Hansang Bae has over 25 years of experience working in the information technology industry. As Zscaler’s Public Sector CTO, he is responsible for assisting and educating customers in their Digital Transformation journey. He is not only well versed but also passionate about his role in advising public sector organizations on best practices and strategies for adopting a Cloud-First security posture.

During his career, Bae has served in similar roles as an executive member at Netskope and at Riverbed. Prior to Riverbed, he was a member of the Citi (Citigroup) Architecture and Technology Engineering leadership team. As one of the six global engineering leads, he was responsible for datacenter, branch and performance engineering, network management (NMS) tools, and capacity planning groups for all of Citi.

As an avid protocol analyst, Bae collaborates with industry associations in educating public sector organizations and also holds an active role as a board member of Wireshark Foundation, helping steer the open-source project and ensure its continued success.

Ms. Leslie A. Beavers is a career member of the Senior Executive Service and serving as the Acting Department of Defense Chief Information Officer (DoD CIO). In this capacity, Ms. Beavers serves as the primary advisor to the Secretary of Defense for Information Management / Information Technology (IT) and Information Assurance, as well as non-intelligence space systems; critical satellite communications, navigation, and timing programs; spectrum; and telecommunications.

Prior to assuming the role of the Acting DoD CIO, she served as the Principal Deputy, DoD CIO from April 2023 to July 2024.

Before joining the CIO, Ms. Beavers served as the Director of Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Enterprise Capabilities (ISREC). In this capacity she led OUSD(I&S)’s Defense Intelligence Digital Transformation Campaign Plan, known as Project Herald.

Project Herald’s overall goal is to evolve how the DoD delivers intelligence to warfighters while providing the unifying focus to realize next-generation capabilities. To this end, Ms. Beavers oversaw the planning, programming, budgeting and execution of the Defense Intelligence mission area within the Battlespace Awareness portfolio.

Ms. Beavers began her DoD career as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Air Force serving in various roles before retiring as a Reserve Brigadier General serving with the Joint Staff J2. Her assignments included: 16th Air Force, San Antonio, TX; Pacific Air Forces, Hickam, HI; Distributed Common Ground System 2, Beale AFB, CA; and 4th Air Force, March ARB, CA.

Additionally, Ms. Beavers has over 15 years’ experience in the private sector working in the Film/TV, Healthcare, and Oil and Gas industries. She served as Vice President at NBC/Universal Pictures responsible for recovering 80 years of film and television content destroyed in a fire. She worked with GE’s Healthcare Diagnostic Imaging division improving to manufacturing capacity, profit margin, and revenue. At Husky Oil, she consulted with C-suite executives on operational integrity establishing processes to manage risk introduction in drilling operations.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a MBA in Finance with Honors from South University. Ms. Beavers is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, a Distinguished Graduate of the Air Force’s Signals Intelligence program, and the recipient of numerous DoD and professional awards including the Defense Superior Service and Legion of Merit.

Adm. Lisa Franchetti is a native of Rochester, New York. She is a 1985 graduate of Northwestern University where she was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Program. Designated a Surface Warfare Officer in 1989, she has commanded at every level and deployed in every Fleet, with nearly 20 years of operational and at-sea experience.

She assumed duties as the 33rd Chief of Naval Operations on Nov. 2, 2023.

Her previous flag assignments include: Vice Chief of Naval Operations; director for Strategy, Plans and Policy (J5), Joint Staff; deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting Development, N7; commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, deputy commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Africa during the 2018 strikes against Syrian chemical-weapons facilities; chief of staff, Strategy, Plans and Policy (J5) Joint Staff; commander, Carrier Strike Group 15; commander, Carrier Strike Group 9; and commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea.

At sea, she commanded Destroyer Squadron TWENTY ONE, embarked on USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74); commanded USS Ross (DDG 71) and also served as commander of Pacific Partnership 2010, embarked on USNS Mercy (T-AH 19). Her operational sea tours include assistant surface operations officer on USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group; executive officer of USS Stout (DDG 55); combat systems officer and chief staff officer for Destroyer Squadron TWO; operations officer on USS Moosbrugger (DD 980); navigator on USS Monongahela (AO 178); and auxiliaries officer and first division officer on USS Shenandoah (AD 44).

Ashore, Franchetti’s assignments include military assistant to the Secretary of the Navy; deputy director of International Engagement and executive assistant to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations and Strategy on the Navy staff; division chief, Joint Concept Development and Experimentation, on the Joint Staff, J7; 4th Battalion officer at the U.S. Naval Academy; protocol officer for Commander, U.S. Atlantic Fleet; aide to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations; commanding officer, Navy Reserve Center Central Point, Oregon; program manager, Naval Reserve Readiness Command, Region 13.

