Bringing Military, Academia And Industry Together At Fort Bragg’s Joint Innovation Outpost

BRINGING MILITARY, ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY TOGETHER AT FORT BRAGG’S JOINT INNOVATION OUTPOST

by Maj. Matthew St. Clair

In alignment with the Department of War’s 2026 National Defense Strategy and the Army Transformation Initiative (ATI), Fort Bragg and the XVIII Airborne Corps officially opened the Lt. Gen. James M. Gavin Joint Innovation Outpost (JIOP). This facility is designed to support the National Defense Strategy’s goal of supercharging the U.S. defense industrial base while following the ATI.

The first facility of its kind at the corps and operational levels, the JIOP serves as a central hub that bridges tactical and operational challenges with experts who can develop rapid, innovative solutions. It is a collaborative space where military personnel, academic partners and industry experts unite to solve modern battlefield problems.

A New Approach to Procurement

Traditionally, innovation and procurement were centralized at the highest levels of the Army, primarily through the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)). Their mission is to modernize the U.S. Army by developing and delivering capabilities to deter adversaries and win our nation’s wars. However, this process was often hindered by layers of bureaucracy.

At the Association of the United States Army 2025 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll highlighted the need to reform the lengthy acquisitions process. He noted that the inefficiencies of the traditional system “…enable our adversaries, and our adversaries are ruthless and relentless.” He added, “We cannot…wait to innovate until Americans are dying on the battlefield.”

The ATI is designed to streamline the procurement process while creating a leaner, more lethal and effective force to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing global security environment. Facilities like the JIOP are critical to this effort, enabling solutions to be developed at lower echelons by directly connecting the Soldier on the ground with teams that can create and field innovative technology.

Maj. Gen. Christopher Schneider, deputy for acquisition and systems management, ASA(ALT), described the shift in mindset. “It’s a complex system, and we’ve gotten away from our roots,” Schneider said. “It was all built to support being risk-averse, not about being risk-informed. As soon as you let your subordinate leaders operate in a risk-informed environment, the magic and overmatch we used to have … becomes real. Risk-informed innovation will happen here.”

Historically, “risk-averse” implies a fear of failure or avoiding failure at all costs. This “risk-informed” approach accepts that measured, calculated risks—and even some failures—can be part of a larger strategy for success. It also allows for the cancellation of obsolete programs that no longer meet the needs of a more modern and lethal Army.

Chloe Gavin, Lt. Gen. James M. Gavin’s daughter, commemorates the opening of the Joint Innovation Outpost dedicated to her father by being the first person to sign the visitor’s log on Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Jan. 23, 2026. The outpost is equipped with cutting-edge resources designed to foster creativity and solve problems in real time. (Photo by Spc. Darius Smith, 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

A Legacy of Innovation

The JIOP is named in honor of Lt. Gen. James Gavin, former commander of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment and then the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II. Gavin commanded Airborne Soldiers during pivotal battles in Italy, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The youngest division commander in U.S. Army history, at 37, Gavin already had an industrious career and is considered one of the pioneers in American Airborne operations, writing the official U.S. Army Field Manual 31-30: Tactics and Technique of Air-Borne Troops. To this day, he is also the only U.S. military general to have four combat jumps on his record.

In his post-World War II time in the Army, Gavin was promoted to Lt. Gen. and became the head of U.S. Army Research and Development. He went on to pioneer innovative concepts such as the use of helicopters to transport infantry and the development of the modern air cavalry.

“We are honored to name this facility after Lt. Gen. James Gavin, a true visionary who understood the importance of innovation,” said Lt. Gen. Greg Anderson, XVIII Airborne Corps commanding general. “The JIOP will carry on his legacy by fostering the kind of bold thinking and collaboration that he championed throughout his career.”

Rapid Solutions with Academia and Industry

The JIOP is uniquely designed to connect Soldiers at all levels with innovative teams from academia and industry. By linking end-users directly to development teams, technological solutions can be created, refined with feedback, and pushed through the acquisition system much faster than before.

In addition to rapid technological innovation, the JIOP strengthens ties between the U.S. Army, Fort Bragg and civilian partners.

“It’s great to see folks from industry and academia locking arms with our military,” said Rep. Richard Hudson, NC-09. “When a problem shows up in a training or deployment, you need a solution that works and you need it fast, and that’s what this Joint Innovation Outpost is all about.”

