Articles Due: December 8, 2025
Week Dates: January 5-9, 2026
Story Length: 1,5000-3,000 Words
Submit to: Content@cimsec.org

By Dmitry Filipoff

The U.S. Surface Warfare Officer community has operated on a generalist career path since 1899. SWOs are responsible for matters of both operational and material readiness, while the surface fleets of other navies, as well as some other U.S. naval warfare communities, have specialized career tracks. While SWO Warfare Tactics Instructors specialize in specific warfare areas, the vast majority of Surface Warfare Officers have no distinct specialization.

The career path of a community holds major implications for that community’s ability to raise its warfighting standards, and sets the limits of what knowledge and skill can be reasonably expected of its officers. A 2021 GAO study surveyed SWOs on the topic, and found that 65 percent believe specialized career paths would best prepare them for their duties, while 16 percent believed the current generalist model is best. That same year, the Surface Warfare Officer Leadership Enhancement Act was proposed by members of Congress and included specialized career tracks.

Arguments in favor of the generalist career path often claim it facilitates cross-functional expertise that better prepares SWOs for higher levels of responsibility. Arguments for specialization often claim that technical and tactical matters have reached a level of complexity that outstrips the ability of generalists to effectively keep pace with, resulting in officers who are too stretched thin to achieve higher readiness across multiple areas.

Should the U.S. Surface Warfare Officer community specialize? Is the generalist career track effectively pacing the threat environment and the growing complexity of surface platforms? How does the generalist track compare against the specialized tracks of other warfare communities and surface navies? Authors are invited to consider these questions and more as they weigh in on the SWO specialization debate.

Send all submissions to Content@cimsec.org.

Dmitry Filipoff is CIMSEC’s Director of Online Content. Contact him at Content@cimsec.org.

Featured Image: PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 12, 2017) The guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee (DDG 90), right, leads USS Stethem (DDG 63), the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) and USS Sampson (DDG 102) while transiting in formation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Cole Schroeder)

Stories Due: November 10, 2025
Week Dates: December 1-5, 2025
Story Length: 1,5000-3,000 Words
Submit to: Content@cimsec.org

By Dmitry Filipoff

In annual tradition, CIMSEC will be running a series of short stories looking to explore the nature of conflict and competition through fiction. 

Fiction has long served as a powerful means for exploring hypotheticals and envisioning alternatives. Authors can explore the future and flesh out concepts for how potential clashes and warfighting challenges may play out. They can probe the past, and use historical fiction to explore alternative histories. Authors are invited to craft gripping narratives that illuminate the unforeseen and carve realistic detail into visions of future conflict. 

Send all submissions to Content@cimsec.org.

For past CIMSEC Fiction Weeks, feel free to view our 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020 fiction lineups.

Dmitry Filipoff is CIMSEC’s Director of Online Content. Contact him at Content@cimsec.org.

Featured Image: Art generated by Midjourney AI. 

Articles Due: March 31, 2025
Series Dates: April 21-25, 2025
Article Length: 1,500-3,000 words
Send To: Content@cimsec.org.

By Dmitry Filipoff

The NATO alliance is facing an inflection point as the U.S. reconsiders its commitments. NATO navies must envision alternative futures where they may have to take on a much greater share of their collective defense. As the U.S. seeks a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine, NATO navies may have to brace for Russian threats on different terms.

How may NATO navies evolve in this changing context? How may threats from Russia in the maritime domain shift and present newfound challenges to NATO naval power? How can NATO navies strategize their roles in the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East amidst tensions with China and active combat operations in the Red Sea? Authors are invited to consider these questions and more as we consider the future of NATO’s naval power and maritime security.

Send all submissions to Content@cimsec.org.

Dmitry Filipoff is CIMSEC’s Director of Online Content. Contact him at Content@cimsec.org.

Featured Image: Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 ships and submarines sail in formation in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Sicily on February 21, 2022 during Exercise Dynamic Manta. (NATO photo) 

Responses Due: January 20, 2025
Special Series Dates: January 27-31, 2025
Response Length: 500 words
Send To: Content@cimsec.org.

By Dmitry Filipoff

A new administration is assuming office in the U.S. amidst many national security challenges. What does the incoming administration need to know about the state of U.S. naval power and necessary enhancements to it? What should the administration prioritize for maritime strategy and great power competition with China? What problems and reforms are most deserving of urgent consideration? What could the administration do to increase allied contributions to maritime security and the naval balance of power? Authors are invited to send short responses of 500 words to be featured in a special series of notes to the new administration. Responses should focus strictly on naval, maritime, and national security affairs to be considered. Send all responses to Content@cimsec.org.

(This is an independent CIMSEC initiative and is not being launched in partnership with any U.S. government entity.)

Dmitry Filipoff is CIMSEC’s Director of Online Content. Contact him at Content@cimsec.org.

Featured Image: PHILIPPINE SEA (Dec. 7, 2024) – The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) transits the Philippine Sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nate Jordan)