Franchetti holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Medill at Northwestern University, a Master’s degree in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix, completed Harvard Kennedy School’s National and International Security program, and was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI Fellow. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, was awarded the Northwestern Alumni Medal in 2019, inducted into the Medill School of Journalism Hall of Achievement in 2024, and received the Naval War College Distinguished Graduate award in 2024.

Her personal awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal (two awards), Defense Superior Service Medal (two awards), Legion of Merit (five awards), Meritorious Service Medal (six awards), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (four awards), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (two awards).

Robert Franzen, Jr serves as the Customer Experience Officer (CXO) Portfolio Management Office (PfMO) Deputy in the Office of the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer (CIO). In this capacity, Mr. Franzen assists the CXO in advising the DoD CIO on strategic planning, governance, performance improvement/analysis, and user experience.

Prior to joining CIO, Mr. Franzen served as the Director of the Financial Business Planning, Programs, and Analysis Division for the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). Mr. Franzen led the strategic Planning, Programming, Budget, and Execution (PPBE) analysis for DCMA’s annual Program Budget Review (PBR) in compliance with provisions of DoD Directive 7045.14. Mr. Franzen provided oversight of Business Analysis and support activities for Agency-wide financial and resource management activities. He also served as the Agency Risk Management Internal Control Program Manager under the provisions of OMB Circular A-123 and DoDI 5010.40.

Mr. Franzen possesses over 37 years of combined military and government civilian experience specializing in both Program and Financial Management. In 1987, he began his United States Air Force career as a Crew Chief on the A-7 Corsair II, followed by the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft. In 1998 he transitioned into information technology (IT) and communications, specializing in Voice and Data IT/Communications Installation/Maintenance, Intrusion Detection/Video Information, and IT Program Management, retiring in 2008.

Special assignments included serving at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) in support of the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) where he received the Defense Meritorious Service Medal while serving as the project manager over several critical Presidential Communications Upgrade Projects that were the very cornerstone of the Presidential Communications Modernization (PCM). As the Program Management Control Officer for PCM, Mr. Franzen oversaw 40 plus critical IT projects.

Mr. Franzen began his DCMA tenure in 2011 in the Earned Value Management Center as the Mission Support Chief. Mr. Franzen later transitioned to the IT Directorate as the Acquisition Insight Portfolio Manager and Defense Business System (DBS) Program Manager for the Earned Value Analytics System.

In 2018, Mr. Franzen was assigned to the DCMA Office of the Director, Cooperate Operations Division where he served as the Independent Advisor to the DCMA Director, other Senior Leaders, and the Compliance Verification Team (CVT) Lead for compliance with policy governing IT DBS procurement and system acquisitions. Mr. Franzen also served as the sole Acquisition Review Board IT signatory during this assignment. Under the leadership of Mr. Franzen, the CVT ensured execution, compliance, and best value of the Agency’s entire IT acquisition portfolio composed of 150 acquisition efforts. Mr. Franzen received the Meritorious Civilian Service Award for his contributions during this assignment.

Mr. Franzen holds two degrees; an Applied Science in Aviation Maintenance Technology and an Applied Science in Electronic Systems Technology. Other certifications include DoD Certified Acquisition Professional Program Management Level III and certified DoD Financial Manager Level III.

Mr. Mark Gorak is the Principal Director for Resources & Analysis in the office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO). Key responsibilities include monitoring and analyzing congressional activities and legislation; serving as the DoD CIO focal point for planning, programming, budgeting and execution processes; DoD CIO administration and management; and DoD’s digital and cyber workforce policy and development integrator.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Gorak served as the Deputy Director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC). In this capacity he served as the senior advisor to the Director with a focus on attracting and cultivating mission-driven, world class talent to transform the Department of Defense through the integration of artificial intelligence.

From November 2019 to March 2021, Mr. Gorak served as the Director of People Analytics within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (ASA M&RA). As a senior advisor to M&RA, he was responsible for developing, managing, and synthesizing the research design, strategy, and policies to ensure Army personnel data is visible, accessible, understandable, trusted, interoperable, and secure.

