CIA Veteran Discusses the Ukraine Battlefield in Boston University’s Inaugural Veterans Day Lecture
Written by Rashad Biddle, economics student and Army ROTC cadet at Boston University (BA ’27)
Ralph Goff, a retired CIA senior executive and six-time CIA Chief of Station, gave the inaugural Veterans Day lecture at Boston University on November 11, 2025. A United States Army veteran, Goff’s lecture named “Warfare: Lessons from the Ukraine Battlefield,” drew on his regular trips to the region. In his introduction of the guest speaker, Pardee Prof. John Woodward, the Director of the Boston University Division of Military Education and a retired CIA officer, noted that Goff was Woodward’s chief during a war zone deployment years ago and he could personally attest to Goff’s dedication, superior performance, and courage. Boston University ROTC cadets and midshipmen made up much of the audience and highlighted three areas of his lecture for special interest.
1. What is Russia Doing Successfully Against the West?
Throughout its ongoing war with Ukraine, Russia has effectively used low-cost sabotage and other intelligence operations to disturb and disrupt NATO nations. To cite three examples, merchant ships sailing in the Baltic Sea have dragged their ship anchors for miles to cut fiber-optic cables on the seabed, Russian drone swarms “accidentally” fly into Polish airspace, and Russian intelligence agencies have used the internet to recruit personnel to commit acts of sabotage in NATO countries. These acts are difficult to trace directly back to Russia. Thus far, NATO countries, including the U.S., have shown an unwillingness to decisively crack down on these “gray operations.” More focus should be put into countering these gray operations as they are remarkably cost effective and destructive.
2. What are Russia’s Sources of Military Manpower?
Goff summarized Russia’s approach to recruiting military manpower. When the Russian Federation orders a mobilization, the manpower burden is spread throughout the nation across all ethnic groups. Of these mobilized troops, ethnic Russians tend to receive garrison or assignments in the safer rear areas. Volunteers are offered cash bonuses and other benefits if they sign up to go to the front lines in Ukraine. This approach creates a flow of ethnic minorities to the front because they tend to be poor and have fewer career prospects. Moscow sees these young men as modern-day cannon fodder, so they receive little training prior tom deployment. The result is a Russian front in Ukraine made up mostly of non-ethnic Russians, who are fighting because economic conditions brought on by Putin left them with little-to-no opportunity at home.
3. What does Innovation of Battlefield Technology mean for Future Officers?
The Ukraine War shows that many rapid innovations are changing conventional military thinking. For example, drones are changing artillery doctrine and the role of OPSEC, i.e., reducing a unit’s exposure to electromagnetic signatures, which can be intercepted by the enemy. What cadets and midshipmen found especially informative about Goff’s talk was how he explained an evolutionary story and not a replacement story. Goff’s experiences in Ukraine encouraged ROTC students to approach their military training not as a rehearsal, but instead as an exercise with specific conditions that will likely change and force them to adapt. Goff heightened ROTC students’ awareness that as they continue their education and training, they will constantly be cognizant that conditions are subject to change or evolution. Thus, they have to prepare mentally for when they will inevitably find themselves in situations for which they have not been specifically trained.
During his visit to Boston University, Goff also spoke to two Pardee School seminars and was the military guest of honor at Boston University’s Veterans Day reception. Goff’s lecture was sponsored by the Boston University Division of Military Education, the Boston University International History Institute, the Pardee Center for the Study of Europe, the Kilachand Honors College, and the Boston University Global Security Initiative. Boston University’s Advancement Office sponsored the Veterans Day reception.
John D. Woodward, Jr. is the Professor of the Practice of International Relations at Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. A former CIA officer, he has served as an operations officer in the Clandestine Service and as a technical intelligence officer in the Directorate of Science and Technology. Woodward, Jr. is a published author and has contributed to prominent news outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe.