Senior Leaders Set to Take the Stage for Fall Meeting Plenary Sessions
The NDTA-USTRANSCOM Fall Meeting always features a fantastic lineup of keynote speeches and roundtable sessions—and this year will be no exception. On Monday, October 18, following the opening ceremony, The Honorable Frank Kendall, the 26th Secretary of the Air Force, will provide a keynote speech Contested Military Logistics and Supply Chain Weaknesses: How to Strengthen the United States’ Capacity for Strategic Competition. The Department of the Air Force will continue to strengthen and harden its logistics nodes in order to prepare for peer competition. Secretary Kendall will discuss the threat the Department is facing and how it should strengthen its assets and partnerships at home and abroad to maintain air superiority.
Also on Monday, The Honorable Alan Estevez, Nominee for Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce, will moderate a roundtable discussion Defense Industrial Base: A Focus on Logistics & Transportation. Panel members will include Mr. Gregory Kausner, SES, Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment; Mr. Steven Grundman, Principal of Grundman Advisory, a business strategy consultancy, and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council; and Mr. John Dietrich, President and Chief Executive Officer, Atlas Air Worldwide and Atlas Air, Inc. Our strength as a Nation is directly tied to the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). The ability of our nation to produce, provide, transport, and deliver equipment and supplies to meet U.S. needs is key to a strong National Defense. This roundtable will examine the impacts of the contested environment on the DIB; challenges and vulnerabilities to consider and overcome; the Defense Production Action; Made in America; Logistics and Transportation Industry as part of the DIB; and efforts to strengthen the enterprise.
Tuesday, October 19, the new Commander of USTRANSCOM General Jacqueline D. Van Ovost, USAF, will present TRANSCOM – Enduring & Ready. In this keynote speech, the Commander USTRANSCOM will address the audience on the collective strategic aspects of the Joint Deployment and Distribution Enterprise—present and future.
Later that day, moderator MG Deborah L. Kotulich, USA, Director, Supply Production and Distribution/Vaccine Operations Center, Countermeasures Acceleration Group, will lead a panel on COVID-19 Medical Logistics Response—A Case Study from Masks to Vaccines. Panelists will include LTG Paul Ostrowski, USA (Ret.), former Director of Supply, Production, and Distribution, Operation Warp Speed; Mr. David Kless, SES, Deputy Commander, DLA Energy; and Mr. Joseph Stephens, Senior Vice President of Global Planning, Engineering and Technology, FedEx. This roundtable examines the logistics and transportation efforts to respond to the supply challenges of the pandemic, including: sourcing and distribution of PPE during the early months of COVID-19; movement of raw materials to PPE manufacturing centers worldwide; medical equipment/supplies emergency manufacturing processes (e.g., ventilators and disinfectants); movement of infected personnel/patients; sourcing and distribution of vaccination supplies; and vaccine distribution.
On Wednesday, October 20, there will be three plenary sessions. The first will be a keynote address by Secretary of Transportation The Honorable Pete Buttigieg on Building a Strong National Defense: U.S. Infrastructure Plan. The strong support the logistics and transportation community derives from the U.S. Department of Transportation builds a synergistic effect influencing issues impacting sealift, airlift, ports, and surface transport for highways and rail—and in the future, autonomy and space. The DOT also seeks to build resiliency in the Nation’s critical supply chains to include cyber. This session will identify key issues impacting infrastructure, the environment, and our national workforce that is at the forefront of interest.
The second plenary session of the day will be a roundtable discussion led by Senior Fellow in Defense Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council and strategy consultant focused on space and defense Mr. Peter Garretson. The session, Logistics Through Space: Challenges in Application, will feature panel members VADM Dee Mewbourne, USN, Deputy Commander, U.S. Transportation Command; Brig Gen John M. Olson, PhD, USAF, Mobilization Assistant to the Chief of Space Operations, U.S. Space Force; Mr. Mark J. Surina, LMI, Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA), USTRRANSCOM; Mr. Sam Ximenes, Founder and CEO, Exploration Architecture Corporation (XArc); and Mr. Thomas Martin, Director, National Security Programs, Blue Origin. As USTRANSCOM completes their Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to study rapid concepts for moving cargo through space to locations on earth, will we move beyond research and begin a proof of concept? This roundtable attempts to build on last year’s discussion of the possible to identify actual attempts to begin a proof of principle. What might that look like and what supporting role might the logistics and transportation industry play?
The third main stage session of the day will be an interview hosted by VADM Dee Mewbourne, USN with Mr. Simon Sinek on Embracing an Infinite Mindset. Simon Sinek is an unshakable optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Mr. Sinek has devoted his professional life to help advance a vision of the world that does not yet exist; a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are and end the day fulfilled by the work that they do. His unconventional and innovative views on business and leadership have attracted international attention. From the airline industry to the entertainment industry, from finance to fashion, from big business to entrepreneurs to police forces, Mr. Sinek has been invited to meet with a broad array of leaders and organizations in nearly every industry. He has also had the honor of sharing his ideas with multiple agencies of the U.S. government and with the senior-most leaders of the United States Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Army and Coast Guard. Mr. Sinek may be best known for popularizing the concept of WHY, which he described in his first TED Talk in 2009. That talk went on to become the second most watched TED Talk of all time, and is still in the top five with over 50 million views.
Mr. Sinek is the author of multiple best-selling books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better, and The Infinite Game.