Naval Warfare Studies Institute
Newsletter  -  25 May 2023

Happy Thursday!

Our top story this week describes how NPS is piloting a program to deliver tailored education that supports the specific needs of U.S. Pacific Fleet.

We also bring news from the 20th Annual Acquisition Research Symposium, co-hosted by NWSI and the Acquisition Research Program at NPS. Leaders from across the Navy and Department of Defense discussed a range of issues and illustrated the importance of the research produced at NPS to inform defense policy, strategy, and operations.

In upcoming events, we’re kicking off the Naval Innovation Exchange (NIX) series with an Intelligent Autonomous Systems (IAS) Exploration Workshop on June 8-10. The NIX is part of the larger innovation operating concept at NPS that coordinates innovation from concept generation to delivering capabilities in collaboration with industry. We’ll keep you updated as these efforts continue.

NPS Makalapa campus pilot underway

The first set of NPS educational offerings tailored to support U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) began on March 27, providing stackable certificates, tailored education courses, and short courses targeted for active duty and DoD civilians currently serving in the Fleet.

Why it matters: NPS is deepening its connection with PACFLT via this relationship that will support the command’s advancement of Indo-Pacific regional maritime security and stability by providing operators with advanced knowledge and skills they can use immediately in their jobs.

• Yes, and: The courses are designed to meet warrior-scholars where they are, with both onsite and distance learning offerings.

How it works: This first offering is a pilot program with a targeted selection of short courses, certificates, and Flag-level sessions.

• Certificate courses began March 27^th and are being attended via distance learning by 20 operational fleet members. They will continue to run on the NPS quarter system.
• Short courses are weeklong, focused, in-person opportunities where NPS faculty fly to Hawaii and provide face-to-face tailored education to the Fleet’s officers “at the point of need.”  For example, an Emerging Technology short course targeted towards flag officers was held earlier in May.

A Partnership with the Fleet: Adm. Samuel Paparo and Vice Adm. (ret.) Ann E. Rondeau, the respective heads of PACFLT and NPS, are leading a historic collaboration that unites one of the most important operational fleet commands with NPS in its strategic position on the west coast.

• Dr. Joe Hooper, Vice Provost of Academic Affairs, has been leading the educational efforts by coordinating with PACFLT to determine the most relevant course topics and logistics.  His efforts with PACFLT are part of a broader NPS educational transformation to reflect the transition to renewed great power competition.
• “The urgency of the geopolitical situation in the Indo-Pacific means we should consider new ways of utilizing NPS," said Hooper. "How should we structure ourselves to deliver education in a different way to the fleet? Short, focused educational content delivered onsite or via distance learning to the operational forces is an interesting approach we are trying in this pilot.” 

NPS Extended Campus: Hooper has been working closely with Ana Eckhart to enable NPS faculty involvement in NPS Makalapa. In addition to promoting targeted offerings, they have been focusing support resources as a pilot for improved distance learning quality. A broader transformation within Academic Affairs is focused on standing up NPS Extended Campus, a centralized support organization for non-traditional educational delivery.

• “Our faculty members have been offering self-coordinated short courses, but we are now stepping up to support them in this institutional effort with dedicated instructional resources,” said Eckhart. “We are providing them with support from instructional design to media development focused on the development of high-quality distance learning and on-site offerings. This effort could not have been accomplished without the support and collaboration from faculty across campus.”

The NWSI impact: NWSI formalized a relationship between NPS and PACFLT in 2022 with the creation of the Nimitz Research Group. As our team coordinated research topics NPS faculty and students could undertake to support PACFLT’s concept and capability development needs, conversations revealed that PACFLT also had a need for tailored education – and that NPS was exactly the right organization to meet it.

• At the request of Admiral Samuel Paparo, leaders from NPS and PACFLT collaborated to create short courses, courses, certificates, and degrees that fill gaps in operational and technical expertise needed to ensure continued competitive advantage in the Indo-Pacific.

Yes, and: NWSI supports the on-site deliveries in Hawaii and coordinates subject matter expertise from the NPS Warfare Chairs and other faculty. 

• NPS sees tremendous promise in this proof of concept and partnership and expects it will continue to evolve with increasingly tailored opportunities for research, education, and collaboration to be followed by expansion to other Fleet and Fleet Marine Force units.

NPS Undersea Warfare Chair Vice Adm. (ret.) Phillip Sawyer is supporting the NPS Makalapa initiative and helped bring this first session across the finish line. In his work with both NWSI and Makalapa, Sawyer has been an important interface between NPS and the operational fleet.

• “NWSI is a conduit for all Fleets to reach into NPS for support,” said Sawyer. “We started this work with PacFleet first to trial these new initiatives while assisting with the long-term competition against the CCP.  The more NPS can help – whether research or education – the stronger our integrated deterrence.”

What’s next: NWSI and NPS will evaluate results as the first set of students complete courses and certificates over the next 12 months. The continuation and improvement of NPS Makalapa will strengthen and further the important partnership between NPS and PACFLT.

NPS Acquisition Research Symposium Marks 20th Annual Event With Return to Monterey

For the first time in four years, acquisition professionals from the government, academic and private sectors gathered in Monterey as the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) hosted its 20th annual Acquisition Research Symposium, May 10-11.

• This year’s event marked a return to in-person sessions after three years of virtual gatherings, offering nearly 800 registered attendees the chance to engage with senior officials from the DOD and Department of the Navy.