The sentiment was echoed by North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, who said, “The Joint Innovation Outpost represents exactly the kind of forward-thinking partnership that we need to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. You’re bridging between cutting edge technology and real-world operational needs.”

Although Fort Bragg traditionally maintains partnerships with the North Carolina education community, the JIOP solidifies and enhances these partnerships, intertwining people and ideas to support the warfighter.

“As a facility specifically designed to accelerate high impact innovation through collaboration across military, academia and the private sector, this outpost is an excellent embodiment of the innovation spirit that infuses the XVIII Airborne Corps,” said Darrell Allison, chancellor of Fayetteville State University.

The JIOP aligns all partners with the ATI, while collaborating on the same page toward a common goal of enhancing the American warfighter and winning the nations wars. Modern warfare is, “…driven by technology, and success is impossible without partnerships,” said Rob Braun, XVIII Airborne Corps chief technology officer. “The Lt. Gen. James M. Gavin Joint Innovation Outpost is an investment in that future, where we will develop and test cutting-edge capabilities while forging enduring new partnerships with the best of the military, industry and academia to meet the future head on.”

The Lt. Gen. James M. Gavin Joint Innovation Outpost on Fort Bragg, N.C. is home to the JIOP, a collaborative office space that will host defense industry, academia, military and tech leaders in one place that fosters innovation and speed to solve the most pressing issues for warfighters on the battlefield. (Photo by Maj. Jonathon Daniell)

XVIII Airborne Corps Innovation Initiatives

The JIOP is the most recent addition to XVIII Airborne Corps’ extensive line of innovation initiatives. In 2018, the XVIII Airborne Corps launched Dragon’s Lair, a talent-based innovation competition designed to ensure rapid technological evolution from the mind of any service member. Similar to the television show Shark Tank but with a military flair, Soldiers pitch innovative technological solutions to problems they currently face both on and off the battlefield. Recent winners developed a light, modular drone case that can be deployed with any airborne paradrop around the world.

“Programs like Dragon’s Lair give service members a platform to pitch solutions from the field,” added Hudson. “Promoting programs like this and empowering warfighters to innovate is how you build an Army that adapts faster than our adversaries.”

Additionally, the XVIII Airborne Corps runs a series of tri-annual exercises called Scarlet Dragon. Scarlet Dragon brings industry partners, sister services, and often coalition allies together to test new technology in a field environment. “Scarlet Dragon is our innovation exercise,” added Braun. “We’re focused on bringing in new technologies and new approaches to solve operational capability gaps and requirements that we derive from different operational plans around the globe.”

With the addition of the JIOP, the XVIII Airborne Corps can now serve as a rapid, three-phase “risk-informed” innovation hub for ATI.

• Phase 1: The Dragon’s Lair competition takes ideas and innovative solutions from Soldiers at the ground level and feeds them into the JIOP.
• Phase 2: Once received at the JIOP, these, along with other problems from the field, are given to teams of military, academia and industry to further develop, test and refine solutions.
• Phase 3: As the JIOP teams are ready to move forward, the innovations and solutions can be tested in the Scarlet Dragon series of exercises.

If it fails in Scarlet Dragon, the innovation or solution can go back to the drawing board at the JIOP. If it succeeds, it can be fast-tracked to ASA(ALT) for rapid procurement across the Army. When previous development and procurement cycles could take years to accomplish, the JIOP and XVIII Airborne Corps’ process help shorten that timeframe to a matter of months.

CONCLUSION

“The opening of the JIOP marks a pivotal moment for the XVIII Airborne Corps and the Army,” said Anderson. “It is a clear signal that we are open for business and ready to partner with anyone who can help us accelerate the delivery of game-changing capabilities to our Soldiers.”

Aligning with the 2026 National Defense Strategy and ATI, the JIOP will serve as a keystone in spurring future Army transformation while working with civilian partners to invigorate the U.S. industrial base. It helps enable innovation and rapid transformation from the lowest echelon and linking up to ASA(ALT).

“The JIOP is the face of Army transformation,” said Schneider. “This place is going to lead the Army in how we transform.”

For more information, contact Maj. Matthew St. Clair at matthew.l.stclair2.mil@army.mil.

Maj. Matthew St. Clair is a public affairs officer with the XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He holds an M.A. in intelligence studies and operations from American Military University and a B.A. in political science and history from Ohio University.