Prior to entering civil service, Mr. Gorak served in the United States Army for over thirty-three years. He began his military service as an enlisted truck driver who was inspired to become an Army leader and later retired as a Colonel. As on officer, he served on the Joint Staff as a Division Chief responsible for implementing military and civilian personnel policy, talent management and readiness, reducing joint individual augmentees by 40% returning Service members back to Services, directly increasing readiness. He also served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Cost Assessment Program Evaluation (OSD-CAPE) as a program analyst. In this role, he established and led a DepSecDef wargaming group whose aim was to revitalize, synchronize and prioritize Department wargaming efforts. He founded the Department’s Defense Wargaming Alignment Group as well as the warfighting lab incentive fund, which provided operational concept innovation through experiments and demonstrations.

His previous military experience includes serving as an OH-58 Scout helicopter pilot in 1st Cavalry Division; C-12 King Air, fixed-wing aviator with XVIII Airborne Corps, commanding Charlie Company 228th theater aviation company; Headquarters, United States Military Entrance Processing Command serving as lead operations analyst; Army G-1 as branch chief for military personnel programs responsible for program and execution of military pay; and the US Army manpower analysis agency where he served as a senior analyst. He also served with Joint Task Force-Iraq (JTF-I) as Deputy J5 evaluating US force presence conducting strategic assessment of the theaters progress in achieving campaign objectives resulting in revisions to implementation plans.

In addition to his military assignments, Mr. Gorak has chaired various Military Operations Research Society working groups for over three years and is a six-sigma black belt. His education includes an MS in National Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School – National Defense University, an MS in Applied Mathematics from the Naval Post Graduate School and a BS in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from Marquette University.

His accomplishments include receiving the Superior Civilian Service Award; twice recognized by ASA M&RA, Legion of Merit; twice recognized, Defense Meritorious Service Medal; twice recognized, and the Meritorious Service Medal; twice recognized.

Mr. Gorak and his wife celebrate over 30 years of marriage and five children. He is an active youth soccer and basketball coach in support of his children and enjoys traveling around the country as an NCAA soccer referee. Lastly, he is a Wisconsin native, local supporter and prideful part owner of the Green Bay Packers.

Mr. George Lamb is the Director of Cloud and Software Modernization in the Office of the DOD CIO.  He leads the team responsible for the DOD strategy, planning, and when necessary building capability and processes used in DOD missions.  Mr. Lamb joined the DOD/CIO four years ago after a career working across the Federal and Civilian technical community.  He was a global staff engineer at Dell advising clients on open network across the US North-East and the Federal sectors.  He also was the Federal Systems Engineer at Nicira, a Silicon Valley startup that invented network virtualization and was acquired by VMware and became the NSX product line.  And he spent 10 years at IBM as a Chief Architect and Technical Systems Manager for the U.S. Intelligence Community.

He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. degree. in Pure Mathematics and Professional Writing and from the University of Delaware with a M.S. degree in Computer Science.  He was also an elected director of the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District.

Mangala Kuppa is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. She is a go-getter with a unique skill set that includes in-depth technical expertise, experience with industry best practices, and exceptional leadership and management skills. As Chief Technology Officer within the Department of Labor’s Office of the Chief Information Officer, she serves as a key advisor to the Chief Information Officer and Deputy Chief Information Officers on the development of short and long-range IT plans for all elements of the enterprise-wide technology environment. This includes providing technology leadership, advice, and guidance throughout the department in planning for implementation of all new or upgraded IT services in a managed architecture program. Mangala also serves as Chief AI Officer and the Director of Technology, Innovation and Engineering, making her responsible for overseeing the development and operations of the department’s Enterprise Data Platform and AI and Machine Language strategies and policies. Mangala previously served as the Department of Labor’s Director of Business Applications Services, where she oversaw the operation, maintenance, and modernization of the department’s mission and business-focused systems.

Michael G. Mullen was born in Los Angeles, California, on 4 October 1946. The son of a prominent Hollywood publicist, he was the eldest of five children. While attending Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks he participated in service and social clubs and excelled in basketball, becoming the team’s most valuable player. Following high school he enrolled in the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Midshipman Mullen graduated on 5 June 1968, earning a bachelor of science degree in systems engineering and a commission in the US Navy.

Ensign Mullen reported to San Diego, California, for ten weeks of training in military justice and anti-submarine warfare operations. He then joined the USS Collett (DD 730) in October 1968. Serving as an anti-submarine warfare officer, he oversaw employment of the ship’s Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter (DASH), an unmanned aircraft armed with torpedoes, designed to extend the destroyer’s stand-off attack capability. He was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) in June 1969, and that September the destroyer sailed for a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific. As part of Seventh Fleet, the crew participated in operations off the coast of Vietnam, including naval gun􀄙 re in support of US Army, US Marine Corps, and South Vietnamese forces near Da Nang.

