Chief Warrant Officer 2 Chris Tweedy, assigned to Fox Company, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, organizes welcome statements during the Hacking for Defense problem-sourcing seminar Oct. 19 at Fort Hood. Soldiers used collaborative exercises to identify operational challenges and document potential areas for improvement.
Photos by Pfc. Deviana Rodriguez, III Armored Corps Public Affairs
Soldiers from 1st Medical Brigade and 1st Air Cavalry Brigade participated in the Hacking for Defense (H4D) problem-sourcing seminars hosted by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) at Fort Hood on Oct. 19, to identify military capability gaps and develop potential solutions through university research.Through its Innovation with Academia program, DIU connects the Department of War with universities to develop forward-thinking solutions to military needs. The H4D seminar returned to Fort Hood for the fourth time this year to gather input directly from Soldiers and leaders for a program involving graduate students from 15 participating universities during the spring 2027 semester.
Capt. Adam Kopp, assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, participates in the Hacking for Defense problem-sourcing seminar Oct. 19 at Fort Hood. Kopp is also the 1st Air Calvary H4D ambassador and helped with the workshop portion of the seminar.
Meaghanne Ruiz, H4D problem sourcing and curation lead for DIU, said the seminars help Soldiers and leaders identify innovation resources within their units while allowing them to share challenges that could benefit from outside perspectives.“Some of the best questions come from those that actually touch the equipment,” Ruiz said, “and different perspectives bring about the best solutions.”These graduate students come from diverse academic backgrounds to research operational challenges identified by military workshops. Student teams develop potential solutions ranging from research papers to prototypes.“These are graduate-level students who are looking at these problem statements for up to 60 hours a week,” Ruiz said. “So it’s an extension of the unit to be able to have more bandwidth.”
The morning seminar included 17 members of 1st Med. Bde. and focused on medical support gaps and operational challenges. The afternoon session focused on the 1st Air Cav. Bde. Both sessions began with an overview of H4D and its process for turning military challenges into problem statements. A program manager, a curation lead and two analysts then worked with Soldiers during group discussions to refine their concerns for university teams to research.Capt. Zachary Chapman, assigned to Fox Company, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cav. Bde., attended the seminar to represent his unit’s interests in Army modernization, particularly regarding unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).The seminar provided an opportunity to share concerns about UAS employment with organizations involved in modernization and innovation, Chapman said. He emphasized H4D provides civilian students insight into military operations, including research, development and the process of fielding new capabilities.“It definitely expands the horizons of those students,” Chapman said.DIU plans to collect 105 problem statements for the spring 2027 semester. The program is funded by DIU, allowing military units to participate in problem-sourcing seminars at no cost.Chapman said H4D provides units a way to communicate their needs and connect with organizations capable of advancing solutions.“H4D is an incredible apparatus by which units can relay their needs to an entity that is capable of affecting change and driving innovation,” Chapman said.
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