Type: Public event
Host: Ford School

Conversation on national security, service, and policy

Veterans Week 2019

Date & time

Nov 11, 2019, 4:00-5:20 pm EST

Location

Weill Hall, Annenberg Auditorium (1120)
735 S. State Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Free and open to the public. Reception to follow.

Please join the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy for a conversation with LTG James Clapper (USAF, ret.), LTG Michael Nagata (USA, ret.), and Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) on national security, service, and policy. This wide-ranging discussion in honor of Veterans Day will cover current national security issues, as well as the importance of public service. The conversation will be moderated by Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence Javed Ali.

Part of the University of Michigan Veteran's Week 2019.

From the speakers' bios:

The Honorable James Clapper served over 50 years in various capacities in the US Intelligence Community during seven Presidential administrations, culminating as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) for almost six and a half years during the Obama Administration. He served over 34 years in the military, first briefly in the Marine Corps, and then the Air Force, retiring in 1995 as a Lieutenant General.  His last active duty assignment was as Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. During his military career, he was the Intelligence chief for three of the war-fighting commands—US Forces, Korea; Pacific Command; and the Strategic Air Command. He was the Chief of Air Force intelligence during Operation Desert Storm. He served two combat tours in Southeast Asia; during the second one, he flew 73 intelligence missions over Laos and Cambodia in EC-47’s. After his retirement, he worked in industry for 6 years, then returned to the government in 2001 and served an additional 16 years in three civilian capacities as, successively, Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, and then DNI.

Michael K. Nagata retired as a Lieutenant General from the US Army in 2019 after 38 years of Active Duty, with 34 years in US Special Operations. His final position was Director of Strategy for the National Counterterrorism Center. Prior to that he served as commander of US Special Operations Command-Central, and was heavily involved in the first two years of combat operations against the Islamic State in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere. A native of Virginia, he first enlisted in the US Army as an Infantry Private, later receiving his Commission as an Infantry Officer in 1982 from the US Army Officer Candidate School. As an Officer, he initially served as a Platoon Leader in the 2nd Infantry Division before volunteering for Army Special Forces in 1984. He also served within the US Intelligence Community as a Military Deputy for Counterterrorism. He then deployed to Pakistan as the Deputy Chief, Office of the Defense Representative at the US Embassy. Upon returning to the US, he served on the Joint Staff as the Deputy Director for Special Operations and Counterterrorism until 2013.

Representative Elissa Slotkin serves residents of Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Ingham, Livingston, and North Oakland Counties. Rep. Slotkin has spent her career in national service. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks she was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to be a Middle East analyst, where she worked alongside the U.S. military during three tours in Iraq as a militia expert. In between her tours in Iraq, Rep. Slotkin held various defense and intelligence positions under President Bush and President Obama, including roles at the White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In 2011, Rep. Slotkin took a senior position at the Pentagon and, until January 2017, served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. In this role, Rep. Slotkin oversaw policy on Russia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at the Pentagon and participated in negotiations on some of the country’s most pressing national security issues.