SOFWERX: Innovation at U.S. Special Operations Command (Abridged)

James "Hondo" Geurts, the Acquisition Executive for U.S. Special Operations Command was in the middle of his Senate confirmation hearing in 2017 to become Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. Overseeing acquisitions in one of the most secretive parts of the U.S. military, Geurts had founded SOFWERX, an open platform to diversify and speed the rate of new ideas into Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, and the like. His approach helped source the idea for the EZ-Fly, a hoverboard, from a YouTube video. At his confirmation hearing, the Senators’ questions had a common theme: How should things like SOFWERX and protypes like the EZ-Fly find a place within the Navy writ large? How would Geurts's experience running an innovative procurement effort for U.S. Special Forces units enable him to change a much larger—and much more rigid—organization like the U.S. Navy?