First Breakfast

The American Tech Fellowship for Veterans

New Year, new cohorts—same mission.

Jan 9 • Shyam Sankar

9

1

December 2025

Our Freedom or Their Tyranny

An old Cold Warrior reminds us of the stakes of technology competition.

Dec 17, 2025 • Shyam Sankar

30

5

Stop Paying Contractors to Fail

How outcome-based contracting can fix government's broken incentives

Dec 4, 2025 • Daryl Wieland

24

3

November 2025

Do We Need to Bring Back the Navy Department?

Arthur Herman is Senior Research Fellow at the Civitas Institute, and author of Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II…

Nov 25, 2025 • Arthur Herman

26

4

Reform Without Purpose Is Just Motion

The Army needs to put doctrine ahead of requirements.

Nov 20, 2025 • Tom Balish

14

2

War Footing

The Secretary of War's speech was a rallying cry. Reformers must heed it.

Nov 13, 2025 • Shyam Sankar

28

4

The Unlikely Team That Built an Ironclad and Saved the Union

A disgraced engineer, a young financier, and a risk-taking bureaucrat can teach us about defense innovation.

Nov 11, 2025 • Scarlett Swerdlow

26

5

The CDC America Needs

Built for war, the CDC has forgotten how to fight.

Nov 6, 2025 • Matthew McKnight

11

2

Modernizing Prize Courts for Letters of Marque in the United States

How an overlooked constitutional tool could help the United States respond to a changing world order.

Nov 4, 2025 • Aiden Buzzetti

14

October 2025

Hugh Dowding's Air Defense Revolution

Heretical thinking and a cutting-edge system proved the bomber won't always get through.

Oct 30, 2025 • Yoel Margolis

20

2

Logistics Wins Wars. Drones Can Help.

Cargo drones can usher in an age of decentralized supply.

Oct 28, 2025 • Kevin King

20

1

The Spectrum Imperative

Control of the spectrum will decide who sees, who acts, and who wins.

Oct 23, 2025 • Mark Trefgarne and Nathan Mintz

27

4