By David Maxwell
The U.S. Army is grappling with the emergence of agentic warfare—the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous systems, and algorithmically driven operations that promises to transform the conduct of war. But as the strategic community embraces the potential of this new battlespace, one essential truth must remain at the core of doctrine, organization, training, and culture: warfare is still a contest of wills fought by, through, and for human beings.
Agentic warfare may redefine the “how” of war, but it cannot replace the enduring “why.” That “why” is human. The purpose of war is, and always will be, to influence human behavior and political outcomes. From coercion to deterrence, from revolution to resistance, the center of gravity remains in the minds of people, not machines. This is especially true for Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF), whose legacy missions of unconventional warfare (UW) and foreign internal defense (FID) are now more relevant than ever.
The Promise and Pitfall of Agentic Warfare
The April 2025 War on the Rocks article “Agentic Warfare Is Here” outlined how autonomous, learning-enabled agents will shape future conflict. Agentic warfare offers unprecedented speed, scale, and adaptation in decision-making. It promises to dominate the information environment, exploit vulnerabilities in cyber and space, and outpace human cognition on the battlefield.
But what agentic warfare cannot do is understand the political, social, and cultural terrain in which wars are won or lost. It cannot build trust with a tribal elder in Helmand or inspire defiance in the heart of a North Korean dissident. It cannot establish legitimacy, nor can it command loyalty. Those remain human endeavors, the domain of hearts and minds, not silicon and sensors.
The New Triad: SOF, Cyber, and Space
As ARSOF integrates into the so-called new triad of SOF, cyber, and space, the opportunity lies in synergy, not substitution. Cyber and space assets enable precision and reach; AI and autonomy accelerate targeting and decision cycles; but SOF bring the cultural fluency, relational leverage, and moral authority that machines cannot replicate.
This triad must be harnessed not only for technological advantage, but also for strategic influence. The fusion of high technology with deep human engagement is the path to asymmetric advantage in the 21st century. It is SOF that connect the capabilities of cyber and space to the complex human terrain where political outcomes are forged.
The Enduring Missions: UW and FID in an Agentic Era
Amid the excitement around agentic warfare, ARSOF must not lose sight of its foundational missions: Unconventional warfare and foreign internal defense.
-Unconventional Warfare enables the right to self-determination of peoples under authoritarian control. It is the means by which the oppressed can resist domination and seek political freedom. UW is not obsolete; it is being modernized. From cyber-enabled resistance networks to AI-supported clandestine logistics, the UW mindset must be fused with emerging technologies—but never replaced by them.
-Foreign Internal Defense supports the sovereignty of partner nations threatened by internal instability or external subversion. FID is the antidote to the political warfare of revisionist powers like Russia, China, and Iran. It strengthens the institutional resilience of allies and helps inoculate them against gray zone aggression. FID remains a cornerstone of strategic competition.
Both missions are fundamentally human. They require persistent presence, cultural understanding, and influence operations that cannot be automated. In the words of Napoleon, “the moral is to the physical as three is to one,” and in today’s strategic environment, “the psychological is to the kinetic as ten is to one”.
The Human Domain Is Not Optional
As ARSOF evolve to harness agentic capabilities, they must institutionalize the human domain. This means preserving and advancing education and training in languages, regional expertise, cultural intelligence, and influence operations. It means valuing cognitive flexibility, narrative warfare, and the capacity to understand human motivation as highly as marksmanship or machine learning.
The USASOC white paper, SOF Support to Political Warfare (2015) rightly noted that “the ultimate center of gravity [is] the cognitive and affective fields of the Human Domain.” That insight is even more relevant now. The U.S. must wage political warfare just as deftly as its adversaries do.
And in political warfare, the decisive terrain is not code or satellites – it is belief, identity, and allegiance.
Organize, Train, and Educate for Both Futures
Agentic warfare is not an either/or proposition. The Army must embrace AI and autonomy while doubling down on its special warfare capabilities. To do this, ARSOF must:
-Institutionalize UW and FID in doctrine, leader development, and resource prioritization.
-Invest in influence: psychological operations, civil affairs, and information operations must be core, not peripheral.
-Educate the force in the fusion of technology and human terrain, including ethical AI, digital narrative shaping, and cross-domain operations.
Recommit to the two SOF trinities: Irregular Warfare, Unconventional Warfare, and support to Political Warfare; and Governance, Influence, and support to indigenous forces and populations.
The Human Will is the Final Objective
Agentic warfare will not make humans obsolete. It will make them more important than ever. Machines may accelerate war, but only people can win it.
ARSOF must lead the way in integrating agentic capabilities not as replacements, but as force multipliers in the enduring fight for human influence. Because in the end, the future of warfare may be more autonomous, but its objective will always be the will of people. And that is a fight only humans can win.