Mission

Inspired by its namesake, the Brute Krulak Center for Innovation & Future Warfare enables an interdisciplinary approach to complex problem solving, fosters an environment that enhances our collective warfighting capability, and facilitates and encourages novel solutions to current and future warfighting challenges in order to expand the Corps’ competitive edge and improve our warfighting effectiveness.

Vision

In step with General Gray's vision and MCU's strategic plan, the Krulak Center is viewed as an indispensable asset to MCU and the wider Marine Corps, is utilized to its capacity as a research support center, and serves as an incubator of academic innovation and mentation. We are widely recognized throughout the Corps and beyond as a critical and creative thinking Center and integrator.

Read the official Krulak Center Charter HERE.

Faculty

Director of The Krulak Center:  Ms. Valerie Jackson

Valerie Jackson has more than three decades in federal service, principally as a United States Marine. As the Director of the Krulak Center, she leads a civilian and military team that creates programming and opportunities for all University students and faculty, Marines in the Fleet, and our partner countries and organizations. Before coming to the Krulak Center, she was an arbitrator and non-profit board member in Dallas, Texas. Her areas of expertise include conflict management and resolution, civil-military operations, international relations, and strategic studies. She has led and commanded Marine units throughout her military career and served on various staffs and in instructor roles. She continues to lead the Krulak Center as an educational and operational tool for both the Service and our Allies and Partners in preparation for the future fight.

Director of Middle East Studies:  Dr. Amin Tarzi

Dr. Tarzi’s areas of interest include the Middle East and South/Central Asia—including the impact of regional policies in these regions on U.S. national security and interests, history and historical narratives, state-building and borderization, and counter- and nonproliferation of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems. He earned his Ph.D. and MA degrees from the Department of Middle East Studies at New York University, and earned his BA in philosophy and political science from Queens College in New York City.

Research Assistant Professor at Middle East Studies:  Dr. Christopher Anzalone

Dr. Anzalone studied at George Mason University, completing a B.A. double major in History and Religious Studies. He did graduate work at Indiana University, Bloomington, completing an M.A. in Near Eastern studies, and earned his doctorate through McGill University in Islamic Studies with a primary geographical focus on the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa (particularly East Africa), and additional research on South Asia. His main research focuses broadly on contemporary Islam and Muslim societies with a particular interest on Islamic political thought and different Muslim social and political movements. Dr. Anzalone has special interest in radical and militant Islamist movements and organizations, both Sunni and Shi'ite, and issues of sectarianism in Islam.

Director of Wargaming, Mr. Tim Barrick

Mr. Barrick served in the Marine Corps for 29 years, retiring as a colonel in spring 2021. He served in a wide range of billets including command of 1st Tank Battalion and the Marine Corps Tactics & Operations Group. He also served in key planning positions on the staffs of Marine Forces Japan, Marine Forces Europe & Africa, and deployed on three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He served as a brigade advisor team lead working with Afghan security forces in 2011-12. In his last tour on active duty, he was the Wargaming Director for the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, focused on analyzing future warfighting and the Marine Corps’ force design. He is also the lead designer for the Operational Wargame System and its Assassin’s Mace and Zapad game modules, which examine great power conflict at the tactical and operational levels of war. He is also a leading innovator for commercial wargaming tools in professional military education. He is a distinguished graduate of the Marine Corps War College and the Naval War College, and an honor graduate of the Amphibious Warfare School. He also served as the Director of Leaders & Ethics at the Marine Corps War College. In addition to his masters degrees from these PME schools, he also earned a master’s degree in Military Studies in Land Warfare from American Military University and is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy with a degree in Political Science.

Operations Officer, Major Nate "Kiwi" Jaenichen

Maj Jaenichen came to the Krulak Center from the MAGTF Staff Training Program, where he was the Aviation and Wargaming SME. He started his career as a CH-46E pilot stationed in Okinawa with HMM-265 doing multiple 31st MEU deployments and graduated from the Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course. He then transitioned to the UH-1Y and served with HMLA-469, HMLA-169 (where he deployed with VMM-161(REIN) on the 15th MEU), and was a part of the reestablishment of HMLA-775. Within the squadron, Maj Jaenichen shared his time between Operations and Maintenance. Prior to MSTP he was a student at the Army’s Command and General Staff College. He has a BS in History from the Naval Academy and a MS in Data Analytics from the University of Maryland. 

