Ryan P. Hilger | U.S. Naval Institute

Lieutenant Commander Ryan P. Hilger, U.S. Navy, is an engineering duty officer assigned to Director, Strategic Systems Programs in Washington, D.C.

Articles by Ryan P. Hilger

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The Navy Must Hide in Plain Sight

By Lieutenant Commander Ryan Hilger, U.S. Navy

July 2021

Information Warfare Essay Contest—Second Prize Sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton. To survive on the digital battlefield, the Navy must embrace the cyber principle of steganography.

The service needs a system in which organizations and people work together to develop winning strategies and operational concepts for 21st-century naval warfare.

The Navy Must Rebuild the Ecosystem of Strategy

By Lieutenant Commander Ryan Hilger, U.S. Navy

November 2020

The Cold War Navy provides lessons on developing warfighting strategies and educating military strategists.

Carrier and aviation experimentation and innovations spearheaded by Admiral Joseph Reeves in the 1920s made possible the large, crowded carrier decks and dive-bombers vital to U.S. success in World War II.

Let Sailors Be Tactical Incubators

By Lieutenant Commander Ryan Hilger, U.S. Navy

June 2020

The Navy should heed the 1920s lessons of Admiral “Bull” Reeves and allow sailors to rapidly innovate and deploy unmanned systems.

USS Pioneer (MCM-9) observes a controlled explosion during exercises with the Royal Thai Navy

The Navy Needs Agile Mine Warfare

By Lieutenant Commander Ryan Hilger, U.S. Navy

October 2019

New offensive and defensive mine warfare capabilities will be needed to win in a future fight with China.

An artist's rendering of a 20-ton hybrid airship operating in a remote area.

Airships? Yes, Really!

By Lieutenant Commander Ryan P. Hilger, U.S. Navy

May 2019

Hybrid airships have the potential to transform military logistics, command-and-control, and surveillance and reconnaissance.