• 2026 Call for Special Operations Papers Results

Congratulations to the winners of JSOU's 2026 Call for Special Operations Papers, who were recognized by USSOCOM Commander Admiral Mitch Bradley on May 19 during SOF Week. 

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  CATEGORY 1: Professional military education students and military practitioners 

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  WINNING PAPER: Designing Fast, Adaptive AI Targeting Systems That Retain Human Judgment by Capt. Eli Talbert, PhD

  SECOND PLACE: Back to the Mountains: Geospatial Data Analytics as a Strategic Tool for Irregular Warfare by Maj. Paul Rogers

  THIRD PLACE: Architects of Fusion: A Mission-Focused Model for Rapid All-Domain Fusion for SOF by Maj. Scott C. Hall

  
  

  
  

  CATEGORY 2: International allies and partners 

  
  

  WINNING PAPER: Beyond the Golden Hour: Autonomous Logistics and Air-Ground Teaming in Denied-Access Environments by Irakli Kharebashvili

  SECOND PLACE: From Proxy Drone Warfare to Sahelian Adaptation: The Partner Defense Gap SOF Cannot Ignore by Maj. Imad Ammouri
  

  THIRD PLACE: Harnessing Data for Irregular Warfare: Designing Resistance Networks in the Indo-Pacific by Flight Lt. Samuel Boff Bettison

  
  

  CATEGORY 3: Academic faculty and civilian scholars

  
  

  WINNING PAPER: AI-Facilitated Tactical Situational Awareness in a Synthetic SOF Raid: Using Structured Analytic Techniques to Improve Feasibility and Post-Mission Understanding by JP Sanchez

  SECOND PLACE: The Adaptation Asymmetry: How Western Institutional Advantages Became Strategic Liabilities in AI-Enabled Warfare by Branko Ruzic

  THIRD PLACE: Before the Shooting Starts: Harnessing Data Analytics for Early Warning in Irregular Warfare by Katelyn Smith, PhD, Bobby Albertini, BS, Autumn Bedell, BS, Thomas McAndrews, BS, Victor Oliveira, and John Borek, PhD

  
  

  
  

  CATEGORY 4: Fiction

  
  

  WINNING PAPER: The Glass Man: A Parable by Celia Hanley

  SECOND PLACE: Toxic Shadows: A Useful Fiction of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives Convergence by Michael W. Parrott

  THIRD PLACE: War, Inc. Commoditizing the Lethal Side of Great Power Competition, by Solon D. Webb

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• Stay tuned! Topics for the 2027 Call for Special Operations Papers will be announced this summer.