In February1971 Lieutenant (j. g.) Mullen graduated from the Department Head Course 32 at Naval Destroyer School, Newport, Rhode Island. After completing a brief course in nuclear weapons at Norfolk, Virginia, he reported aboard the USS Blandy (DD 943) as Weapons Officer and was promoted to full Lieutenant in July 1971. As part of Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Six, nicknamed “The Mod Squad”, the Blandy participated in an experimental program designed to give junior officers more responsibility by assigning them to billets normally held by personnel of greater rank. While serving consecutively as the ship’s Weapons and Operations Officer, Mullen participated in NATO operations in the Mediterranean, tracked Soviet ships in the Caribbean, and qualified to command destroyers.

After completing short courses in damage control and fleet petroleum operations in January 1973, Lieutenant Mullen assumed command of the USS Noxubee (AOG 56), a World War II era gasoline tanker, home ported in Little Creek, Virginia. The crew provided replenishment services to the Atlantic Fleet and completed two successful deployments to the Mediterranean, including providing support to US Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Lieutenant Mullen returned to the US Naval Academy in July 1975. He served two years as a Company Officer for 150 midshipmen, with concurrent assignments as an instructor, a member of the admissions board, and assistant officer-in-charge for summer midshipman training. During his final year at the academy, Mullen was promoted to lieutenant commander in October 1977 and became the Commandant’s executive assistant. To prepare for his next assignment, Lieutenant Commander Mullen completed the five-month prospective engineer officer’s course at Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Great Lakes, Illinois. A month after graduation in October 1978, he reported aboard the USS Fox (CG 33), a guided missile cruiser home ported in Bremerton, Washington, as Chief Engineer. Mullen oversaw a fifteen month overhaul of the ship’s propulsion system, and his department earned two consecutive awards for engineering excellence. The Fox deployed to the Western Pacific in September 1980 and served briefly as flagship in the Persian Gulf during the continuing crisis with revolutionary Iran. During the deployment, Mullen held concurrent responsibilities as the ship’s senior watch officer and force anti-air warfare commander for the USS Ranger Aircraft Carrier Battle Group and combatant forces operating in the Persian Gulf.

In July 1981, after completing a short course in surface ship operations at Newport, Rhode Island, Lieutenant Commander Mullen became the Executive Officer of the USS Sterett (CG 31), home ported in Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, while supporting Seventh Fleet operations in the Western Pacific. This involved battle group and multilateral exercises with partner nations, including Japan and the Republic of Korea, and included an encounter with a Vietnamese fishing boat that fired upon the task group. The Sterett also recovered Vietnamese nationals at sea who were fleeing from South Vietnam.

While attending the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California, from January 1983 to March 1985, Lieutenant Commander Mullen advanced in grade to Commander and earned a master of science degree in operations research. After completing a brief refresher course in ship operations at Newport, Rhode Island, Mullen transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and took command of the USS Goldsboro (DDG 20) in June 1985. The guided missile destroyer executed Third Fleet operations until August 1986, when it deployed to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf. As part of the Middle East Force from November to January 1987, the crew conducted maritime security operations under wartime conditions during the Iraq-Iran conflict. In recognition of his performance while commanding afloat, Mullen received the Pacific Fleet’s 1987 Vice Admiral Stockdale Leadership Award.

Commander Mullen returned to Newport, Rhode Island, in October 1987. After completing the integrated warfare course for post-command officers at the Naval War College, in December he assumed the duties of Director of the Surface Warfare Division Officer Course. Promoted to captain in September 1989, Mullen transferred to Washington, DC, where he became the Navy’s Staff assistant to the Director for Operational Test and Evaluation at the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). He was involved in modernization initiatives such as the Arleigh Burke class (DDG 51) guided missile destroyer, the AEGIS SPY-1B radar testing and evaluation, improvements to the Standard Missile capabilities, Seawolf-class (SSN 21) submarine, and Tomahawk missile programs. As OSD pursued its new “Fly-before-Buy” procurement strategy, he proved especially adept at enhancing evaluation methods, drafting technical assessments for the Defense Acquisition Board, and brie􀄙 ng members of Congress.

Captain Mullen next completed the 11 week Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in November 1991, followed by command refresher training in Rhode Island and Virginia. In April 1992 he assumed command of the AEGIS guided missile cruiser USS Yorktown (CG 48), that year’s Atlantic Fleet winner of the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for overall readiness. With the Cold War ended, the ship visited Severomorsk, Russia, and trained with the Romanian and Bulgarian navies. The crew earned another award for battle efficiency during 1993, while conducting counter-drug operations in the Caribbean as part of Joint Task Force (JTF) 4 and maritime interdiction operations off Haiti as part of JTF-120 during Operation SUPPORT DEMOCRACY. In each case Mullen served as the force’s air warfare commander. He also embarked women aboard the Yorktown on a temporary basis in an effort to enhance diversity and opportunity in the Navy.

Returning to Washington in February 1994, Captain Mullen served as Director of the Surface Officer Distribution Division at the Bureau of Naval Personnel. This was a tumultuous period, characterized by reductions in personnel, resources, and ultimately the size of the fleet. He implemented changes in personnel assignments to complement the new force structure, including initiatives to realign career paths, increase command opportunities for younger officers, broaden opportunities for joint education and joint assignments, and institutionalize diversity. In August 1995 Mullen became Director of the Surface Warfare Plans, Programs, and Requirements Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. As the SC-21 (Surface Combatant for the 21st Century) program entered the cost and operational analysis phase of development, he advocated the addition of distributed system networks and extended-range precision weapons to the Arsenal Ship design.

Following his promotion to flag rank on 1 April 1996, Rear Admiral (lower half) Mullen served briefly as the Deputy Director of the Surface Warfare Division and completed refresher training at Oceana, Virginia. Then, in August he took command of Cruiser-Destroyer Group TWO, with concurrent duties as commander of the USS George Washington (CVN 73) Aircraft Carrier Battle Group. The battle group participated in inter-deployment training as part of the Atlantic Fleet until October 1997, when it deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf. George Washington participated in multi-battle group operations in the Gulf as the cornerstone of US Central Command’s military presence in the Middle East. Central Command forces during this time nearly came to blows with the Iraqi military, first in December 1997 and then again in February 1998. The presence and readiness of US forces eventually helped convince Saddam Hussein to allow United Nations weapons inspectors into Iraq.

Newly promoted Rear Admiral (upper half) Mullen returned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in May 1998, this time as Director of the Surface Warfare Division (N-86). Inheriting a reduced force with growing littoral responsibilities, he told Congress, “we can no longer safely mortgage our future readiness by further deferring recapitalization and modernization.” Advocating a “measured revolution” that acknowledged fiscal limitations, he addressed retention issues through systems automation, continuation pay, and reduced sea-time. He also sought a modest increase in shipbuilding and installed new technologies aboard existing vessels. Among several key 21st Century initiatives were the tactical Tomahawk cruise missile, theater ballistic missile defense, and the multi-mission DD-21 destroyer programs.

In October 2000 Vice Admiral Mullen accepted concurrent command of the US Second Fleet and NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic, embarked upon the USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20). The Second Fleet operated from the North to the South poles and as far east as Europe. Besides training the Atlantic battle fleet, evaluating new tactics, and maintaining battle group readiness, Mullen could also assemble JTF-120 to address emergent regional crises. The Striking Fleet maintained maritime superiority in the Atlantic and guaranteed NATO’s sea lines of communication.

Vice Admiral Mullen returned to Washington in August 2001 as the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Resources, Requirements, and Assessments (N-8) in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). During his two-and-a-half-year tenure, Mullen improved the efficiency of the Navy’s acquisition process and identified program cuts to recapitalize funding for force modernization and transformation. A principal architect of Sea Power 21, the CNO’s strategic vision to address 21st Century threats, he advocated for a Global Concept of Operations that reconfigured naval forces to create additional expeditionary strike groups. This enabled the fleet to expand its geographic scope of influence and enhance the nation’s deterrence capability.

Following his promotion to admiral in August 2003, Mullen was appointed the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. He represented Navy interests as a member of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council and led implementation of the CNO’s Fleet Response Plan, designed to replace rigid Cold War-era training, maintenance, and deployment cycles with a more flexible timetable that increased the fleet’s surge capacity.

In October 2004 Admiral Mullen took concurrent command of US Naval Forces, Europe, and Allied Joint Force Command, situated in Naples, Italy. In this dual role he commanded the Combined and Joint NATO Force in the Balkans (17,000 troops in Kosovo), coordinated ongoing NATO counterterrorism efforts in the Mediterranean during Operation ACTIVE ENDEAVOR, and stood up the first NATO training missions in Iraq (NTM-I). This varied experience provided a fresh understanding of the dynamic global changes and an appreciation of the need for a secure environment to allow democracy and opportunity to flourish.

