A team of six Johns Hopkins graduate students competed against 22 teams from leading military and civilian institutions at the Fifth Annual Strategy Competition hosted by the Army War College from April 23-25, 2026, in Carlisle, Pa.
Representing the JHU MA in Global Security Studies and MS in Intelligence Analysis programs, students Andrew King, Mark Nelson, Ishaan Sandhu, Knox Schlossberg, Zane Tremmel, and John Zisis developed a comprehensive strategy addressing counterterrorism in sub-Saharan Africa. The team competed under the guidance of faculty coaches Stephen Grenier and Kathryn Fisher, director and assistant program director of Global Security Studies, respectively.
The competition was held at the invitation of Celestino Perez, chair of executive and strategic leadership at the U.S. Army War College.
Participating institutions included representatives from the Army War College, National War College, West Point, Columbia University, the College of International Security Affairs, University of Southern Florida, and École de Guerre in Paris.
Perez emphasized the real-world stakes of strategic decision-making.
“Strategy formulation and assessment requires due diligence,” Perez said. “Decisions to use military power in any way, from security assistance to lethal targeting, demand rigorous analysis and creativity. The stakes – service members’ lives, noncombatants’ lives, treasury, reputation – are too high to do otherwise.”
“The competition provided an exceptional opportunity for our students to combine their strengths as a team to tackle a challenging security problem, while learning from peers at other military and civilian institutions,” Fisher said. “They worked really hard and did a terrific job presenting their strategy on cooperative containment and degradation. We are grateful for the invitation and to Sarah O’Byrne, Director of JHU’s Center for Data Analytics, Policy, and Government, for helping provide this experience.”
For many students, the experience offered both an academic challenge and an opportunity to build professional relationships.
“One of my biggest takeaways was how well our team came together despite having never met in person before,” Tremmel said. “We showed up day one and were able to function as a team from the start, while many of the other teams have been working together for months. The competition pushed us to work through a complex strategic problem in a short amount of time and turn our analysis into clear recommendations.”
Tremmel also highlighted the value of networking with fellow competitors, judges, and military professionals.
“The team is excited to build upon the relationships formed during the competition as we look to establish a strategy club that can continue tackling challenging problem sets and compete in future events,” he said.
Zisis described the experience as both challenging and rewarding.
“I really enjoyed my time at the competition and am grateful for the opportunity,” Zisis said. “It was a very humbling, in the best way. I walked away with a greater appreciation for the demands of strategy formulation and for the pressure and difficulty that policy makers face. It was also a very fun networking opportunity.”
The teams representing the U.S. Army War College and Marine Corps War College advanced to the finals, with the Army team winning final selection by judges Army MG (Ret.) Brad Gericke, Marine Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Mark Faulkner, Col. Pat Sullivan, Frank Hoffman, Risa Brooks, Nancy Gallagher, and Boris Levin.