DEF2026
Humans in the Loop
The SOFt side of hard power
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Annual Gathering June 24th & 25th
Alexandria VA + DEF River House in MD
DAY 1
Hands On At Building Momentum
The DEF2026 Annual Gathering brings together the Virtuous Insurgency—entrepreneurs, technologists, economists, artists, policymakers, and civic builders shaping national security from the ground up. In an era of AI, autonomy, biotech, and exponential systems, 2026 returns to a first principle:
"Technology does not win wars.
People do." - they also start and finish them
Some of the players in the mix
PLAN OF ACTION
DEF2026 is built as a working convening, not a conference. Across two way moderated discussions, hands-on workshops, and applied labs, attendees will move through some of the harder and less discussed questions facing national security today — economic warfare, malign influence, bio-resilience, mineral sovereignty, and the industrial base.
Expect live pressure tests and fabrication on the shop floor. The objective of the day is to expose participants to those working behind the scenes moving the needle in critical national security focus areas that do not typically garner significant attention.
DAY 2
Retreat To The Woods
Day 2: The River House Forum
Location: The DEF River House on the Potomac
Attendance: Strictly Limited to 50 Invited Guests & Speakers
Building on the momentum of Day 1, the second day of DEF shifts from the shop to the shoreline.
Hosted at DEF's waterfront team house directly across the Potomac from historic Mount Vernon—this is a curated and relaxed environment designed for close quarter conversations in a high-trust environment.
The Agenda: Radical Candor
Over an Argentinian open-fire asado, guests will engage around:
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Economic Attrition & Warfare: Hardening the dollar and the trade route.
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Malign Influence: Countering sub-threshold gray zone operations.
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Bio-Resilience: The intersection of synthetic biology and borderless threats.
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Beyond Mineral Sovereignty: Securing the kinetic supply chain + processing and beyond
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The Industrial Base: Moving from "just-in-time" to "just-in-case."
Ticket cost: $350
*DEF is an all volunteer / donation based organization - all proceeds go to supporting convenings and DEF operations.
For Our Partners
Day 2 offers our sponsors a seat at a very specific table. This isn't about lead generation; it is about proximity. You will be integrated into a tightly held cohort of senior decision-makers, frontline operators, and strategic investors who are actively architecting the next decade of American resilience.
"The SOFt Side of Hard Power...every breakthrough, technical, operational, or strategic, lives or dies on the humans behind it."
IN THE COUNTRY
Spend the day with a smaller, curated delegation of subject matter experts, practitioners, strategists, and capital allocators for laid-back conversation and time to truly connect.
Alongside the open-fire feast, salon-style quick-hit briefs will spark new thinking — but above all, Day 2 is a chance to celebrate, share, and leverage DEF's greatest asset: the community.
Day 2 is capped at 50 people. Invites are going out shortly. If you wish to attend, please RSVP here. RSVP does not guarantee a ticket.
Get in the room.
DEF2026 is a working convening, not a conference — two days built around the harder and less comfertable questions in national security and the people solving them.
Sponsors don't just get visibility; they get a seat in the room and a role in shaping it with the operators, investors, policymakers, and builders architecting what comes next.
Every tier puts your mission alongside the Virtuous Insurgency — from the working sessions at Building Momentum to the invite-only VIP day at the River House. Slots are capped to protect the integrity of the room. Day 2 is limited to 50 seats. Once they're gone, they're gone.
Our Partners and Sponsors
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