Gen. Larry D. Welch Deterrence Writing Award (Due 6/1/26) | Strategic Command Academic Alliance

Key Takeaways

• Deadline June 1 2026 for junior and senior deterrence papers
• Junior winners published in JPWS; senior winners in Joint Force Quarterly
• Papers judged on relevance, argument quality, future deterrence implications
• Topics span nuclear stability, AI, spectrum warfare, and multi‑actor deterrence

Pulse Analysis

USSTRATCOM’s strategic deterrence agenda has increasingly turned to academia to capture novel insights on a rapidly evolving threat landscape. By launching the Gen. Larry D. Welch Deterrence Writing Award, the command formalizes a bridge between scholars and practitioners, inviting rigorous analysis of everything from two‑nuclear‑peer dynamics to the role of artificial intelligence in nuclear command and control. The competition’s dual‑track structure—junior and senior—ensures that emerging voices at the master’s level and seasoned researchers alike can contribute, while the promise of publication in respected outlets like the Journal of Peace & War Studies and Joint Force Quarterly adds a career‑building incentive.

Beyond the prestige, the award aligns with USSTRATCOM’s four focus areas: security environment, deterrence and escalation maneuver, assurance and extended deterrence, and emerging technologies. Submissions are expected to address concrete policy questions—such as how electromagnetic‑spectrum denial could destabilize crisis decision‑making or how integrated non‑nuclear capabilities might reinforce extended deterrence commitments to allies. By mandating Chicago‑style citations and a 4,000‑5,000‑word limit, the competition also reinforces scholarly rigor, ensuring that winning papers can be readily incorporated into the command’s analytic products and strategic reviews.

For the broader defense and academic communities, the award signals a growing demand for interdisciplinary expertise that blends political science, engineering, and data science. As AI, 5G/6G communications, and hypersonic weapons reshape the strategic calculus, fresh research will help policymakers anticipate "known unknowns" and mitigate "unknown unknowns" in deterrence planning. Participants gain visibility, while USSTRATCOM secures a pipeline of evidence‑based recommendations that could shape future force postures, alliance architectures, and joint all‑domain command and control concepts. The deadline of June 1 2026 marks a timely opportunity for scholars to influence the next generation of U.S. deterrence strategy.