Eight months later, on 22 July 2005, Admiral Mullen became the 28th Chief of Naval Operations. His initial guidance to the Navy identified three priorities: sustaining combat readiness, building a fleet for the future, and developing 21st Century leaders. Readiness meant maintaining a responsive force—ships and personnel—with a wide range of operational capabilities. Mullen again sought to harness the nation’s diversity, empowering sailors to reach their full potential.

Dedicated to developing the Sea Power 21 vision, Admiral Mullen began to “build today a force that is properly sized, balanced, and priced for tomorrow.” To bolster the nation’s flagging shipbuilding industry, he recommended replacement of aging vessels and expansion of the current fleet to 313 ships by 2020. Much of the fleet’s anticipated growth was linked to a new multi-mission littoral combat ship, which would reduce costs and improve the Navy’s capability to deal with terrorist threats and humanitarian crises world-wide.

Admiral Mullen also championed revamping the National Fleet Policy between the Navy and Coast Guard and led the naval services to update the united maritime strategy in “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower.“ The global strategy established dispersed fleet stations to build international relationships and sustain the joint fleet’s constant forward presence. Acknowledging growing requirements for interoperability among maritime nations sharing similar interests, Mullen proposed that allies collaborate to form a “Thousand Ship Navy” to secure the “global maritime commons.” He envisioned a “free-form, self-organizing network of maritime partners” facilitated by the implementation of an automatic identification system for ships at sea and the creation of a Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Center.

Based on the recommendation of Dr. Robert M. Gates, the Secretary of Defense, Admiral Mullen became the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 1 October 2007. Mullen arrived in the midst of the Global War on Terrorism and two wars and immediately established three priorities that would resonate throughout his four-year tenure as Chairman. His first priority was to develop a strategy to protect the nation’s interests in the Middle East, then dominated by the ongoing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As CNO, Admiral Mullen supported President Bush’s temporary troop surge in Iraq, support that was made possible through the Chiefs’ collective insistence that the surge would be accompanied by economic development and political reconciliation. During his confirmation hearings for Chairman, he testified that America’s ground forces were severely strained, but defeat would strengthen the nation’s adversaries and further undermine Middle East stability.

Security conditions in Iraq had improved by the fall of 2007, enabling the additional US forces to start to gradually withdraw. Nonetheless, Admiral Mullen made clear that the Iraqi security forces still needed American military assistance to counter insurgent and terrorist violence. A base force would have to remain in place until the Iraqis were sufficiently trained and equipped. In November 2008, after much debate, the Iraqi Parliament accepted a status of forces agreement with the United States that restricted US combat operations and called for an intermediate withdrawal of American forces from major cities by June 2009, followed by their complete departure by the end of 2011.

Relegated by necessity to an economy of force mission, the situation in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan worsened during 2007. Frustrated by NATO shortfalls in capability and capacity, Admiral Mullen called for “a well-coordinated counterinsurgency strategy.” He also started an effort for alternative logistics supply to reduce reliance on Pakistan. As the Bush administration reassessed its military and diplomatic strategies the following year, Mullen acknowledged that coalition forces were losing ground and advocated greater involvement. “In Afghanistan, we do what we can,” he told members of the House Armed Services Committee in December 2007. “In Iraq, we do what we must.” He also initiated a long-term diplomatic relationship with General Ashfaq Kayani, the Pakistani Army Chief of Staff, pledging support and soliciting cooperation in combating militants in the country’s unruly tribal area. Shortly after his inauguration in 2009, President Obama shifted the military’s focus from Iraq to Afghanistan, presented a new counterinsurgency strategy for the region, and increased the number of deployed forces. He pledged collaboration with Pakistan in the fight against terrorism and emphasis on more resources for training security forces, fighting government corruption, and combating drug trafficking in Afghanistan.

By January Admiral Mullen was repeatedly warning about the detrimental effect that poor governance and corruption was having on the population. “Despite a dramatic increase in our civilian presence in Afghanistan this past year,” Mullen told members of the House Armed Services Committee in February 2011, “improvements in sub-national governance and reconstruction have not kept pace with progress in improving security. This has impeded our ability to hold, build and transfer.”

