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Disjointed Command And Air Domain Challenges In Alaska: The Case For A Single U.S. Combined/Joint Force Air Component Commander, Jeffrey W. Kempff

Joint Force Quarterly

The current command and control (C2) organizational structure over the air domain in Alaska is fragmented and doctrinally inconsistent, undermining homeland defense and reducing wartime lethality. Disjointed roles between the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)—particularly in the Alaska Theater of Operations (AKTO) and Alaska NORAD Region Area of Operations (ANR AO)—create gaps in unity of command and effort, especially within the air component. This article examines Alaska's fractured air domain organization and command relationships, illustrating operational ambiguity, duplicative efforts, and inconsistencies that delay decision-making. It proposes a focused, near-term solution: unify the …

Mission Over Bureaucracy: Special Operations Command’S Warrior-Driven Model For Defense Innovation, Robert D. Seader

Joint Force Quarterly

In an era of accelerating technological change, military organizations must rapidly develop and field new capabilities to maintain battlefield superiority. Traditional defense acquisition processes, optimized for peacetime oversight and risk avoidance, now take four times longer than in the 1950s, threatening to undermine military effectiveness against rapidly modernizing adversaries. This paper examines how the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has pioneered a fundamentally different acquisition approach that delivers new capabilities in months rather than the decades typical of conventional programs.

Through extensive interviews with senior acquisition leaders, this analysis identifies three core elements of USSOCOM’s success: a mission-centric culture …

Cyberspace Collaborative Awareness: A Model For Unity Of Effort In Homeland Defense, Mike Knapp, Sean Atkins, Matthew Mclaughlin

Joint Force Quarterly

The increasing frequency and severity of cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure continue to confound homeland defense efforts. Defending against state cyber campaigns that threaten the nation’s most critical systems requires a new awareness model that can enable unity of effort across public and private actors. Examining homeland defense awareness in other domains reveals principles and approaches that can inform the development of a collaborative awareness model in cyberspace. This new framework acknowledges the interconnectedness of government and commercial networks and the independent goals of each player in the domain. Doing so provides a viable path to achieving shared domain awareness …

Building The Mental Golden Dome: Arming The Joint Force For Defensive Cognitive Warfare, James Davitch

Joint Force Quarterly

Modern conflict increasingly hinges on mental strength, yet current military thinking lacks a clear defense for the mind. This article introduces a vital new concept: protecting military personnel from an adversary's attempts to distort their perceptions, disorient their judgment, and degrade their decision-making. Building on established research into behavioral psychology, the essay integrates this defense into existing military functions, proposing practical steps. It offers a precise explanation of this protective strategy, suggests pre-deployment exercises for joint personnel, and outlines ways to measure effectiveness even under pressure. A detailed, multi-year plan describes how to update joint doctrine, create training programs, and …

Determining Operational Objectives, Milan Vego

Joint Force Quarterly

Full knowledge and understanding of the true meaning of operational objectives are the main prerequisites for sound planning and execution of major operations A major operations (on land, at sea, in the air) is aimed at accomplishing a single operational objective. They can be conducted predominantly by a single service or two or more services. A campaign in a high-intensity conventional war consists of a series of related major/joint operations (on land, in the air, at sea) plus numerous tactical actions aimed to achieve a single military- or theater-strategic objective. Yet despite their importance, relatively little attention is …

From Data To Victory: The Race For Analytic Superiority In Warfare, Robert Grossman, Emily Goldman

Joint Force Quarterly

Artificial intelligence technologies have reached a tipping point after decades of development. They are diffusing widely across defense and national security applications. Twenty-first century warfighters rely on analytic models in all systems, at all echelons, and in all domains. As more powerful models built on ever larger data sets become ubiquitous, militaries are in a new competition to deploy artificial intelligence. Operational art must embrace “analytic superiority.” This is the operational advantage from collecting and ingesting data, building robust models and computing infrastructure, deploying the models into operational systems, and denying adversaries' ability to do the same

This article explains …

Joint Force Quarterly, Issue 120, 3rd Quarter 2026, National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly

Joint Force Quarterly 120, 3rd Quarter 2026, focuses on contemporary defense strategy, joint warfighting, professional military education, operational innovation, and military sustainment. The issue opens with Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge A. Colby’s discussion of the logic underlying the 2026 National Defense Strategy and an executive summary reflecting on the 40th anniversary of the Goldwater-Nichols Act and the future of jointness. Forum articles address analytic superiority in warfare, the development of operational objectives, and new evidence concerning the Lavelle Affair. Contributions on joint professional military education explore defensive cognitive warfare, strategist development, and cyberspace collaboration for homeland defense. …

Without A Map: A Lived Experience Study Of The Paths People Create Through Homelessness, Kathleen P. Conte, Susan Avila, Desiree' J. Duboise, Carlton Bone, Marisa A. Zapata, Transformational Research For Equity And Experience In Shelter (Trees) Committee

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

The Pathways to Housing Study examines how people experience and navigate homelessness and the systems intended to help them move toward stable housing. Conducted in Multnomah County, Oregon, the study used a participatory mixed-methods design co-led with the TREES lived experience committee. The first phase was reported in April 2026 included surveys with 541 people with current or recent experience of homelessness. The second phase, reported here, used in-depth interviews and journey mapping with 29 participants to explore how pathways through homelessness unfold over time and across service systems.

