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Some 16 years of continuous combat, coupled with a U.S. military force that got too used to going against a benign power projection by would-be adversaries, has sidelined the services a bit, and the world is rapidly catching up, service leaders shared on the final day of the West 2017 conference. Senior leaders from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard took the stage Thursday afternoon to address critical military concerns, including military readiness and might, recruitment and retention, and what a future military force might look like.

Career and educational hurdles still exist for girls and women entering the world of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, commonly called STEM, despite it being the 21st century, panelists shared during AFCEA International’s Women in Cyber discussion, presented Wednesday at West 2017, a premier naval conference held this week in San Diego. 

Information warfare is an aggressive game of soccer where not only are all the fans on the field with the players, but no one is wearing uniforms. Unlike the dominance the U.S. military enjoyed for years in the conventional warfare realm, the lack of physical and geographic boundaries in cyberspace test modern warfighting doctrine, said Vice Adm. Marshall Lytle III, USCG, during a panel discussion at the West 2017 conference, co-sponsored by AFCEA International and the U.S. Naval Institute and taking place this week in San Diego.

The U.S. military is at a critical innovation junction. Will it succumb to a disruptive environment or prevail? All indications point to an outcome that could go either way. “Disruption occurs when something happens that upends entire belief systems and fundamentally reshapes, or in some cases takes down, entire institutions,” said Adm. James “Sandy” Winnefeld, USN (Ret.), during a keynote address at West 2017. “Historical change can be difficult to see when you’re actually living through it,” Winnefeld said. “But that kind of disruption may be exactly what is happening to us today.”

The integrity of the U.S. Navy suffers today because the integrity of the force depends on capability, capacity and readiness—three areas that have taken a beating with a Navy at war for 15 years and the budget shortfalls threatening so many military arenas, said Adm. Philip Davidson, USN, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, at West 2017. 

Rear Adm. Peter G.

Rear Adm. William W.

Rear Adm. Kenneth R. Whitesell, USN, will be assigned as commander, Carrier Strike Group 4, Norfolk, Virginia.

Rear Adm. Jesse A. Wilson Jr., USN, will be assigned as commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk, Virginia.

Of all the threats facing U.S. military forces, Adm. James Stavridis, USN (Ret.), is most worried about the dynamic, manmade world of cyber. Stavridis kicked off the West 2017 conference on Tuesday, delivering a keynote that touched on a litany of threats from terrorism to the rise of conventional enemies, political gridlock, narcotics and even Mother Nature. The theme for year’s conference addresses the question: Ready for Today, Modernize for Tomorrow: How Can We Maintain the Edge?