There were further gains in security—particularly in the south and east over the spring—and a robust e􀄛 ort to continue to grow and develop competent Afghan security forces. Admiral Mullen worked with special operations forces to provide options for the President for operations against Osama bin Laden in the spring of 2011, the execution of which resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden. Together these developments made it possible for Admiral Mullen to support President Obama’s plan to withdraw US troops and turn over security to Afghan forces by 2014. He advised a cautious approach, however, to ensure that the drawdown did not occur too swiftly.

Admiral Mullen’s second priority as Chairman was to improve the health of the force by balancing current requirements against future national security threats. The toll taken on US ground forces during protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan particularly worried him, and Mullen questioned their readiness to fight a high-intensity war against a major adversary. Besides repairing or replacing worn out equipment, he proposed increasing the interval between deployments, training to full-spectrum operations, and addressing the welfare of service members and their families, especially the needs of the combat wounded and families of the fallen. Mindful of the costs of such initiatives, he suggested that the country devote additional resources to national security and considered a defense budget pegged at 4 percent of its gross domestic product the absolute minimum.

The recession in 2008 challenged modernization efforts, compelling Admiral Mullen to acknowledge that the federal debt represented “the single biggest threat to national security.” During the next three years the Chairman and Secretary Gates aggressively trimmed expensive, redundant, or failing programs in order to recapitalize funds for higher priority requirements. They curtailed multiple high-technology items, disestablished US Joint Forces Command, and ultimately reduced the end strength of the Army and Marine Corps to support the all-volunteer force, meet current operational needs, and address the most-likely future threats. Nevertheless, in April 2011 President Obama ordered another $400 billion in reductions over the next twelve years. Admiral Mullen agreed that the Defense Department should contribute to resolving the nation’s deficit crisis and believed that it could responsibly manage a builddown, but he worried that reckless cuts could hollow the military.

Admiral Mullen voiced concern over a widening gulf between the military and the public. Even though the military enjoyed what he called a “Sea of Goodwill” on the part of the American people, only a small percentage of the general population had a personal connection to those in uniform. He and his wife Deborah urged communities to embrace returning veterans, and he called on the military to remember, as well, their own duties of citizenship.

The most controversial issue separating civil and military values was a matter of enlistment criteria. Mullen had been concerned about the issue for years, and in 2008 he ordered his Staff to conduct a serious study about the ramifications to the force. He privately decided to support a change to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. During his January 2010 State of the Union Address, President Obama reiterated his pledge to end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a policy that barred gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. A week later, Admiral Mullen endorsed the President’s plan before members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, testifying, “no matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”

When released in late November, the anticipated Pentagon study concluded that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would present minimal risk to military effectiveness. President Obama subsequently signed the repeal into law on 22 December and nine months later, after Admiral Mullen, Secretary Leon Pane􀄴 a, and President Obama “certified” to Congress that the military was ready to execute the new policy, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell officially ended on 20 September 2011.

Admiral Mullen’s third priority was to balance strategic risk around the globe. His 2011 National Military Strategy envisioned “a ‘multi-nodal’ world characterized more by shifting interest-driven coalitions based on diplomatic, military, and economic power, than by rigid security competition between opposing blocks.” In this dynamic environment, he advocated an interagency approach to foreign policy in which military leaders played a wide range of supporting roles. Chinese military modernization and expansion, and North Korean and Iranian nuclear proliferation, he believed, presented particularly significant risks to regional stability and open access to the global commons. To mitigate these risks he proposed a geographically distributed, operationally resilient, and politically sustainable expeditionary force capable of conducting full-spectrum operations with its international partners. The establishment of US Africa Command in 2007 and US Cyber Command in 2010 reflected the wide range of emerging 21st century challenges.

Admiral Mullen was an active military diplomat and statesman, encouraging improved military-to-military relations throughout the world. He met frequently with the Chief of Staff of the Pakistani Army, leading efforts to establish a more collaborative association with that country. He also led the US delegations that successfully negotiated nuclear arms reductions (New Start Treaty) with the Russians; met with the Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean chiefs to ease tensions in East Asia; and laid the groundwork for increasing America’s presence in the Pacific. Perhaps Admiral Mullen’s greatest diplomatic challenge occurred near the end of his tenure as Chairman, during the unanticipated Arab Spring of 2011, when a wave of popular uprisings confronted authoritarian regimes throughout the Middle East. He met with senior officials from several Gulf States to encourage tolerance and decry escalating violence. Once President Obama decided to support the U.N. Security Council’s resolution to protect civilians in Libya, he led NATO and Arab allies to quickly establish a no-fly zone and supported subsequent operations that resulted in the demise of the Qaddafi regime.

