Hi, this is Dan White,
Just checking in to say there will be no Weekly Significant Activity Report this week due to Halloween.
The next Weekly Significant Activity Report will be on November 7. The Homeland Security Brief for October will be released in the first week of November as well.
I also want to share a few updates:
UPDATES:
New Milestone:
This past month OPFOR Journal hit a noteworthy milestone by crossing 100 published pieces. To put that in perspective, those 100 posts amount to more than 200,000 words and 1,000 hours of work over the past year and a half.
That is writing done the hard way and without shortcuts. Writing done late at night and into the early hours of the morning every weekend (and frequently during the week as well). Writing done while traveling across three continents. And in one instance, writing done on a hotel bathroom floor during a stop on a cross-country road trip, so I wouldn’t wake my sleeping daughter.
In short, it is much more writing than I expected when I started OPFOR Journal as a passion project in the wake of the mass federal layoffs in the spring of 2025.
It is work that simply wouldn’t be possible week in and week out without the support and encouragement of my wife, Elin—the person I always write to impress most of all.
I have additionally enjoyed tremendous support and encouragement from the following places: the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security; the alumni network of The Wilson Center, The Kennan Institute, and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; and Small Wars Journal.
And most of all, thank you all for continuing to read and subscribe. I am constantly thinking of how to improve and create something of genuine value for all readers. I hope the next 100 posts are better than the first 100.
New Experiments:
In the spirit of continuous improvement, expect to see some upcoming experiments with new ideas and new offerings. The first of these, the Arsenal of Autocracy, debuted earlier this month.
Arsenal of Autocracy - October 2026
This brief highlights significant developments in Chinese, Russian, Iranian, and North Korean defense innovation and defense industrial capacity observed between September 15, 2026 and October 15, 2026.
The Arsenal of Autocracy is being tested as a monthly open-source intelligence summary of developments in Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and North Korean defense technology and industry. I would like to hear your feedback on this new offering.
Weekly Significant Activity Reports will also feature slight changes in their format in the future in order to better account for recurring significant activities. The new format will include better and more regular tracking of key data that can be used to assess balance of power dynamics in regional frontlines and flashpoints, including territory seized by Russian forces; numbers of Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities; Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz; air and maritime incursions near Taiwan; and others.