The Irregular Warfare Center and fellowship program

← All Insights

1. One section, two institutions

A single section of title 10 gives the Secretary of Defense two related authorities (10 U.S.C. 345(a)(1)). The first is to operate and administer a Center for Strategic Studies in Irregular Warfare, known as the Irregular Warfare Center. The second is to run the Regional Defense Fellowship Program, which pays for the education and training of foreign personnel for purposes of regional defense in connection with irregular warfare or combating terrorism.

The fellowship is not tied to one school. Foreign personnel may be educated and trained at military or civilian educational institutions, at the Irregular Warfare Center, at regional centers, or at conferences, seminars or other training programs (10 U.S.C. 345(a)(1)). The regional centers themselves are covered in the regional centers for security studies.

2. What may be paid for

The section lists the costs the Secretary may pay (10 U.S.C. 345(a)(2)). The first group is travel, subsistence and similar personnel expenses, and special compensation. These may be paid for defense personnel of friendly foreign governments attending the Center or the fellowship program. With the Secretary of State’s concurrence, they may be paid for other foreign government personnel and non-governmental personnel. They may also be paid for foreign and American government personnel needed to administer and run the programs.

The second group covers the Center itself. It includes research, communication, the exchange of ideas, curriculum development and review, and training of military and civilian participants from the United States and other countries. It also includes maintaining an international network of irregular warfare policymakers and practitioners. The third group is engagement with fellowship alumni on Defense Department objectives and planning in irregular warfare and combating terrorism (10 U.S.C. 345(a)(2)).

3. A program run jointly with the State Department

The fellowship program operates under regulations prescribed by both the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State (10 U.S.C. 345(b)(1)). The regulations must ensure that the two Secretaries jointly develop and plan activities that advance security cooperation objectives and support the combatant commands’ theater security cooperation planning, and that they coordinate on implementation (10 U.S.C. 345(b)(2)).

Two further requirements follow. Each department designates an individual at the lowest appropriate level to be responsible for coordinating the program. And, to the extent practicable, activities must be coordinated with, and must not duplicate or conflict with, activities under International Military Education and Training (IMET) authorities (10 U.S.C. 345(b)(2)). Whenever the regulations are updated, a copy and a description of the update go to the two Armed Services Committees (10 U.S.C. 345(b)(3)).

4. The Irregular Warfare Center’s mission

The Center is meant to be the Department’s central mechanism for developing irregular warfare knowledge and advancing understanding of irregular warfare concepts and doctrine, in collaboration with partners and allies (10 U.S.C. 345(c)(1)). The statute lists five ways it does so.

• Coordinating and aligning the Department’s education curricula, standards and objectives on irregular warfare.
• Facilitating research on irregular warfare, strategic competition, and the Department’s role in supporting related interagency activities.
• Engaging federal agencies, academia, nongovernmental organizations, civil society and international partners on irregular warfare security challenges.
• Developing curriculum and training and educating American and foreign military and civilian participants.
• Serving as a coordinating body and central repository for irregular warfare resources and lessons learned.

5. Staff and university partnerships

Subject to appropriations, the Secretary may employ a Director, a Deputy Director, and civilian professors, instructors and lecturers as needed, with compensation set by the Secretary (10 U.S.C. 345(c)(2)).

The section also opens the Center to academic partners. To promote integration across government and civil society on irregular warfare, the Secretary may partner with an institution of higher education as defined in the Higher Education Act of 1965 (10 U.S.C. 345(c)(3)). Two routes are named. One is an intergovernmental support agreement under the installation support authority in title 10. The other is a contract, cooperative agreement or grant awarded through the Defense Security Cooperation University.

The Secretary must also decide whether a government-owned, contractor-operated partnership with a university would meet the Center’s mission. The statute gives the structure used for University Affiliated Research Centers as an example (10 U.S.C. 345(c)(3)).

Governance sits in the policy chain. The Secretary must set out the roles of the relevant components (10 U.S.C. 345(c)(4)). They include the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict in policy oversight and governance, and that Assistant Secretary as the executive agent supporting the Center’s operation.

6. The fellowship ceiling and the annual report

Spending on the fellowship program may not exceed $35,000,000 in any fiscal year (10 U.S.C. 345(d)). Amounts for a fiscal year may be used for programs that begin in that year and end in the next.

By December 1 each year, the Secretary reports to the appropriate committees on the fiscal year just ended (10 U.S.C. 345(e)). The report gives a complete accounting of expenditure, including the countries of the officers and officials whose costs were paid and the total paid for each. It lists the courses attended and which, if any, were held abroad. It assesses how effective the program, including alumni engagement, has been in increasing foreign governments’ cooperation with the United States.

The report also looks forward. It discusses actions to improve the program, with a list of unfunded or unmet training requirements and requests. It justifies how the program fits each geographic combatant commander’s theater security priorities, and it explains how the previous year’s training drew on lessons learned from ongoing conflicts (10 U.S.C. 345(e)).

The Center itself is reviewed annually. Beginning not later than December 1, 2024, the Secretary must review its structure and activities for alignment with the Department’s strategic priorities and the combatant commands, and may revise them (10 U.S.C. 345(f)).

Key terms

Irregular Warfare Center	The Center for Strategic Studies in Irregular Warfare, the Department’s central mechanism for irregular warfare knowledge.
Regional Defense Fellowship Program	The program paying for foreign personnel’s education and training in irregular warfare and combating terrorism.
Intergovernmental support agreement	One of the two routes for partnering the Center with an institution of higher education.
Fellowship ceiling	The $35,000,000 annual limit on spending under the fellowship program.

Every statement above links to the document behind it. The full source list for this piece is on the sources page.

This page describes public United States government programs for general information. It is not legal, regulatory or procurement advice, and it does not address the facts of any particular case.

How Sentfore supports this

Fellowship and training events in difficult regions need secure venues and dependable logistics. Sentfore works at the delivery end of defense programs in difficult environments, providing secure movement, protective security, facilities and life support. Requirements can be sent through the contact page.