Thursday, July 24, 2014

Senior Defense Officials Attend Aspen Security Forum



By Claudette Roulo
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

ASPEN, Colo., July 23, 2014 – Over the next four days, U.S. defense, security and diplomatic leaders are gathering in Aspen, Colorado, for the annual Aspen Institute Security Forum.

Attendees include Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"Events like the Aspen Security Forum provide the chairman an opportunity to listen to key thinkers grappling with some of the most-pressing issues facing our military and our nation, as well as to share his own thoughts," said Army Col. Ed Thomas, the chairman’s spokesman.

The forum is held every summer on the campus of the Aspen Institute, an educational and policy studies organization. It consists of panel discussions as well as in-depth conversations with leaders involved in security issues across government.

"General Dempsey's hour-long moderated session with CBS's Lesley Stahl will center on how we use our military as a national instrument of power in a world marked by terrorism and failing states in some regions and rising nationalism in others," Thomas said.

Dempsey is scheduled to speak tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. EDT.

The forum starts tonight at 8 p.m. EDT, with Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno discussing the Army’s role in defending the nation against today’s security and fiscal challenges.

Other slated speakers at this year’s forum include: Michael Vickers, undersecretary of defense for intelligence; Jeh Johnson, secretary of homeland security; Navy Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, chief of naval operations; representatives from the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Transportation Security Agency; and numerous senior defense officials.

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