Defense Challenges and Future Opportunities

On March 26, the 21st Century Defense Initiative at Brookings hosted its first annual Military and Federal Fellow Research Symposium, featuring the independent and cutting-edge research produced by members of each military service and select federal agencies during their time in think tanks and academia. Organized by the fellows themselves, the symposium provided a greater awareness of the valuable policy work our defense leaders are producing at think tanks and research institutions across the nation.

The theme of this first symposium was “Defense Challenges and Future Opportunities.” Following a keynote address by Lieutenant General John M. Paxton Jr., director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Staff and a former federal executive fellow at Brookings, panel discussions focused on the fellows’ independent research findings in the areas of irregular warfare, acquisition and logistics, alliance warfare, and manpower and infrastructure challenges.

After each panel, participants took audience questions.

View the full agenda »

PRESENTATION NOTES:

Panel I: Irregular Threats
 

Panel II: Acquisition and Logistics

• “A National Level Vision Needed for the Defense Sustainment Industrial Base” — Colonel Tom Miller, United States Air Force, Brookings

Panel III: Alliance Warfare

• “Seabasing and 21^st Century Alliances” — Commander Gregory Parker, United States Navy, Brookings
• “NATO’s Survival: Decisions for the Alliance” — Colonel Patrick Warren, United States Army, Brookings
• “U.S.-Japan Interoperability” — Colonel Hiroaki Uchikura, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Brookings 

Panel IV: Manpower and Readiness

• “The Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Implementation Considerations for Quartering the Force” — Lieutenant Colonel Charles McLean, United States Marine Corps, Brookings