On December 5, the Naval War College Foundation (NWCF) and Center for Maritime Strategy (CMS) co-hosted the 2nd Annual America’s Future Fleet Symposium. This year’s theme was “Maintaining Peace and Deterring China.” The symposium was held at the Navy League of the United States in Arlington, VA. It convened national security community members for a day of thoughtful discussion about the Indo-Pacific.  

The morning began with welcome remarks from Daniel E. Holland III, NWCF Chairman, Dr. Stephen J. Mariano, U.S. Naval War College (USNWC) Provost, and ADM James G. Foggo, USN (Ret.), Dean of the CMS. The Honorable Erik. K Raven, Under Secretary of the Navy, provided the opening keynote, Resourcing the Fight. 

CAPT George E. Lang, Jr., USN (Ret.), NWCF President & CEO, introduced the morning panel discussion, Tools for Civil-Military Cooperation. Dr. Colin Jackson, Chair of the Strategic And Operational Research Department at the USNWC, moderated the panel. The panelists were COL Heino Klick, USA (Ret.), Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia, B. Lynn Wright, Independent Consultant at T.S. Pilgrim, LLC, and RADM Robert P. Girrier, USN (Ret.), President Emeritus of the Pacific Forum. 

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) led a lunchtime conversation, Congress Countering the CCP. During his remarks, Senator Kelly announced his plans to introduce legislation to strengthen commercial shipping. To close the conversation, ADM Foggo moderated a Q&A with the audience.

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) leads the lunch conversation.

The afternoon panel, Assessing the Cost of Conflict with China, was moderated by RADM Brian Luther, USN (Ret.). RADM Luther is President & Chief Executive Officer of Navy Mutual Aid Association. The afternoon panelists were Dr. Ronald Epstein, Managing Director, Americas Equity Research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch; William Tuttle, Executive Director of Global Engagement at JP Morgan Chase & Co., Thomas Callender, NWCF Regional Director; and Anne Shybunko-Moore, Owner & Chief Executive Officer at GSE Dynamics Inc. 

The day’s final keynote speaker was Ambassador Robert C. O’Brien, Chairman of American Global Strategies and 27th U.S. National Security Advisor. He was introduced by Mitchell B. Waldman, NWCF Secretary, who also moderated the Q&A following Ambassador O’Brien’s remarks. 

This program was made possible in part by the LCDR Jules and Eleanor Steinhauer China Endowment. To explore the event program and speaker information, please click here.