The future holds exponential change, increased asymmetric capabilities and complex convergences of technology, ethics and political conflict. Acting decisively through this noise will mean revisiting how the SOF Enterprise attracts, retains and utilizes human capital. This presentation hopes to stretch the audience’s thinking about how USSOCOM can creatively leverage talent in the context of increased connectivity, demographic changes, new understandings of sovereignty and dynamic threats. Delivered by Dr. Lydia Kostopoulos at SOFWERX as part of the USSOCOM J5 Disruptive Talk Series

1. Humans over Hardware:
Posturing SOF for the Future
Dr. Lydia Kostopoulos
J5, USSOCOM
Disruptive Talk Series
Sofwerx, March 3rd, 2019

2. “Our focus is not to become a
slightly better version of
ourselves today…
…but
become something
completely different
tomorrow for which our
adversaries are unprepared.”

3. • Direct Actions
• Special Reconnaissance
• Unconventional Warfare
• Foreign Internal Defense
• Civil Affairs Operations
• Counterterrorism
• Military Information Support Operations / PSYOP
• Counter-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Security Force Assistance
• Counterinsurgency
• Hostage Rescue and Recovery
• Foreign Humanitarian Assistance
Special Operations Core Activities:

4. • Operational Horizon
• Talent Needed
• New Technology = New Modus Operandi
Posturing the SOF Enterprise for the Future
• Mindset is the Catalyst for Change

5. New Spaces 4th Industrial Revolution
Climactic Factors Durable Disorder
Operational Horizon

6. New Spaces
4th Industrial
Revolution
Climactic Factors Durable Disorder
Operational Horizon

7. New Spaces
4th Industrial
Revolution
Climactic Factors
Operational Horizon
Digital Terrain
- Direct Action
- PSYOPS
- Civil Affairs
Virtual
Durable Disorder

8. New Spaces
4th Industrial
Revolution
Climactic Factors
Operational Horizon
Surveillance State
COTS ISR
Durable Disorder

9. New Spaces
4th Industrial
Revolution
Climactic Factors
Operational Horizon
Satellite Internet Technology
Durable Disorder

10. New Spaces
4th Industrial Revolution
Operational Horizon
Climactic Factors
"AI is the new
electricity.
Everything
that has been
electrified, will
be cognified.”
-Andrew Ng
Durable Disorder

11. Climactic Factors
Operational Horizon
4th Industrial
Revolution
New Spaces
"The Arctic is the new
frontline of our
homeland defense"
- Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy
Commander USNORTHCOM
Speaking at the Senate Armed
Services Committee on
February 14, 2020
Durable Disorder

12. Climactic Factors
Operational Horizon
4th Industrial
Revolution
New Spaces
• Hydration Challenges in Contested Environment
• Lack of adequate preparation and coherence in
doctrine, training, and capabilities development
to support effective Arctic operations.
• Lack of Climate Change-Oriented Campaign
Planning and Preparation
• Foreign Humanitarian Assistance
• Civil Affairs Operations
• Security Force Assistance
• Unconventional Warfare
• Direct Action
Durable Disorder
SOF ACTIVITIES

13. Resource Scarcity
Climactic Factors
Operational Horizon
4th Industrial
Revolution
New Spaces Durable Disorder
• Food Security
• Water security
• Mass migration
• Illness

14. Durable Disorder
Operational Horizon
4th Industrial
Revolution
Climactic FactorsNew Spaces
Characteristics
• Rules based order in decline
• Conflict below threshold of war
• Proxies and surrogates
• Super empowered actors
• Loss of trust in government institutions
• Economic interdependence
– cost of war too high

15. Durable Disorder
Operational Horizon
4th Industrial
Revolution
Climactic FactorsNew Spaces
4 key drivers that will change the
character of warfare
1. Blur between peace time and war time.
2. Terrorists and other groups will be capable
of greater destruction.
3. Warfare will shift to more stand-off and
remote operations.
4. Technology and the evolving strategies of
regional states will lend themselves in a
proliferation of WMDs and new
applications.

16. New Spaces 4th Industrial Revolution
Climactic Factors Durable Disorder
Operational Horizon
Pandemic Threats

17. This is an operating environment that requires moonshots
SOF Moonshots to:
• Make operators invisible
• Boost cognitive learning by 100%
• Allow operators to communicate with each
other with their thoughts
• Halt and reverse operators from aging
…… among other things…..

18. SOF TRUTH
Most special
operations require
non-SOF assistance

19. What kind of talent is needed?
• Nanotechnology (batteries, etc)
• Biotechnology
• Robotics (unmanned X)
• Cyber, EM
• Artificial intelligence
• Additive manufacturing
• Neurotechnology

20. Where is the talent?

21. What that means for
the Labor Market:
- Competitive market
for young talent
- Growing percentage of
competent older talent
retiring
Demographics

22. • Job change and
Professional
‘freedom of maneuver’
• Gig economy
Great Talent Competition
• Dual-use Technologies

23. Admiral Michael Rogers
FMR Commander USCYBERCOM and NSA Director
Proposed industry
sabbaticals to bring
fresh ideas in

25. SOF TRUTH
Quality is better
than quantity
What if you could have both?

26. COMMAND TALENT
Primes, subs and big contracting defense
DISRUPTIVE IDEA:
Rapid Talent Resourcing in a
Modular Distributed way
World is faster, networked, modular and distributed –
acquiring talent, knowledge and know-how
should be the same
RECRUITMENT

27. New Technology = New Modus Operandi
New paradigms for work

28. Spatial Computing & Co-Presence

29. Full Body Surrogacy for Collaborative
Communication
With robotic hands and VR

30. Hyper-Enabled
SME Support
Ethical and legal
considerations
SOF Activities
• Foreign Humanitarian
Assistance
• Unconventional Warfare
• Special Reconnaissance

31. Talent at Home:
An opportunity for spouses to be part of the fight
Use case:• Training that endures across
duty stations.
• Multi-use skills
• Sensitive data labeling for AI
• Graphic design for 3D printing

32. • Abundance Mindset
• Technological Situational Awareness
• Clarity in Vision
Mindset is the Catalyst for Change

33. Thank you
for your attention!
Dr. Lydia Kostopoulos
Strategy & Innovation Advisor
J5, USSOCOM
@LKCYBER