Why it matters:  Co-hosted by NPS’ Acquisition Research Program (ARP) and the Naval Warfare Studies Institute (NWSI), the symposium provided an invaluable opportunity for NPS faculty and students, as well as other attendees from academia and industry, to experience a wide range of perspectives from leaders and researchers in the defense acquisition domain.

The value of research: William LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, delivered the symposium’s kickoff address. During his remarks, LaPlante brought up a major theme of the symposium – the continued importance of research and analytics to inform decision-making and fuel innovation in the defense acquisitions process.

• “What are the production rates? Are the production rates truly going up? How are we fixing the supply chain? Data-driven analytics on all those things is sorely needed,” said LaPlante.
• For him and others, this data is important to help DOD better understand and optimize its relationship with industry partners that provide many of the United States’ warfighting capabilities.

LaPlante also shared that his team is putting together a new industrial base strategy that accounts for lessons learned over the past few years, including those from the joint production acceleration cell, or JPAC.

NPS students also had an opportunity to present and discuss their research with attendees during a student poster show on May 10.

• Senior defense acquisition officials and other researchers, many of whom served as panelists or keynote speakers during the two days of the symposium, offered their comments and critiques on the students’ research projects and priorities.

What’s next: The 21^st Annual Acquisition Research Symposium will be held May 8-9, 2024.  Calls for proposals will go out in the fall.

• Read more about the event.
• Watch LaPlante’s keynote address.
• Read more about what leaders had to say about the industrial base and workforce.
• Watch our short three-minute video with highlights from the event.

NPS in the News

Innovation Capstone Gives NPS Students a Pathway to Transition New Ideas to the Fleet

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is currently piloting a new innovation capstone opportunity for NPS’ warrior-scholar students to work with U.S. Navy sponsors on developing and transitioning their innovative ideas within the space of a year.

How it works: The capstone proposal extends beyond normal student thesis requirements in that it must include an acquisition strategy.

• Their proposal is put in front of a mixed panel that can include faculty who determine if it meets departmental standards; naval officers who will decide if the proposal meets operational needs; and Program Executive Officers (PEOs) from the acquisition community, who in this process are the Navy’s “Shark Tank venture capitalists.”
• PEOs are determining not just payoff, but the potential to meet warfighting needs aligned to critical enabling capabilities identified in the CNO’s Navigation Plan (NAVPLAN).

Why it matters: Effective solutions must involve the fleet – and increasingly, partners in industry, where much of today’s technology innovation is occurring.

Read more.

Highlights from JIFX 23-3

Check out highlights of just a few of the projects in action at the latest JIFX event, held May 1-5 at the NPS Field Lab at Camp Roberts and focused on the theme “Autonomous Logistics Enabled by Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning.”

Upcoming Events

Seapower Conversation: Reflections on Navy Strategy & Force Design
25 May 2023, 1500-1700 PDT
Glasgow Hall 109 on the NPS Campus

With Bruce Stubbs, Former Deputy Director of Strategy and Policy (N51), the Director of Strategy (N50), and the Director of Strategy and Strategic Concepts (N722).  

The brief offers a deep dive into Navy Force Design. Its purpose is to provide a “navalist” audience an assessment of Navy Force Design and Strategy.  The brief describes the factors and issues affecting Force Design and places them into a thematic framework. Force Design is a complex subject with many facets.  The brief addresses Key Issues Affecting Navy Force Design (20 Stand-Alone Issues).

Naval AI Summit
5-8 June 2023
NPS campus

The principal objective of the 2023 Summer Naval AI Summit is to facilitate Naval AI Task Force cross communication, information sharing and lesson learning. Additionally, the Summer Naval AI Summit extends a unique opportunity for diverse stakeholder engagement across the Navy, academia, and industry. The 2023 Summer Naval AI Summit will align with NPS Lead AI course, and through the NPS Foundation will include engagement from leaders within the tech industry.

Naval Innovation Exchange (NIX) Intelligent Autonomous Systems (IAS) Exploration Workshop
8-10 June 2023, 0800-1700
NPS Campus 

With the overarching design challenge “How might we identify and prioritize intelligent autonomous systems (IAS) research and development opportunities of the most interest to Naval leadership and align work with affiliated warfare center projects and industry partners?” Small teams of junior officers, academic subject matter experts, and engineers from warfare centers will explore this future problem space, and with tools of warfighter-centered design will generate prioritized lists of opportunities for mutually beneficial projects. The four focus areas include: 1) Role of IAS in Contested Logistics, 2) Best Practices in IAS Research and Acquisition, 3) Strategic Integration of IAS in Mission Sets, and 4) IAS NEXT Technology & Workforce. Please note that this opportunity is only available to NPS students, faculty, DoD personnel and contractors.

JIFX 24-1
7 – 11 August 2023
NPS Field Laboratory at Camp Roberts

Event Focus Area: Autonomy and Human Machine Teaming

Concentration Areas:
• Unmanned Aerial Systems
• Unmanned Ground Systems
• Human-Machine Teaming for Controlling Unmanned Aerial Systems
• Human-Machine Teaming for Search and Rescue Operations
• AI-Augmented Decision Support Systems
• Manned / Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T)

Research Challenges:
• Examination of cognitive load in human-machine teaming
• Multi-Domain UXS Swarming
• Creating virtual environments for evaluation human-machine teaming

Learn more.