Rocky Mountain's Defending America/SpaceComm 2005 Symposium

Signal, Jun 2005

The Defending America/SpaceComm 2005 Symposium, co-sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Chapter, U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) was held in February. More than 1,000 individuals from the military, U.S. Defense Department and industry attended the three-day event that included more than 70 exhibitors. Guest speakers included Maj. Gen. Robert Dickman, USAF (Ret.), deputy for military space, Office of the Undersecretary of the Air Force; Gen. James Cartwright, USMC, commander, U.S. Strategic Command; Lt. Gen. Joseph R. Inge, USA, deputy commander, NORTHCOM, and vice commander, U.S. Element, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD); Lt. Gen. Robert Shea, USMC, director, command and control, the Joint Staff; Lt. Gen. Larry Dodgen, USA, commander, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and U.S. Army Strategic Forces Command; Lt. Gen. Steven Boutelle, USA, chief information officer, G-6, Office of the Secretary of the Army; Lt. Gen. Harry D. Raduege Jr., USAF, director, Defense Information Systems Agency, and commander, Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations; Lt. Gen. Daniel Leaf, USAF, vice commander, AFSPC; Lt. Gen. Eric Findley, CF, deputy commander in chief, NORAD; and Lt. Gen. James Clapper, USAF (Ret.), director, National GeospatialIntelligence Agency.

Gen. Cartwright and Maj. Gen. Dale W. Meyerrose, USAF, director, command control systems, NORAD, and director, architectures and integration, NORTHCOM, presented the North American Information Technology Leadership Award to Vice Adm. Michael McConnell, USN (Ret.). Panel sessions featured discussions on ballistic missile defense, information sharing, decision superiority and homeland defense, and military assistance to civil authorities. Included among the panelists were members from several major commands and defense agencies.