Secretary of Defense Keynote Speaker for Opening Day Luncheon
By DAISY KHALIFA, Sr. Director of Communications
Arlington, Va. – The Navy League of the United States will host its annual three-day Sea-Air-Space Exposition May 3-5 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, Md. Kicking off this year’s exposition is the Sea Power and America’s Security seminar, featuring the service chiefs from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration. The panel discussion will be followed by the Sea-Air-Space luncheon, where the scheduled keynote speaker is Secretary of Defense, Dr. Robert M. Gates.
With this year’s theme, “Responding Globally — Engaged at Sea & Ashore,” the exposition will feature more than 150 leading defense companies exhibiting weapons and sea power technologies for the 21st century. The event offers a series of five professional development seminars with military leaders and defense corporate partners, in addition to eight floor speaker presentations, providing information on the needs, challenges and critical programs and policies that influence both the operational and materiel readiness of today’s U.S. sea services.
Among the government and sea service leaders scheduled to serve as panelists at Sea-Air-Space 2010 are: Navy Secretary Ray Mabus; Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations; Adm. Thad W. Allen, Coast Guard commandant; Gen. James T. Conway, Marine Corps commandant; David T. Matsuda, acting maritime administrator; Ashton B. Carter, undersecretary of defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics; Adm. Jonathan Greenert, vice chief of naval operations; Vice Adm. David P. Pekoske, Coast Guard vice commandant; Vice Adm. Adam M. Robinson Jr., surgeon general of the Navy and chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery; and Vice Adm. Bernard J. McCullough III, commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command. The 90-minute panel discussions, with a question-and-answer segment at the end of each session, will address topics such as:
• Partners Against Piracy
• Smart Power
• Cyber Warfare and Security
• Energy: The Next Wave
“We hope to give exhibitors a lively forum for information sharing and to provide, through our professional seminars, an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the way ahead on issues such as cyber warfare, combating piracy, ‘smart power’ and other major initiatives under way,” said Navy League National President Daniel B. Branch Jr. “At Sea-Air-Space, the giants in the national and international defense industry, as well as the smaller technology firms and military commands that specialize in enabling technologies, interact, share ideas and showcase their products that enhance and advance the quality of America’s Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or Merchant Marine.”
For more than 40 years, the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition has spotlighted the latest innovative systems and products designed to maintain U.S. military superiority and to meet critical national security challenges at home and abroad. The largest maritime exhibition of its kind in the world, the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition also provides an outstanding forum for the exchange of technical and professional information between the top leaders of the defense industry and Departments of Defense, Transportation and Homeland Security.
New this year at Sea-Air-Space 2010 is an Energy Pavilion in which attendees can hear energy policy makers and government program managers discuss energy conservation goals within the military, while also learning how energy companies are focusing on the needs of naval operations around the world by incorporating methods for renewable, alternative and sustainable energy.
Sea-Air-Space is open to active-duty, Reserve and retired U.S. military personnel, U.S. government employees, members of Congress and their staffs, and Navy League members at no charge. It is not open to the general public.
The Navy League is a non-profit civilian organization with more than 50,000 members worldwide whose mission for more than 100 years has been to educate the American people and their leaders about the enduring importance of sea power to a maritime nation, and to support the men and women of the U.S. sea services.
For more information, to register or to see a complete list of exhibitors, visit the Sea-Air-Space web site at www.seaairspace.org, or contact Daisy Khalifa, senior director of communications, at (703) 312-1557.
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NOTE TO EDITORS: Media registration is complimentary, however, media credentials are required for admittance. Cameras are not allowed in any exhibit area without advance approval by the Navy League.
