Conference Attendees: Honolulu Defense Forum 2025

Speakers and Distinguished Guests

Opening Welcome Dinner

Keynote Address

Admiral Samuel Paparo

Commander
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

Admiral Phil Davidson, USN (Ret.)

Former 25th Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

The Honorable Mac Thornberry

Former U.S. Representative for Texas & Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee

Rear Admiral Robert P. Girrier, USN (Ret.)

President Emeritus
Pacific Forum International

Dr. David Santoro

President
Pacific Forum International

Featured Guests

United States and Allies & Partners

Congressman Don Bacon (R-NE)

Chairman of the Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation, U.S. House Armed Services Committee

Ed Barnabas

Vice President and Chief Technologist
Booz Allen Hamilton

A.J. Bertone

Managing Partner
In-Q-Tel

Deputy Minister Stefanie Beck

Deputy Minister of National Defence Canada

Alexander Bernard

Senior Managing Director
Cerberus

Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, USA (Ret.)

Former Director, Defense Intelligence Agency

The Honorable Kari Bingen

Director for Aerospace, Center for Strategic and International Studies, former Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security

Dan Blumenthal

Senior Fellow,
American Enterprise Institute

Brigadier General Emmanuel Boiteau

Commander of the French Liaison Team and Senior Representative
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

Michael Brown

Partner
Shield Capital

Vice Admiral Blake Converse

Deputy Commander
U.S. Pacific Fleet

James Corera

Director,
Cyber, Technology, and Security, Australia Strategic Policy Institute

Ralph Cossa

President Emeritus and WSD-Handa Chair,
Pacific Forum

Brigadier General Patrick Costello, USA

94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command

Major General John Edwards

Director of Global Power Programs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics

Senior Undersecretary Irineo Cruz Espino

Senior Undersecretary of National Defense, Department of National Defense of Philippines

Scott Farr

Executive Director,
Business Development, Contested Logistics Solutions, Boeing

General Charles Flynn, USA (Ret.)

Former Commander, U.S. Army Pacific

Heather Fortuna Bush

Senior Vice President
Booz Allen Hamilton

Jeffrey Frankston

Director of Policy, Analysis, and Transition, Office of Industrial Base Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment

Major General Gavin J. Gardner, USA

Commanding General
8th Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army

Marcus Garlauskas

Director, Indo-Pacific Security Initiative, Atlantic Council

Brad Glosserman

Deputy Director of and Visiting Professor, Tama University Center for Rule Making Strategies

Phoebe Greentree

Minister-Counsellor (AUKUS)
Australian Submarine Agency

Nini Hamrick

President
Vannever Labs

Admiral Harry Harris, USN (Ret.)

Former 24th Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea

John Hemmings

Professor,
DKI APCSS College of
Security Studies

Colonel Michael Hlad

C4 Operations Division Chief for Command, Control, Communications and Cyber, (J63),
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

Major General Steve Hunter OMM, MSC, MSM, CD

Commander
Canadian Special Operations
Forces Command

Andrea Inserra

Executive Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton

Aki Jain

CTO & President,
U.S. Government Business,
Palantir

Jakub Janda

Director
European Values Center
for Security Policy

Ambassador Jean-Baptiste Jeangene Vilmer

Ambassador to Vanuatu and Solomon Islands
Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs

Keith Johnson

Director Department of the Defense Solutions Architecture
Amazon Web Services

Cathy Johnston

Vice President, Mission Integration
Peraton

Vice Admiral Justin Jones, AO, CSC

Chief of Joint Operations
Australian Department of Defence

Brigadier General Martine S. Kidd, USA

Director for Logistics
& Engineering (J4)
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

Eugene Kim

Chairman
Korea Defense Industry Association

Admiral Stephen T. "Web" Koehler, USN

Commander
U.S. Pacific Fleet

Hiroshi Koyama

Fellow, Defense & Space
Systems Group
Mitsubishi Electric Company

Kimberly Lehn

Senior Director
Pacific Forum

Dr. Tom Mahnken

President & CEO
Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments

Whitney McNamara

Senior Vice President
Beacon Global Strategies

Rear Admiral (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, USN

CCTI Senior Director & Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense Democracies

Ambassador (Ret.) James Moriarty

Former Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan

Rear Admiral Ian Murray, AM

Head of Australian Defense Staff Washington
Australian Department of Defence

Mark Newton

Minister Defence
British Embassy Washington

David Nockels

First Assistant Secretary for Defence Trade, Regulation, and Industrial Collaboration
Australia Department of Defence

Commodore Peter Olive (Ret.)

Senior Adjunct Fellow
Pacific Forum

Om Prakash

Sector Vice President,
Strategy and Growth,
Northrop Grumman

Lichen Pursley

Director - INDOPACOM RPA Strategy Ops Tactics SME
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc

Eric Quam

Director, China Strategic
Focus Group
U.S. Indo Pacific Command

Major General Neil R. Richardson, USAF

Deputy Director of Operations (J30)
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

Dr. Brad Roberts

Director,
Center for Global Security Research
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

James Rogers

Co-Founder and Director of Research
U.K. Council on Geostrategy

Jedidiah P. Royal

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Indo-Pacific Security Affairs
U.S. Department of Defense

Lieutenant General Joshua Rudd

Deputy Commander
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

Congressman Pat Ryan (D-NY)

Vice-Ranking Member of the
U.S. House Armed Services Committee

Colonel John Sattely (Ret.)

Executive Director for
Contested Logistics
ManTech

Eric Sayers

Board Member
Pacific Forum

The Honorable Michael Schiffer

Former Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Asia
U.S. Agency for International Development

Brigadier General Henrik Scholz

Chief of the Department for Development, Planning,
and Innovation
German Air Force Headquaters

The Honorable Randall G. Schriver

Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, Department of Defense

Major General Stefan Schulz

Deputy Head of the
Political Department
German Ministry of Defense

Demetrius Sevastopulo

U.S.-China Correspondent
Financial Times

Robert Stephenson

Director (J8) for Requirements and Resources
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

The Honorable David Stilwell

Former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia
U.S. State Department

Sayako Sumomo

Director for International Cooperation
Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency
Japan Ministry of Defence

Tyler Sweatt

Chief Executive Officer
Second Front Systems

Brigadier General (Ret.) Kenneth Todorov

Sector Vice President and General Manager, Global Battle Management and Readiness Division
Northrop Grumman
Former U.S. Deputy Director of the Missile Defense Agency