China SME, Mr. Dan Rice

Mr. Rice is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. He is also the Chief Operation Officer of the opensource geopolitical intelligence company Foreign Brief. Daniel is a graduate of the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and spent several years working and studying in China. He has spoken about China at various US military and international news organizations and is a regular guest on the Mitchell Institute’s Aerospace Advantage podcast. He is a fluent Mandarin speaker and speaks Spanish and Arabic. Daniel has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the George Washington University, a Graduate Certificate in International Relations from the Hopkins Nanjing Center, and an MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He has maintained HSK VI proficiency in Mandarin Chinese, was a bronze medalist in the 2013 Jiangsu Chinese Speech competition for the Greater DC area, and was a 2020 Presidential Management Fellowship Finalist.

Women, Peace, and Security SME, Ms. Melissa Mihocko

Ms. Mihocko served for 24 years in the Marine Corps, active and reserve, and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2016.  As a junior officer, she deployed on the USS Peleliu with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), the first West Coast MEU to integrate women. As a civil affairs officer, she deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina, where she worked as a civil-military liaison for Canadian, British, and Malaysian NATO forces during Operation Joint Guard, and to Kosovo in support of 26 MEU during Operation Joint Guardian. In 2003, Melissa deployed as a field historian to Iraq, where she supported I Marine Expeditionary Force during Operation Iraqi Freedom – 1. Upon returning, she mobilized for a year to research and write the historical monograph, U.S. Marines:  Combat Service Support During Operation Iraqi Freedom I (published in 2011), for Marine Corps History Division. She continued research and writing for History Division and submitted the manuscript, U.S. Marines:  The Changing Roles of Women During the Global War on Terrorism, which is currently in editing. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and spent several years working as a management consultant for Accenture Consulting in Washington, D.C.

Energy SME, Mr. Joseph "Buzz" Easterling

Russia SME, Mr. James Harvey

Mr. Harvey is a former US Army Lieutenant Colonel with over 10 years as a FAO focusing on the former Soviet Union. He deployed to Kosovo in 2002 with the Military Intelligence Bn in Wurzburg, Germany and to OIF with 3ID in 2007-08. He spent time at the US Embassies in Kyiv and Moscow as well as other Russia related assignments such as Presidential Translator, Pentagon Joint Staff, and an Analyst at the Russia Strategic Initiative in Stuttgart, Germany. Mr. Harvey has published articles on Eurasian military, geo-political, and culture issues through the Foreign Military Studies Offices in Fort Leavenworth, KS.

Non-Resident Fellows

LtCol Leo Spaeder, USMC

LtCol Spaeder is a Logistics Officer who deployed to Iraq in 2008 with 1/4 and to to Afghanistan in 2010 with RC-SW. He served on I&I duty with MWSS-472 before transferring to CLR-2 and deployed to Liberia and served as a Logistics Advisor to the Armed Forces of Liberia's Logistics Command. After deployment, LtCol Spaeder took command of Motor Transport Company A, 2d Transportation Support Battalion before becoming the battalion operations officer. In June 2018, he gradated from the School of Advanced Warfare and then served as a planner at the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab and then Deputy Operations Officer in the LCE Integration Division at Capability Development Directorate. In these two roles, he spent most of his time enabling the wargaming for Force Design 2030 or leading the FD2030 implementation cell for logistics. He then spent a year at the MAGTF Staff Training Program as a MAGTF Logistics Instructor. He is currently the Commanding Officer of 3rd Transportation Battalion. He has been published in War on the Rocks and the Marine Corps Gazette and has graduate degrees from Villanova University, Naval Postgraduate School, and Marine Corps University.

Dr. Kelly Grieco

Expertise - US Grand Strategy, Defense Policy, Airpower, Coalition Warfare, China, Future War

Affiliations - Stimson Center, Georgetown, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mr. Drake Long

Drake Long is a Pacific Forum Young Leader and an analyst with the Department of Defense, focused on examining territorial disputes. He previously covered maritime disputes in the South China Sea for Radio Free Asia, and still writes on the topic occasionally for such outlets as 9DASHLINE, the Diplomat, and the Center for International Maritime Security. He recently authored a chapter on new seabed disputes in the volume 'Maritime Cooperation and Security in the Indo-Pacific: Essays in Honor of Sam Bateman,' and is currently writing a book on emerging issues around the exploitation and weaponization of the seabed for MCUPress. He received his MA in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University in 2020.

