This is a past event that took place on October 14-15, 2009.

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Dear Colleague:

Welcome to the 28th annual AFCEA Fall Intelligence Symposium!

The last year has seen a confluence of events which have produced arguably the largest change in the U.S. world view and intelligence priorities since the end of the Cold War.   In Congressional testimony, DNI Dennis Blair singled out the economic downturn as “the primary near-term security concern” for the country, exacerbating traditional threats and producing new areas of instability around the globe.  The operational and resource demands of the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have significantly, and perhaps fundamentally, altered the view of how the U.S. applies national power and of the force structure required.  Additionally, the long-anticipated threat of cyber war appears to be showing signs of reality, with demonstrations in Estonia, Georgia, and Iran, and warnings of penetrations of some critical U.S. systems. 

The Department of Defense has indicated the direction it intends to take under the new Administration.  In Secretary of Defense Gates’ presentation of his 2010 defense budget recommendations, he noted that “these recommendations are...for the purpose of shifting this department in a different strategic direction…”  The announced themes of the 2009 QDR, timed to influence the 2011 budget, reinforce the signals of the 2010 defense budget. 

The Fall Intelligence Symposium will take a cross-cutting approach to assess the impact of the widening threat spectrum and the changing national guidance and budget priorities on the Intelligence Community and the private sector.  Key Intelligence Community leaders will provide their perspectives, adding context for sessions addressing the economic threat, the military threat, the proliferation threat, and the cyber threat.  Session speakers will respond to questions given to them in advance, bringing focus to the discussion of why and how U.S. Intelligence must evolve. 

In addition, during the symposium AFCEA will honor The Honorable Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense, -- the recipient of the 2009 AFCEA Charlie Allen Award for Intelligence.

We hope you will join us in the National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, VA, on October 14-15, 2009, for this important event.

Lt Gen John Campbell, USAF (Ret.) Executive Vice President for Government Programs Iridium Satellite, LLC

Maj Gen William Usher, USAF (Ret.) Managing Director William R. Usher Consulting, Inc.