From Arrowheads to Algorithms

The same hands that knapped the obsidian, forged the iron, and shaped the lead that armed America's earliest soldiers are the hands that today write the code, build the runways, and secure the networks that defend her.

As the nation marks its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, we want to include a chapter to the American story that too often gets left out of the founding narrative: Native Americans have stood with this country's defense for every one of those 250 years.

And that tradition didn't pause with the 20th century. Native Americans have served in the U.S. armed forces at higher per capita rates than any other ethnic group in the country. Our communities have sent sons and daughters to Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and they continue to deploy today.

Bering Straits Native Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation, subsidiaries Global Asset Technologies, LLC (GAT) and Arcticom, LLC have proudly been performing Navy Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) Training & Support Services since December of 2011. This program is an essential part of training the elite Navy Seal teams.

BUD/S is broken down into three distinct phases, where our companies provide the trainers. The first phase is seven weeks long and primarily trains students in endurance, strength and mental toughness. The second phase is eight weeks long and centers on scuba diving requirements to become a Special Operations Combat Diver. And the third Phase is nine weeks long and focuses on weapons qualifications, demolitions, small unit tactics and mission planning.

These projects, amongst so many others, illustrate our commitment to working directly with the Armed Services.

Since 2016, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation’s Command Holdings team has helped the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) prepare for some of the nation’s most critical missions. Working behind the scenes, they support the planning, coordination, and execution of the large-scale training exercises that ensure America’s most elite military forces are ready for any challenge, anywhere in the world.

With more than 180 highly cleared professionals operating across 13 locations, Command Holdings helps bring together military leaders, special operations forces, cyber experts, and partner organizations to train as they would fight in real-world situations. Our teams have played a key role in major exercises such as Emerald Warrior, Raven, Trident, Sage Eagle, and Jaded Thunder, helping thousands of personnel sharpen their skills, improve coordination, and strengthen mission readiness.

These exercises help ensure that special operations forces can respond effectively to evolving global threats. From counterterrorism operations to cyber defense and information warfare, our experts help military leaders practice complex scenarios before they happen in the real world. This work ensures that today's warfighters are prepared not only on land, sea, and air, but also in the increasingly important digital battlefield.

In an era of evolving threats and complex global challenges, the DoW needs every capable partner contributing to readiness and resilience. Native federal contractors deliver niche expertise, rapid response capability, and cost efficiency that larger firms cannot always match. That breadth is not a weakness, but a strategic advantage.

The SBA's 8(a) Business Development Program has been the engine behind much of this progress, enabling Native entity-owned firms to compete for and deliver mission-critical work across the Department of War. From cybersecurity and logistics to advanced engineering, 8(a) contractors are not just participants in America's defense industrial base. They are increasingly indispensable to it.

If the defense industrial base becomes overly consolidated, agility suffers. Innovation slows. Options narrow. That is not in the best interest of the warfighter, nor in the best interest of our nation.

As America 250 invites every American to reflect on our nation's past and shape its future, we ask that the country remember a simple truth: Native people have been defending this land longer than the United States has existed, and we have been defending the United States since the moment it was founded. The form of service has evolved from scouts to Code Talkers, from soldiers to software engineers, from arrowheads to algorithms, but the commitment has not.

Two hundred and fifty years in, the metal still matters. So do the hands that shape it. We've answered the call to defend America, and we'll answer the next 250 years of calls the same way: with skill, service, and results.

image; Members of the Ho-Chunk Nation perform a song to celebrate Native American veterans at the 40th Annual Descendants of Red Arrow Veterans Day Pow-Wow. The Descendants of Red Arrow celebrated their 40th Veterans Day Pow-Wow Nov. 11 at Volk Field in honor of 28 Native Americans who served in the Wisconsin National Guard’s Company D, 128th Infantry, 32nd Division during World War I. Wisconsin National Guard photo by Capt. Brian Faltinson