we did sneak in a few more special interest “Hot Topics” to really close out the day:
- Hot Topic: I’m NOT Just a Bill: Mr. Nick Sadoski leads this session, focusing on How to Understand the NDAA and its Impact on SOF.
- Hot Topic: A Window into Russia’s Decision-Making: Ms. Nataliya Bugayova returns to provide a deeper dive into Russia’s decision-making calculus.
These interactive but focused small group sessions were incredibly valuable to all who participated!
Today, MWW provided the essential connective tissue between the strategic challenges faced by Ukraine and the future capabilities required by MARSOC. It’s clear that whether we are discussing cognitive agility or nuclear power at the edge, the focus remains on preparing the SOF community for complex, high-tech, and globally distributed conflicts.
Now, we look forward to the grand finale tomorrow: Demo Day! We look forward to seeing you all at The Range Complex tomorrow… get all of the key details here:
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