Prioritizing and funding cognitive and information-related capability is challenging. During this episode, Mark Mitchell recaps recent efforts within the Department of Defense as well as other United States government interagency efforts which have not reached their full potential. Bio: Mark Mitchell is a former senior executive in the Department of Defense who served most recently as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict (ASD(SO/LIC)). He is a highly decorated U.S. Army infantry and Special Forces combat veteran who served 28 years on active duty. He participated in multiple campaigns in the First Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2012, Colonel Mitchell served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as the Senior Military Assistant to ASD(SO/LIC). His final assignment in uniform was on the National Security Council as the Director for Counterterrorism. Following his retirement from active duty, Mitchell worked as a business executive in the private sector. He also served as a National Security Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and non-resident fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. He is also a board member and advisor to several non-profit organizations dedicated to serving veterans and their families, including Warriors Ethos, Gold Star Teen Adventures, the Global SOF Foundation, and Special Operations Survivors.

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See this link for more information about the Phoenix Challenge 2.0 Conference co-hosted by IPA and ARLIS.

IPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain.

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