Dr. Elena Wicker

Dr. Elena Wicker is a Presidential Management Fellow at U.S. Army Futures Command. She completed her Ph.D. in International Relations at Georgetown University in 2022. Her dissertation “The Words That Matter: Terminology and Performance in the U.S. Army” focused on the history of U.S. military lexicography and the bureaucratic politics and power of jargon, terminology, and buzzwords. Dr. Wicker previously worked for the RAND Corporation and the Defense Intelligence Agency. Her work has been published in War on The Rocks, the Strategy Bridge, and Modern War Institute.

LtCol Zach Ota

Expertise - National Security Affairs, PME, Littoral Operations, Indo-Pacific, Allies & Partners, Security Cooperation, and Military History

Affiliations - Naval Postgraduate School, Marine Corps Tactics and Operations Group, Davis Defense Group Adjunct Faculty

Mr. Preston McLaughlin, Col USMC (Ret)

Mr. McLaughlin is a retired Marine colonel who helped stand up the Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Company, spent time with IIIMEF, MARFORPAC, Joint War Fighting Center, and at Marine Corps University. He was the CO of Combat Assault Battalion and of the Marine Corps Security Force Regiment. After retirement, he has been part of the faculty at The Citadel, Daniel Morgan Graduate School, US Army War College, and Texas A&M University. He is also affiliated with the Irregular Warfare Center.

James "Pigeon" Fielder

Dr. James "Pigeon" Fielder joined CSU as an Adjunct Professor after retiring from the U.S. Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel and Associate Professor of Political Science at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Dr. Fielder was also an intelligence professional with leadership experience ranging from U.S. Army electronic warfare squad leader to Numbered Air Force Division Chief. Dr. Fielder has taught a variety of international relations and comparative politics courses, the USAFA wargame design course, and a special topics course on analyzing fantasy and science fiction political systems using international relations theory. He researches interpersonal trust and emergent political processes through cyber-based interaction, and through tabletop, live-action, and networked gaming as natural experiments. He has over two decades of experience designing, executing, and assessing training exercises and wargames. CONTACT: james.fielder@colostate.edu

LtCol Austin Duncan, USMC

Expertise - PME, AI Applications, Intelligence, Communications Strategy, Technology Information

Affiliations - IMEF MIG, DARPA Service Chiefs Fellow, Davis Defense Group / MCU Adjunct Faculty

Mrs. Amparo Pamela Fabe

Expertise - WPS, Irregular Warfare, Counterterrorism, Terrorism Financing, INDOPACOM

Affiliations - Philippine Public Safety College, National Police College of the Philippines, and CEO Indo-Pacific Alliance Corps

Dr. Joanna Siekiera

Dr. Joanna Siekiera is an international lawyer, legal advisor, and Doctor of Public Policy from Poland. She works as a Subject Matter Expert for various military institutions, primarily the NATO Centers of Excellence. Dr. Siekiera did her postdoctoral research on legal consequences of ocean change in Oceania at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen, Norway, and Ph.D. studies on Pacific regionalism at the Faculty of Law, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Her areas of expertise are law of armed conflict (lawfare, legal culture in armed conflict, NATO legal framework) and the Indo-Pacific region, Pacific law, maritime security. She is the author of over 100 scientific publications in several languages, 40 legal opinions for the Polish Ministry of Justice, the book “Regional Policy in the South Pacific”, the editor of 7 monographs on international law, international relations, and security.

LtCol Arun Shankar, USMC

Expertise - Operations Research, Tactical Communications, Operational Planning

Affiliations - Hoover Institution, Stanford University, George Mason University, Naval Postgraduate School, Military Operations Research Society 

Rosella Cappella Zielinski

Rosella Cappella Zielinski is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Boston University who specializes in study of political economy of security with an emphasis on how states mobilize their resources for war. Her specific research interests include war finance, defense budgets, military spending and inequality, economics of alliances, and coalitions in battle. Her book How States Pay for Wars (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2016), is the winner of the 2017 American Political Science Association Robert L. Jervis and Paul W. Schroeder Best Book Award in International History and Politics. Her other works can be found in the Journal of Peace Research, Conflict Management and Peace Science, Security Studies, European Journal of International Relations, Journal of Global Security Studies, as well as Foreign Affairs, Texas National Security Review, and War on the Rocks. Her current research projects examine collective action among co-belligerents in wartime. Grown From War: Allied Economic Cooperation in World War I (with Paul Poast) explores how wartime coalition members coordinate supply, the institutions set up to facilitate coordination, and the legacies of these institutions one the war ends. We begin our story with World War I and unpack the legacy of allied economic cooperation. Belligerents in Battle (with Ryan Grauer) explores the conditions under which wartime coalition members fight together in battle. We argue that war aims, stakes of the immediate battle, and logistical capacity shape when coalition members share battle space and fight together. She can be readhed at: Rosella.cappella@gmail.com. 

