“For Me, Combat Has Always Felt Natural.”
Voices of the Fight No. 18: Bryan Pickens, the Green Beret carrying Ukraine's battlefield lessons back to the West.
BRYAN PICKENS is a former U.S. Army Green Beret who has spent nearly seven years teaching, learning, and fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
Now he is bringing the lessons learned on Ukraine’s battlefields to Western militaries through a new training initiative.
We spoke with him about the future of warfare, the challenges facing the West, and why he believes Ukraine has become the world’s leading source of combat innovation.
“When I first arrived, I was training Ukrainians. By the end, I was learning from them more than they were learning from me.”
Welcome to Voices of the Fight—a Saturday Q&A series featuring the warriors, innovators, advocates, and volunteers standing under fire for free people.
1 | Who are you, and what’s your mission?
My name is Bryan Pickens. I spent twenty years in U.S. Special Operations and retired after a military career that included nearly seven years working with Ukrainian forces. During that time, I watched the evolution of drone warfare firsthand.
When I first arrived, I was training Ukrainians. By the end, I was learning from them more than they were learning from me. Drone warfare has evolved into something that NATO doctrine still does not properly incorporate. It has fundamentally changed how maneuver warfare works and how modern militaries must operate.
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“That [realization] led me to create a program designed to transfer Ukrainian knowledge to Western militaries.”
The realization I came to is that the United States—and the West in general—is dramatically behind in its understanding of drone warfare, modern technology, and how these capabilities integrate with conventional operations. We’re essentially trying to chase a jet ski in a rowboat while all of our adversaries are already on the jet ski.
That led me to create a program designed to transfer Ukrainian knowledge to Western militaries. The goal is to train Western instructors through Ukrainian subject-matter experts, creating a scalable bridge between Ukraine and the West that can spread this knowledge throughout allied militaries.
There are still areas where America does things better than Ukraine. But when it comes to modern drone warfare, Ukraine has become the world’s leading laboratory. That knowledge is an invaluable resource that needs to be shared.
“For me personally, combat has always felt natural.”
2 | Tell us one powerful story from your experience in war, as you would tell someone over a drink.
Rather than tell my own story, I’d rather tell the story of one of the men I worked with.
Before joining my team, he was fighting deep inside Russian territory—roughly one hundred kilometers beyond the border. He’s an American Marine who has spent [more than a decade] fighting alongside Ukraine. He had served in Donbas, during the early years of the conflict, and through numerous campaigns since.
He was also trained as a Special Forces medic.
During one operation, his unit was devastated. He was severely wounded, suffering multiple injuries including a broken pelvis, a broken leg, and extensive internal trauma. Most of the men in his element were killed.
At one point, he was effectively pronounced dead.
A Ukrainian soldier from another unit happened to find him and drag him back toward friendly lines. He eventually regained consciousness at a stabilization point.
As a medic, he immediately understood the severity of his injuries. He knew he needed higher-level care. Despite a broken pelvis and severe trauma, he managed to get himself moving, found transportation, reached Kyiv, and received treatment.
Most people would have stopped there.
Instead, after recovering, he organized an operation to recover every American who had been killed in that area of Russia. He personally helped identify the bodies and ensured they were returned home to the United States.
When people ask me about heroes, I think about men like him. I’m a leader of men, but the men I’ve served with are the real heroes. I’d rather tell their stories than my own.
“Ukraine possesses something of immense value: the most advanced practical knowledge of modern warfare on earth.”
3 | What decision, habit, or principle has mattered the most for you for surviving or staying effective under pressure?
For me personally, combat has always felt natural.
I boxed growing up and had more than forty fights before joining the military. I deployed sixteen times, fourteen of them into active combat zones. Fighting has been a constant throughout my life.
Ironically, the moment I hear the first gunshot or the first bullet cracks overhead is often when I feel most comfortable.
But if I had to explain how people stay calm under pressure, the answer is training.
“I’ve watched frontline drone operators explain concepts so advanced that they sound like aerospace engineers.”
You train until the correct response becomes automatic.
