Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
February 10, 2007
Pg. 10
Symposium seeks ideas from public
By Ron Martz
The Navy is looking for a few good ideas, many of which it hopes will come from the general public, as its leadership tries to determine the course it should chart over the next several decades.
"What we're talking about here is beyond Afghanistan and Iraq," Rear Adm. Jacob Shuford, president of the Naval War College, said Friday in Atlanta during a symposium on future maritime strategies.
Speaking to a group of about 150, Shuford said the symposium here was the third in a series of eight being held across the country to solicit ideas on shaping the Navy of the future.
Known as "A Conversation With the Country," the conferences are bringing together Navy leaders from the U.S. and its allies, professors and futurists who are charged with compiling ideas and suggestions and developing potential future strategies by late summer.
"This really is a focus on the future, trying to prepare for what's to come," said Vice Admiral John Morgan, deputy chief of naval operations for information, plans and strategies and the officer responsible for helping develop the new strategies.
Among the key issues being discussed is what role the U.S. Navy and its allies should play in protecting commercial shipping, which Morgan said accounts for about 90 percent of the world's commerce. "I think there is a growing realization that every nation's welfare depends on the free flow of commerce," he said.
Major Gen. Terry Nesbitt, commander of the Georgia Army National Guard and director of the Georgia Office of Homeland Security, said the conference highlighted the dangers of thinking too much about the present and not about the future. "I think the Navy is absolutely taking the right approach, and I hope it spreads throughout the [Defense Department]," Nesbitt said.
February 10, 2007
Pg. 10
Symposium seeks ideas from public
By Ron Martz
The Navy is looking for a few good ideas, many of which it hopes will come from the general public, as its leadership tries to determine the course it should chart over the next several decades.
"What we're talking about here is beyond Afghanistan and Iraq," Rear Adm. Jacob Shuford, president of the Naval War College, said Friday in Atlanta during a symposium on future maritime strategies.
Speaking to a group of about 150, Shuford said the symposium here was the third in a series of eight being held across the country to solicit ideas on shaping the Navy of the future.
Known as "A Conversation With the Country," the conferences are bringing together Navy leaders from the U.S. and its allies, professors and futurists who are charged with compiling ideas and suggestions and developing potential future strategies by late summer.
"This really is a focus on the future, trying to prepare for what's to come," said Vice Admiral John Morgan, deputy chief of naval operations for information, plans and strategies and the officer responsible for helping develop the new strategies.
Among the key issues being discussed is what role the U.S. Navy and its allies should play in protecting commercial shipping, which Morgan said accounts for about 90 percent of the world's commerce. "I think there is a growing realization that every nation's welfare depends on the free flow of commerce," he said.
Major Gen. Terry Nesbitt, commander of the Georgia Army National Guard and director of the Georgia Office of Homeland Security, said the conference highlighted the dangers of thinking too much about the present and not about the future. "I think the Navy is absolutely taking the right approach, and I hope it spreads throughout the [Defense Department]," Nesbitt said.