Brian Steed: Narrative War | Decision Advantage #6

Keith Brawner, PhD is the Program Manager of the USC Institute for Creative Technologies UARC and Senior Engineer, Artificial Intelligence Area, Soldier Effective Directorate, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command - Soldier Center. In this episode, Keith provides an overview of the importance of modeling, simulation, entertainment, games, and synthetic environments for the Army.00:58 - Introduction, military simulation and entertainment03:21 - University affiliated research center04:54 - Core competencies of ICT06:30 - Defining simulation, modeling, and wargames through communities11:28 - List of major modeling and simulation stakeholders/communities13:30 - DEVCOM Soldier Center15:30 - "All but war is simulation"17:50 - Virtual reality20:10 - How does AI fit into modeling and simulation23:45 - The importance of terrain 26:45 - Ender's Game30:57 - Exciting technology developments

Exia Labs CTO Serj Kazar provides an end-to-end blueprint for building modern MLOps architecture for the military and intelligence community based on commercial systems and best practices.

Rear Adm. Doug Small is a native of Birchwood, Wisconsin. He is a 1988 graduate of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Physics. He also holds a doctorate degree in physics from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.Small’s operational tours included mechanical division officer and main propulsion assistant on USS Camden (AOE 2), in which he deployed in support of Operation Desert Storm, as well as combat systems officer (plankowner) on USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7). During Operation Iraqi Freedom he served as the first technical director of Joint Crew Composite Squadron (JCCS) 1, assembled by the Navy to assist with defeating then-prevalent radio-controlled improvised explosive devices (IED).An engineering duty officer since 1997, Small had a number of tours in acquisition, starting at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division and then the Missile Defense Agency. Moving to the Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS), Small was the electronic warfare assistant and then the major program manager for above water sensors (PEO IWS 2), overseeing the development of improvements for the Navy in electronic warfare and radar. Following this tour he served as the executive assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition.Small’s first flag assignment, in 2016, he was the program executive officer for Integrated Warfare Systems, where he led the team responsible for development, delivery, and sustainment of all surface navy combat and weapon systems. He assumed command of the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command in August 2020, leading a global workforce of 11,000 civilian and military professionals who design, develop, install, and support Navy’s networking, communications, information, and cyber capabilities and systems.Small’s personal awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and Bronze Star; unit awards include the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation and various campaign and service awards.Small retired Aug. 9, 2024.#decisionadvantage #decisiondominance

Panelists:Philip Yu, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral (ret) U.S. Navy, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Indo-Pacific Security Initiative, Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and SecurityDr. Michael A. Hunzeker, Director, Taiwan Security Monitor at George Mason UniversityFanny Chao, Non-Resident Fellow, Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging TechnologyModerator: P.J. Huang, co-founder, General Resilience

Panelists:Jonathan Pan, CEO of Exia Labs and Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford UniversityJames Ryseff, Director of Defense, Special Competitive Studies ProjectModerator: Judy Kurtz, Columnist, The Hill; Correspondent, DC News Now and Sunrise on the Hill

Exia Labs CTO Serj Kazar provides an end-to-end blueprint for building a modern data ecosystem for the military based on commercial systems and best practices.

