National Security Conference: Strategy, Forces, and Budgets

Thursday, November 15, 2012 (8:30 AM – 5:30 PM)
Meadows Museum (map)


The fifth annual Tower Center Symposium on National Security and Defense, this year devoted to Strategy, Forces, and Budgets, will feature presentations by prominent defense policy experts and scholars, active and retired command-level military officers, and defense industry representatives.  The panels will provide several perspectives on the budgetary constraints likely to be incorporated into the defense planning process over the next 5-10 years.  The first panel will include budget policy experts and political analysts who will discuss the deficit and debt concerns that now define budget policy debates, the specific defense budget cuts mandated for FY 2013-2021 under the Budget Control Act of 2011, and the political factors likely to shape defense budgets after the 2012 elections.  The second panel of military leaders will then assess the potential impact of these looming budgetary constraints on strategy, forces, and major defense programs.  The third panel of industry representatives will speak to the defense procurement and research and development implications of these constraints.

Agenda & Speakers

8:00–8:30a

Registration & Breakfast
8:30-8:45a

Welcome & Opening Address

General James E. Cartwright, USMC (Ret.)
8:45–10:30a

Panel 1–Military Perspective Roundtable
  • Chair: MG Robert H. Scales, USA (Ret.), President, Colgen
  • General James E. Cartwritght, USMC (Ret.)
  • MG Walter L. Davis, Deputy Commander, US Army North (Fifth Army)
  • LTG Mike Dunn, USAF (Ret.)
  • Admiral Patrick Walsh, USN (Ret.), Senior Fellow, Tower Center
10:40–12:00p

Panel 2– Industry Perspective Roundtable
  • Chair: Dan Crowley, President, Network Centric Systems, Raytheon
  • Gordon England, President, E6 Partners
  • Delores Etter, Lyle School of Engineering, SMU
  • Hon. Ike Skelton, Partner, Husch Blackwell
  • Daniel Zanini, Senior VP, SAIC
12:30–2:00p

Keynote Luncheon

Michael O’Hanlon, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
2:30–4:00p

Panel 3– The Political, Economic, and Budget Outlook
  • Chair: Dennis Ippolito, Political Science, SMU
  • David S.C. Chu, President, Institute for Defense Analyses
  • Cal Jillson, Political Science, SMU
4:30–5:30p

Closing Conversation & Reception
  • Michael O’Hanlon, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
  • MG Robert H. Scales, USA (Ret.), President, Colgen
  • Admiral Patrick Walsh, USN (Ret.), Senior Fellow, Tower Center