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From Special Operations to Scenario Architect: Rebuilding Defense Thinking
What happens when a Special Operations veteran decides the future of national defense depends on creativity?
In this Success After Service (SAS) Special Episode of GovCon Unscripted, Chelsea Roberts sits down with Daniel Gomez, Founder & CEO of First Person Xperience, to explore why creativity is rewarded on the battlefield, but punished in garrison. And why that mindset gap may be costing more than we realize.
From Civil Affairs and JSOU instruction to building immersive national defense simulations, Danny shares how experiential learning, controlled failure, and scenario design can reshape how the defense community prepares for future conflict.
They discuss:
- Why we’re always preparing for yesterday’s war
- The failure of imagination cited in the 9/11 report
- How immersive training changes retention and decision-making
- The AI experiment that left leaders “woefully unprepared”
- Why innovation gaps between adversaries matter
- Building The Lab: a national defense creativity engine
Timestamps:
02:15 – Danny’s transition from Active Duty to Founder
06:40 – What “First Person Experience” actually means
11:10 – Immersion vs. virtual training
16:35 – “Creativity is rewarded on the battlefield and punished in garrison”
22:20 – Fighting yesterday’s war
27:05 – The failure of imagination problem
31:40 – The AI scenario experiment (Project Genesis)
39:10 – Trust, control, and no-win futures
Resources:
Daniel Gomez's LinkedIn Profile
First Person Xperience Website
Chelsea Roberts's LinkedIn Profile
🎧 Listen now on:
🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482
🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy
Like and follow us:
🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS
🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/
🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/
Join our #govcon #community:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/
New to GovCon? Here’s a guide for you:
https://share.hsforms.com/288nO18bsRCCmdJZL66pClwbzmvx
21 AI Prompts to Supercharge Your GovCon BD Engine:
https://collaborativecompositions.com/21-ai-prompts-to-supercharge-your-govcon-bd-engine/
AI Prompt Guide for Federal Contractor Marketing
https://collaborativecompositions.com/ai-prompt-guide-for-federal-contractor-marketing/
View all episodes
By Chelsea RobertsWhat happens when a Special Operations veteran decides the future of national defense depends on creativity?
In this Success After Service (SAS) Special Episode of GovCon Unscripted, Chelsea Roberts sits down with Daniel Gomez, Founder & CEO of First Person Xperience, to explore why creativity is rewarded on the battlefield, but punished in garrison. And why that mindset gap may be costing more than we realize.
From Civil Affairs and JSOU instruction to building immersive national defense simulations, Danny shares how experiential learning, controlled failure, and scenario design can reshape how the defense community prepares for future conflict.
They discuss:
- Why we’re always preparing for yesterday’s war
- The failure of imagination cited in the 9/11 report
- How immersive training changes retention and decision-making
- The AI experiment that left leaders “woefully unprepared”
- Why innovation gaps between adversaries matter
- Building The Lab: a national defense creativity engine
Timestamps:
02:15 – Danny’s transition from Active Duty to Founder
06:40 – What “First Person Experience” actually means
11:10 – Immersion vs. virtual training
16:35 – “Creativity is rewarded on the battlefield and punished in garrison”
22:20 – Fighting yesterday’s war
27:05 – The failure of imagination problem
31:40 – The AI scenario experiment (Project Genesis)
39:10 – Trust, control, and no-win futures
Resources:
Daniel Gomez's LinkedIn Profile
First Person Xperience Website
Chelsea Roberts's LinkedIn Profile
🎧 Listen now on:
🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482
🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy
Like and follow us:
🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS
🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/
🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/
Join our #govcon #community:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/
New to GovCon? Here’s a guide for you:
https://share.hsforms.com/288nO18bsRCCmdJZL66pClwbzmvx
21 AI Prompts to Supercharge Your GovCon BD Engine:
https://collaborativecompositions.com/21-ai-prompts-to-supercharge-your-govcon-bd-engine/
AI Prompt Guide for Federal Contractor Marketing
https://collaborativecompositions.com/ai-prompt-guide-for-federal-contractor-marketing/