Pentagon memo lays out Autonomous Warfare Command setup
An Oct. 19, 2026 memo by Owen West and Max Strasiser discusses Project Agincourt and the process for creating Autonomous Warfare Command. West and Strasiser are the chief executive and chief operating officer of the Direct Reporting Program Manager for Uncrewed Systems office.
The document is dated Oct. 19, 2026, and Inside Defense posted it two days later as a Defense Department memo about the AUTOWARCOM setup process. It identifies Owen West and Max Strasiser as the chief executive and chief operating officer, respectively, of the Direct Reporting Program Manager for Uncrewed Systems office.
The memo addresses Project Agincourt and the steps for establishing Autonomous Warfare Command. The accessible page does not provide the memo’s full text; it also links to a related item saying Project Agincourt was pressing the Defense Department one week before a deadline.
The memo could affect how the Defense Department organizes autonomous systems work, shaping roles for acquisition staff, uncrewed-systems personnel, contractors, and military users. Because it points to a new command structure, it may also influence training, accountability, and congressional oversight. For the wider public, the visible debate over autonomous warfare may affect confidence in transparency and in how decisions about high-risk systems are reviewed. These effects are potential, not established by the excerpt.