2026 Call for Special Operations Papers Results
CATEGORY 1: Professional military education (PME) students and military practitionersWINNING 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
CATEGORY 3: Academic faculty and civilian scholars
CATEGORY 4: Fiction
WINNING PAPER: The Glass Man: A Parable by Celia Hanley
THIRD PLACE: War, Inc. Commoditizing the Lethal Side of Great Power Competition, by Solon D. Webb
For more information, email CALLFORPAPERS@JSOU.EDU.