Findings demonstrate that homelessness pathways are rarely linear. Participants described entering …

The Role Of Financial Decision-Making Methods In Achieving Financial Performance, Kifah Sami Hussein

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

This research provides a comprehensive study of the role of financial decision-making methods in improving the financial performance of organizations, focusing on the strategic importance of various financial tools in supporting the process. The study aims to explore how the quality of financial decisions affects key performance indicators of organizations, highlighting the positive relationship between effective financial decision-making and achieving optimal financial results. The research also addresses the various factors that influence the effectiveness of financial decisions, including analytical tools, predictive models, and high-quality accounting information.
The research methodology relies on integrating quantitative and qualitative methods in a comprehensive manner, …

“As The Developing Situation Warrants”: U.S. Counterterrorism Policy Considered Through The 1994 Gerry Adams Visa Debate, Olivia T. Sullivan

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This thesis analyzes the 1994 U.S. decision to grant Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams a visa and what it reveals about American counterterrorism policy in the immediate post–Cold War period. Long suspected of senior involvement in the Provisional Irish Republican Army during the Troubles (1968–1998), Adams had previously been denied entry under terrorism-related immigration provisions. His case became a flashpoint inside the U.S. government: officials debated whether diplomatic opportunity, domestic political incentives, and momentum toward peace in Northern Ireland warranted a departure from the prior “no concessions” posture toward IRA-linked figures. Situating the controversy within U.S. terrorism discourse from the …

From Disaster To Resilience: Developing Smart Settlements In The Himalayas, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Nepal’s catastrophic 26 August 2026 Bhote Koshi–Trishuli flood should be understood not only as a humanitarian tragedy but also as a potentially major turning point in updating national settlement and reconstruction policy. Engineers and scientists have described the floods as a glacier–bedrock collapse that triggered an ice-rock avalanche and debris flow. As per the live updates on September 7, 2026, the total death toll was 1,355, and 4,996 people were missing (The Hindu, 2026). Indian and Nepali rescuers worked urgently to locate and rescue people buried under hydropower tunnels, buildings, mud, and landslide debris.

UN News reported on September 3, …

From Himalayan Catastrophe To National Resilience: Lessons From The 2026 Bhote Koshi And Trishuli River Floods In Nepal, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

On the morning of 26 August 2026, the mountains above Nepal’s northern frontier delivered a disaster of almost unimaginable speed and scale. A massive mass of ice, rock, and sediment detached in the high Himalayan terrain near the Nepal–Tibet border, descended roughly 1,200 metres, interacted with the Lhende Khola system, and generated a debris-rich flood that surged through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors, destroying settlements, markets, roads, bridges, hydropower facilities, and an international border crossing and transforming them into fields of mud, boulders, and wreckage within minutes (ICIMOD, 2026b; Reuters, 2026a). Satellite analysis indicates that a substantial section …

Studying Extreme Weather Event Impacts For Transit-Reliant Unhoused Populations, Costanza Rampini, Serena Alexander, Jeff Wootton, Amruta Ashish Gandhi

Mineta Transportation Institute

No abstract provided.

Healthcare System Barriers To Somali Refugees In Kenya, Zahra Sharif Hashim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Access to health care is a fundamental right of every refugee, yet gaps in implementing Kenya's Refugees Acts of 2006 and 2021 continue to limit access for Somali refugees in Dadaab camp. Existing research has documented resource constraints, movement restrictions, and other barriers to refugee health care, but how policy implementation gaps shape access in Dadaab has not been well explored. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand barriers to health care access for Somali refugees resulting from gaps in implementing Kenya's refugee health policies. The narrative policy framework guided the study. Data from semistructured interviews with …

Youths' Responses To Street-Level Bureaucratic Failures In Lebialem, Division Cameroon, Forchenmbin Charles Abessoh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

The Perceived Benefit Of A Degree Requirement In Emergency Medical Services Education And Success, Joseph H. Wood

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Introduction: This study sought to assess how graduates of Wallace Community College's paramedic program impacted their readiness for the NREMT Paramedic examination and entering the workforce, specifically comparing those who completed an associate degree to those who completed the certificate program. Methods: This qualitative study analyzed the perspectives of graduates from the paramedic program using a phenomenological approach. Using a purposive sampling technique, nine graduates were chosen for one-on-one interviews, and six were selected for a focus group. Results: Analysis of participant responses revealed three main themes: the perceived value of a degree, student preparedness for the NREMT exam and …

The Global Chessboard: Strategic Deterrence In A New Era Of Great Power Competition, The 66th Annual Academy Assembly

Space and Defense

The 66th annual Academy Assembly brought together twenty-seven student delegates from civilian institutions and sister military service academies to discuss urgent issues in national affairs. This national student congress was held during March 3-5, 2026 and produced the following committee reports.

Critical Strategic Deterrence Questions For Today, Keith B. Payne

Space and Defense

r. Payne visited the U.S. Air Force Academy to offer keynote remarks at a national student congress, the 66th Academy Assembly, held during March 3-5,2026 and dedicated to the topic of the Global Chessboard: Strategic Deterrence in a New Era of Great Power Competition. Dr. Payne is co-founder of the National Institute for Public Policy, former Department Head at the Graduate School of Defense and Strategic Studies, Missouri State University, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, and former Senior Advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He has authored or co-authored over 230 published articles and 50 …