Stuart is a career Army officer with over 25+ years of distinguished service, blending deep expertise in logistics, sustainment, and strategic planning. Most recently, he commanded the Army Field Support Battalion – Charleston (AFSBn-CHS), home of the Army’s Prepositioned Stocks (APS-3) program, where he led a 600-person organization responsible for maintaining and deploying combat power positioned aboard ships worldwide. His career has spanned tactical, operational, and strategic levels. Stuart has commanded at company and battalion levels, deployed multiple times to Iraq, Korea, and Europe, and served in elite assignments including Regimental S4 for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) and SAMS planner for the XVIII Airborne Corps. He holds master’s degrees in business administration, Military Arts and Science, and Military Operations, and is a graduate of the School of Advanced Military Studies.#decisionadvantage #decisiondominance02:18 - Stuart introduction07:17 - School of Advanced Military Studies overview11:14 - Why sustainment is such a critical, but overlooked component of Army operations16:41 - How is the role of the logistician evolving in an era of contested logistics21:41 - Why should people pay attention to sustainment at the tactical edge, not just headquarters?26:20 - AI-enabled sustainment at the tactical edge29:56 - How Stuart defines "AI" for defense32:45 - Where sustainment is going in the next 5-10 years36:00 - Great books for sustainment37:10 - Superbowl prediction!Referenced in the show-https://www.amazon.com/Logistics-Falklands-War-Expeditionary-Warfare/dp/1473899044-https://www.amazon.com/Engineers-Victory-Problem-Solvers-Turned/dp/0812979397-https://armyuniversity.edu/cgsc/sams/sams

Colonel Kent Park has served in the U.S. Army as an Infantry officer for over 25 years. Most recently, he was the Joint Base Commander of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, leading one of the Army’s largest and most complex installations. During his career, Park commanded at every level and deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of combat operations. Park served in key strategic assignments, including U.S. Army Pacific and Combined Forces Command, Republic of Korea, where he advanced U.S.–ROK military cooperation and combined defense planning.A graduate of West Point, the U.S. Army War College, and Harvard Kennedy School, Colonel Park has shaped Army modernization, installation management, and international security policy. His leadership has spanned combat operations, strategic planning, and institutional reform, reflecting a career dedicated to national defense and the profession of arms.00:12 – Introduction01:10 – The next major war02:35 – The paradox of combined operations: combined, fast, precise04:06 – Why segregating different national armies into separate areas doesn't work04:27 – Interoperability challenges as the root cause of failure of combined operations; types of interoperability07:20 – Examples of cultural interoperability08:53 – Solutions for interoperability challenges13:36 – Crisis action SOP17:50 – What's needed at the tactical echelon to help with cultural interoperabilityReferenced in the episode:-https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45319/the-charge-of-the-light-brigade-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Balaclava

Serk Kazar is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Exia Labs.00:12 Decision advantage definition01:43 What technology is required to generate feasible courses of action02:43 Spatial awareness proof of conceptReferenced in this episode:https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.08545https://mapeval.github.io/

Brian L. Steed is a retired US Army lieutenant colonel with more than thirty two years of civilian and uniformed experience in artillery, armor, cavalry (reconnaissance and security), international engagement, and professional military education. He is a practitioner, student, and writer of military theory, Middle East culture, and history.The views expressed are those of the speaker and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Army, the U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.00:22: Brian introduction01:33: 9/11 story05:23: Foreign area officer, Middle East experience09:30: Debating the center of gravity for ISIS10:45: Big ideas of Narrative War13:40: Narrative space as a geological metaphor: space, terrain, landscape, shape16:33: Narrative War well20:13: Narrative War is how our opponents fight21:20: The narrative environment: transient, enduring, societal25:25: Narrative entrepreneur, governments, and political campaigns27:55: Explaining how the Taliban navigated the Afghan societal narrative31:26: TikTok as a mechanism to make Americans hate and fight each other31:53: All war issues are domestic33:39: Currencies of Narrative war36:60: Proactive story vs. counter-narrative37:53: Operations orders as stories41:04: Rules of Social Conflict44:26: Consolidation of gains46:52: Narrative Space Terrain51:20: Narrative strategy: Domestic, Expeditionary, Third Party, Great Power54:05: Narrative strategy during IPOE and Mission Analysis59:00: Brian's contact informationReferenced in this episode:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_O%27Neillhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mosul_(2016%E2%80%932017)https://www.newsweek.com/gavin-newsom-breaks-through-trolling-trump-his-own-meme-game-2114281https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/607722/three-approaches-to-center-of-gravity-analysis-the-islamic-state-of-iraq-and-th/https://www.understandingwar.org/jaysh-al-mahdihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX_NZtMDd3A