The senior official performing the duties of the U.S. Army undersecretary and the commanding general of Army Futures Command will respectively deliver opening and closing keynote speeches at the 6th Annual Army Forum hosted by the Potomac Officers Club to discuss the service branch’s modernization initiatives and the role of domestic industry in efforts to help the military prepare for the future battlefield.
Christopher Lowman was assigned to perform undersecretary duties at the Army on Jan. 20. He is the principal adviser to the secretary on service management and operational matters and oversees the development of its programs and policies.
Lowman said on the release of the $173 billion Army spending plan for fiscal year 2022 that the proposed budget places emphasis on personnel, force readiness and modernization push to develop next-generation systems for the warfighter.
His address to the annual Potomac Officers Club forum will be followed by speakers for two separate panel discussions to touch on the current C4ISR picture and next-generation emerging technology.
To close out the Annual Army Forum, the GovCon executive audience will hear from Gen. John “Mike” Murray, a two-time Wash100 awardee, on his perspectives regarding the current military capability development and procurement environment.
Murray was confirmed by the Senate in August 2018 to serve as the first chief of AFC. He leads a group of civilian and military personnel with a common goal to simplify the branch’s modernization enterprise.
Gerry Fasano, president of the defense group at Leidos; and Larry Katzman, president and CEO of Applied Information Sciences, will provide the opening and closing keynote introductions, respectively.
The “Enabling Army C4ISR in an Age of Great Power Competition” panel includes:
- Brian Keller, vice president of Army strategic account executive at Leidos (Moderator)
- Mark Kitz, program executive officer for intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors at the Army (Panelist)
- Brig. Gen. Rob Collins, program executive officer for Army Command, Control and Communications – Tactical (Panelist)
- Joe Welch, director of the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command C5ISR Center (Panelist)
- Alan Hansen, division director for intelligence systems and processing of the US Army Futures Command C5ISR Center (Panelist)
- Julie Furt, vice president of global delivery at Talend (Panelist)
The “Enabling the Next Generation War Fighter with Emerging Tech” panel includes:
- Wade Allen, vice president of defense at Applied Information Sciences (Moderator),
- Col. Matthew Scalia, deputy director for Army Installation Management Command Directorate – Training (Panelist)
- Megan Dake, acting deputy assistant secretary of Army procurement (Panelist)
- Derek Strausbaugh, chief digital officer of defense business at Microsoft (Panelist)
Join the virtual forum from 8 a.m. ET to hear from Army officials and GovCon executives as they share insight on modernization efforts at the service branch. Register here.
