The Fayetteville - Fort Liberty area was once again invited to explore the intersection of cutting-edge innovation, national security and transformative technologies at the 2025 TechNet Fort Liberty Symposium and Exposition. 

Produced and held annually by the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association International’s (AFCEA) North Carolina Chapter, the event is designed to bring together experts and leaders from across the Army and Fort Liberty to address the real-world issues that impact readiness and mission success. This year TechNet continued that mission and  brought together experts and leaders from across the county to address the real-world issues that impact readiness and mission success.

Featuring more than 1,400 registrants, over 130 local and out of state exhibitors and the return of the TechNet Resource and Career fair with over 50 companies and organizations looking to recruit their future workforce, the three day event was a golden opportunity for growth. 

TechNet 2025 featured 26 panel discussions and breakout sessions with topics ranging from “Anti- reflective structured surfaces for high power laser applications” to “It’s all about the data; How to approach data security in the age of AI and data centricity.” 

TechNet 2025 highlighted the need for secure and fast communication not only for the warfighter, but for human interest as well. Panel discussions provided a spotlight for human rights organizations such as the nonprofit ALLTRU, whose representatives were featured on a panel during the first day. 

ALLTRU defines itself as “a living legacy, led by women of the Special Operations community” working to uphold the ideals fought for by their fallen teammates and build a “first-of-its-kind global network and innovative programs that create high-impact connections, sustain and amplify leadership and unlock purpose and potential, for this generation and generations to come.” 

ALLTRU works to unite both women and men warriors to lead, inspire and win, giving them an annual place to gather and become better, stronger leaders, inspire the next generation and continue to work on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) legislation. 

Panelists included ALLTRU Role Models Rebecca Tubman, Kyra Thomas and return TechNet panelist Malia Carson who discussed their work with the nonprofit and the importance of communication on all levels across their worldwide network. 

“One thing we see is warriors in our culture kind of look like, people with weapons or soldiers. But in other countries, like in Afghanistan, it's women with pens. So this change maker aspect, these warriors, look very differently in different countries around the world,” shared Carson. “Afghanistan was our first partnership working with women learning and continuing to be educated, even under the Taliban, and amplifying that, bringing digital tools in so that they can continue their education. Now, we're seeing that this model works, it is advancing national security and we can do it in other countries as well. And because we have this robust network of soft women, women in special operations that are all over the world, they are able to illuminate to us, like, ‘Hey, here's this change maker getting stuff done,’ and we can amplify it with more digital tools and with the internet and things like that.” 

The panel discussion included the topic of smart power in conflict resolution, and the importance of amplifying smaller voices. 

“My focus for ALLTRU is enabling access, like [for] the doctor in Kenya or Syria or Ukraine or some of those places,” shared Tubman. “As an empowerment platform, we’re using warrior role models, and enabling that smart power throughout the world as we continue to grow and remembering that a warrior role model can be a male, it can be an educator, it can be a doctor. It's anyone that's helping the disadvantaged, lifting them up at a grassroots level and having the courage to make a change.” 

The Panel included a live screening of their documentary “Guerrera” which captures the  stories of the women who served on the front lines attached to special operations teams in Afghanistan set to be released on Netflix on Feb. 15. 

“I think it was a really good opportunity to share Women, Peace and Security [legislation] with real world examples. And I think that the film truly highlights the Cultural Support Teams (CSTs), and I think that this is important to show where ALLTRU is going next, because the film is really a look back at the work that the CSTs did, and then this provides context going forward for a way that people can get involved now, and also get excited for the film and see who they're working with when They get involved with ALLTRU,” shared Thomas. 

A longer TechNet will be featured in our upcoming Feb. 28 issue. 

Learn more about ALLTRU online here, and see the recap of 2025 TechNet here.