Admiral Mullen left Office on 1 October 2011. He retired one month later, after serving over forty-three years in uniform.

Kaitie Penry is the inaugural Director of Research Innovation at the Naval Postgraduate School. In this role, she oversees the development of NPS’ enterprise innovation process and prototyping portfolio, supporting the Secretary of the Navy’s initiative to establish the Naval Innovation Center at NPS.

‍Penry joined the NPS team in May 2023 from the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), a program office within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering. At NSIN, Penry was the Bay Area Regional Engagement Principal focused on building relationships with early-stage startups and academia in order to develop novel solutions for national security problem sets. She was also a National Security Fellow at UC Berkeley. Prior to this, she was the NSIN Deputy Education Portfolio Manager focused on design and execution programming.

‍Penry also worked at Headquarters, Marine Corps for eight years on related strategic areas to include logistics, crowdsourcing/ideation, rapid prototyping, security cooperation, and technology concepts. She earned a master’s in foreign policy from American University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis in International Relations.

Ms. Rathbun currently serves as the DON CIO driving continuous improvement and innovation of the DON’s Information Technology portfolio valued at 12+B. In her role, she ensures alignment of IT investment priorities to SECNAV priorities, guides the execution of the DON’s Information Superiority Vision focused on modernizing, innovating, and defending Enterprise and Business IT. Ms. Rathbun plays a key advocacy role for DON data and cyber/IT workforce initiatives, and overseas DON CIO internal operations. Key focus areas include Cyber Readiness, zero-trust architecture, optimizing transport diversity through commercial tech, SIPR 2.O; and movement to cloud and enterprise services delivery.

Prior to her role as DON CIO, Ms. Rathbun served in a dual-hatted capacity as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Information Warfare and Enterprise Services (DASN IWAR) under the ASN, RDA, and as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), DONCIO. As DASN IWAR, she supported an $9+B portfolio of programs that modernize and deliver information-centric capabilities spanning enterprise, operational and tactical missions to include Command, Control, Communications, Cyber, Battlespace Awareness, Space, Business and IT Services. Ms. Rathbun led key software and cyber acquisition reforms and served as the Navy’s IT Acquisition Workforce champion. As CTO she drove the modernization of key elements of the DON’s IT Infrastructure to include a unified network architecture Capstone Design, movement to enterprise cloud and identity services and execution of zero trust principles all enabling mobile, agile, secure and interoperable force in meeting their mission. She was instrumental in resourcing and driving the rapid adoption of MS Office 365 to meet the demands that the COVID pandemic placed on remote access to productivity services; and consolidating Logistic IT efforts across the Navy.

Before joining the Department of Navy, Ms. Rathbun served as the Deputy Director for Defense Business Systems in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for C3, Cyber, and Business Systems (DASD C3CB) within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. She was responsible for shaping the acquisitions of the Department’s major Defense Business Systems and Enterprise IT Infrastructure Services investments, a portfolio valued at over $15B.

Kris is a recognized leader in the United States Army people enterprise, who has spent the past eight years investigating new technologies and analytics, pairing them with teams of talented individuals, partnering with academia and industry to deliver best practices, and attacking the Army’s most pressing challenges in people analytics and talent management.

Since she arrived at the HQDA G-1 in 2016, she established data, analytics, and innovation teams and capabilities for the Army Talent Management Task Force, for the ASA(M&RA)’s People Analytics directorate, for US Army Human Resources Command, and is now designing the Innovation Directorate for US Army Recruiting Command.

Micky Tripathi is the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he leads the formulation of the federal health IT strategy and coordinates federal health IT policies, standards, programs, and investments. He also serves as acting chief AI officer for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Tripathi has over 20 years of experience across the health IT landscape. He most recently served as Chief Alliance Officer for Arcadia, a health care data and software company focused on population health management and value-based care, the project manager of the Argonaut Project, an industry collaboration to accelerate the adoption of FHIR, and a board member of HL7, the Sequoia Project, the CommonWell Health Alliance, and the CARIN Alliance.

Mr. Tripathi served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative (MAeHC), a non-profit health IT advisory and clinical data analytics company. He was also the founding President and CEO of the Indiana Health Information Exchange, a statewide HIE partnered with the Regenstrief Institute, an Executive Advisor to investment firm LRVHealth, and a Fellow at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

He holds a PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University, and an AB in political science from Vassar College. Prior to receiving his PhD, he was a Presidential Management Fellow and a senior operations research analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington, DC, for which he received the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Medal.