In the military, we call these battle drills. A battle drill is a collective action that is rapidly executed without deliberate decision-making. If two soldiers take fire, they already know exactly what they’re going to do. Nobody needs to stop and think. Nobody needs instructions.
You immediately return fire, move to cover, identify the threat, communicate, and begin executing the next steps. The response happens automatically because it has been rehearsed countless times.
The same principle applies today in drone warfare.
The challenge is that modern warfare is no longer simply about shooting back when someone shoots at you. Today’s soldier may need to understand radio frequency theory, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, drone maintenance, software systems, airspace deconfliction, mission planning, and networked operations—all while under combat stress.
I’ve watched frontline drone operators explain concepts so advanced that they sound like aerospace engineers. Yet these are infantrymen operating on the front lines.
The answer remains the same: training.
If we expect soldiers to perform under stress, we must train them until operating these systems becomes second nature. Every military in the West is going to have to learn this, or they will lose the ability to compete on future battlefields.
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4 | How can people support your work?
People can support our work by helping us scale the bridge we are building between Ukraine and the West.
The company is called Valoryx, and our mission is to turn Ukraine’s battlefield knowledge into structured training for Western militaries. After more than four years of full-scale war, Ukraine has become the world’s leading laboratory for drone warfare, electronic warfare, and the integration of unmanned systems into modern combat. The lessons being learned on the battlefield today will shape the future of warfare for decades to come. The problem is that much of the West is still struggling to keep pace.
Our goal is to create a system that takes the knowledge being developed in Ukraine and transfers it to Western militaries in a scalable and organized way. We want to train instructors who can return to their own units as subject-matter experts, advise commanders, help shape procurement decisions, and build training programs that reflect the realities of modern warfare.
We already have the framework in place. We have Ukrainian partners willing to train instructors, veterans prepared to go through that pipeline, and a clear vision for how this knowledge can be shared across the United States and eventually throughout NATO. What we need now is the ability to scale.
One of the biggest lessons from Ukraine is that support cannot remain purely charitable forever.
Many foreign volunteers spend years fighting for Ukraine while earning little more than subsistence wages. That model isn’t sustainable. The next phase must be transactional.
Ukraine possesses something of immense value: the most advanced practical knowledge of modern warfare on earth. The West needs that knowledge.
The model we’re building is not limited to the United States. It could be expanded across NATO. Norwegian veterans could train alongside Ukrainians and bring those lessons back to Norway. The same could happen throughout Europe and North America.
This creates a genuine exchange. Ukraine is compensated for its expertise. Western militaries receive critical knowledge that may save lives in future wars.
Most importantly, it strengthens the relationship between Ukraine and the West.
If America finds itself in another major conflict, I want Ukraine standing beside us. Ukrainians fought alongside coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many people have forgotten that.
“The nonprofit allows us to begin building teams and conducting training now, rather than waiting for years of bureaucracy to catch up.”
This is an opportunity to honor that partnership, build something lasting, and ensure that the lessons paid for in blood on the battlefields of Ukraine are not lost. Especially today, when Ukrainians are developing capabilities that every Western military will eventually need.
That is why we have established a nonprofit organization alongside the company. Government contracting processes move slowly, and while there is broad agreement that this capability is needed, the battlefield and the technology continue to evolve every day. The nonprofit allows us to begin building teams and conducting training now, rather than waiting for years of bureaucracy to catch up.
People can support the effort in several ways. Donations are the most direct way to help us build and deploy training teams. Beyond that, spreading the message, introducing us to decision-makers, connecting us with potential partners, and helping us reach people who understand the importance of this mission can all make a meaningful difference.
Every good military leader is taught not to arrive with a problem alone, but with a proposed solution. We have identified the problem. We have built the solution. We have created the bridge between Ukraine and the West. Now we need the support to put it into action and ensure that the lessons being learned on Ukraine’s battlefields today are not lost, but shared with the soldiers who may depend on them tomorrow.
5 | Where can people follow you?
Our website is:
We have also launched social media channels for Valoryx where we’ll share updates, training activities, and stories from veterans who have served in Ukraine. You can find them here:
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Bryan is one of cornerstones of Resilience and fast adaptation on Ukraine, joined with Ukrainian combative spirit