BENS Policy Work
Following consultation with the membership and our potential government partners, the BENS Policy Committee submitted to the BENS Board of Directors a comprehensive and ambitious agenda for policy work for the upcoming year. In addition to the continuation of WarriorGateway.org-the genre-breaking portal linking our military service members to the network of services and programs provided by the government, not-for-profit and private sector specifically for them—the Board approved the full slate of projects and engagements aimed at improving efficiency and bringing best practices to the national security community. Among the efforts for 2011:
- The Defense Department asked BENS to analyze the costs, benefits and risks associated with establishing micro smart energy grids on key domestic military installations—both to promote the energy security and efficiency of such facilities, as well as to serve as a test bed and catalyst for the eventual development of a national smart grid.
- BENS will take cybersecurity awareness into the corporate board room both as a means of highlighting the very real risks to our national economic infrastructure and to promote the integration of cybersecurity measures into corporate governance.
- We are planning to reprise our very successful ten year old Tail-to-Tooth effort, which seeks to make improvements in Defense Department infrastructure management so that resources can be freed up to support the fighting "tooth." Working groups are already forming around the issues of modernizing logistics support activities, improving methods for contracting for services, shifting insourced work from government to public-private performance-based partnerships, and controlling the burgeoning costs of military compensation and health care.
You can review the entire Policy Work 2011 agenda here. In approving the agenda, the Board thanked Landon Rowland for his three years of superb leadership of the Policy Committee. Board member Mark Gerencser was elected to chair the committee beginning in 2011.
BENS Works: Business Sense for National Security
M-Banking – Over the last few years, BENS members have been deeply engaged with the Counter Threat Finance Working Group managed by the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Via its Global Synchronization Conferences and related events, the command brings together partner agencies from U.S. and foreign governments to reflect on front-line issues related to "following the money" in the fight against terror. By integrating the private sector into these conversations, USSOCOM accesses both real-time advice about industry trends and a diversity of perspectives on methods of combating key security concerns. To date, at least 75 BENS members and colleagues have been involved in its leadership activities.
As an outgrowth of one of those public-private sector collaborations in April 2010, USSOCOM identified a need to organize a "community of interest" around the growing issue of Mobile Banking and "M-Money." On December 9th - 10th, the command joined BENS in hosting a roundtable on how these technologies may expand in emerging markets and what proactive steps could be taken looking forward. Over forty participants joined the discussion, including government representatives from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Treasury Department, U.S. Northern Command, the Congressional Research Service, Congress, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. After presentation of case studies on models in Afghanistan, Kenya, and Mexico, private-sector participants, including BENS members Peter Kunkel of LMI and Mary Beth Long of Metis Solutions, shared their insights about technology and benefits.
The US Army College's XXII Strategy Conference "American Society and Its Profession of Arms" – Major General Gregg Martin, USA, Commandant of the U.S. Army War College has requested BENS members to partake in the upcoming XXII Annual Strategy Conference in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania from April 5-7, 2011. Each year the US Army War College holds an annual strategy conference to examine a key strategic issue of importance to the senior Army leadership. The purpose of this year's conference is to examine the military profession from many perspectives with an emphasis on the interaction with, and expectations of, the society it serves.
Over twenty leading experts, the 2010-2011 Army War College class, strategists, academics, journalists, government officials and business leaders will partake in examining this important issue. Greg Mortensen (Three Cups of Tea) will provide the opening keynote address, followed by panel discussions. The conference will discuss the evolving role of the military, diverging perspectives within the military and mainstream America, and its impact on military servicemen, their families, veterans and society at large. General Martin Dempsey, Commander US Army Training and Doctrine Command will provide the closing address.
The conference will be held at the US Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, PA and will consist of five panels, two keynote speakers and a choice of three pre-panel electives.
Please visit the following website for details: http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/conf/
Please contact Josh Wellner, jwellner@bens.org, if you have any further questions regarding this conference..
EUCOM Trip Debrief – On Thursday December 2nd, BENS members Mr. Bob Cohn, Ms. Georgette Mosbacher, Mr. Steve Shapiro, Mr. Earl Stafford and Mr. John Streicker led a call with 40 BENS members regarding the recent BENS visit to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in support of U.S. European Command and Admiral James Stavridis. Following a presentation of the findings to Admiral Stavridis by Mr. Cohn, an in-depth discussion driven by questions asked by members ensued.
If you are interested in listening to presentation of the findings and the follow on discussion, please click here: http://www.bens.org/news/highlights.html
Please contact Josh Wellner, jwellner@bens.org, with any further questions regarding our recent trip.
Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant – On Nov. 8, 2010, 14 BENS members took a trip to Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, MD, to gain insight on the inner workings of a nuclear plant. With plant leadership and Constellation Energy COO (and BENS Member) Mike Wallace on hand, attendees learned about the plant's comprehensive approach to security and gained new insights on the nation's nuclear energy future. BENS will follow up with further discussions on new nuclear development and energy security, and implications of ongoing studies and recommendations, including a BENS-Members only roundtable on the subject in early 2011.
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If you have any questions or comments, please contact Butch Hinton at (202) 296-2125 or bhinton@bens.org
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