Non-Resident Fellows Program

We are not currently taking applications for Non-Resident Fellows. We expect to solicit for the next cohort in 2025 with an start time in Summer 2025.

Intent

The Brute Krulak Center is a "think tank/do tank" at Marine Corps University (MCU) focused on creating enhanced educational opportunities for students and faculty engaged in Professional Military Education (PME). Our mission is to enable an interdisciplinary approach to support all students and faculty through complex problem solving, fostering an environment that enhances our collective warfighting capability, and facilitating and encouraging novel solutions to current and future warfighting challenges to expand the Corps' competitive edge and improve our warfighting effectiveness. The support provided by the first "cadre" of Krulak Center Non-Resident Fellows recruited in 2020 vastly exceeded our expectations, and we are excited to see what impact this new group has on our students, faculty, and programs!

Support opportunities for Krulak Center Non-Resident Fellows include, but are not limited to: participation in our annual Innovation Summit; supporting instruction at MCU by guest lecturing during one campus visit, and/or virtually contributing to Krulak Center events; providing mentorship and judging for writing competitions; contributing to our #BruteCast webcast series; and facilitating or providing subject matter expertise to wargame events. All Krulak Center Non-Resident Fellows will have the ability to collaborate with MCU staff, faculty and the Marine Corps University Foundation, participate in wargames, and more! Finally, as we are a center of innovation, Non-Resident Fellows are always welcome to suggest additional avenues of contribution, so if you have a good idea, just ask us!

All published materials by Krulak Center Non-Resident Fellows will attribute an affiliation with the Krulak Center and Marine Corps University somewhere on the publication. There are opportunities to publish with the Journal of Advanced Military Studies, Marine Corps University Press, and MCU's online PME portal The Landing. We also encourage and support publication in the Marine Corps Gazette and various other outlets supported by military services.

For this new group of Non-Resident Fellows, specific areas of expertise or research we are looking for include: naval warfare and naval integration; educational wargaming; emerging and future advanced technologies; strategic competition; Women, Peace, and Security programming; and areas of future warfare.

Requirements

• Generate new knowledge and contribute to debates related to the Marine Corps and the mission of Marine Corps University.

• Publish at least one opinion essay or article in a major publication (online or in print) that bears directly on innovation and future warfare questions.

• Visit MCU or virtually contribute once per year to support the Innovation Summit, MCU courses, research programs, or webcast/lecture series.

• Include a standard disclaimer that all publications are the opinion of the author.

• Individuals accepted as Non-Resident Fellows must be willing to serve in that capacity for a period of 2 years, fulfilling the annual requirements once per year as outlined above.

• Non-Resident Fellows from the first cadre are welcome to re-apply!

Application

Applicants should send a curriculum vitae, writing sample, and a statement detailing how they, as prospective Fellows, will support the missions of MCU and the Krulak Center during their tenure. Applications will be accepted from 27 February - 28 April, 2023. The Krulak Center will announce the roster of selected Non-Resident Fellows no later than 31 May, 2023, and those selected as Fellows will begin their period of responsibility on 12 June, 2023. We will be selecting 12 Non-Resident Fellows for this new cadre. Submit your application to the_krulak_center@usmcu.edu. Thank you in advance for your interest, and we look forward to receiving your applications!

Community of Interest

If interested in becoming a part of the Krulak Center team and joining our vast array of partners in industry, academia, start-ups, corporations, small businesses, non-profits, and government agencies / entities, send a message to The_Krulak_Center@usmcu.edu. 

Stay abreast of all of our events by requesting to be added to our distribution list and follow us on X (formerly Twitter), @TheKrulakCenter. Be sure also to check out and subscribe to our YouTube channel for fascinating insights into the future of military education and warfare, by following our weekly releases of BruteTalks and BruteCasts, sharing the latest in innovative thought!