The Comparative Defense Studies Program presents:

The Military Technology Series, Event #3

Moderated by Dr. Stephanie Neuman

Director, Comparative Defense Studies Program

Member, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies

Abstract:

Stealth warships the size of 2 football fields capable of sending large projectiles more than 50 miles with deadly accuracy, that can fire missiles further than Boston to Tampa , and generate enough power to sustain futuristic weapons such as lasers and directed energy are not the result of a George Lucas movie. This technology, in the hands of well-trained patriots, ensures America remains the dominant maritime power in the world.

If ships, jets, missiles, submarines, and technology don’t interest you, how does eating, driving your car, or printing your last college paper?  Because 90 percent by volume and 85 percent by value of all the world’s trade is moved by ship.  So chances are that most of what you ate, wore, or read in the past day moved across the global commons.

The discussion will focus on the application of technology as it applies to operating and fighting in potentially contested areas of the world.

Biography:

Captain William J. Parker III is a Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.  He is a 1988 distinguished military graduate and class president of the U.S. Air Force Academy and holds a Doctorate Degree in Biological Defense from George Mason University’s Department of Molecular and Microbiology as well as a Master’s Degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Captain Parker is the 2009 James Stockdale Award winner for Inspirational Leadership.

Aside from his many commands as a Surface Warfare Officer, he has served as the Senior Military Adviser to the Secretary of State for Iraq Affairs; as the Senior Adviser to the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan; as a strategic planner in the Strategy Division (N513) of the OPNAV Staff; as strategist for the 2000 Quadrennial Defense Review; and as Campaign Plans Branch Chief on the Joint Staff.  He operated on the ground in support of combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan for nearly two years in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, including a one-year tour as Chief of Campaign Plans in Baghdad, Iraq.