Forrestal Speaker: 

Kenneth J. Braithwaite: Former Secretary of the Navy

The former Honorable Kenneth J. Braithwaite was sworn in as the 77^th Secretary of the Navy May 29, 2020. He previously served as the 31^st U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway. Secretary Braithwaite graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1984 and was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy. In 1995, he earned a master’s degree in government administration, graduating with honors from the University of Pennsylvania, Fels School of Government. The Secretary was designated a naval aviator in April 1986. His first operational assignment was to Patrol Squadron (VP) 17, NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii, where he flew anti-submarine missions tracking adversary submarines throughout the greater Pacific and Arctic regions.

Initially he began his private sector career as an executive at Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) where he served as manager of operations for ARCO Chemical. In 1997, Secretary Braithwaite was asked to join the staff of U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) where he served as a senior advisor and state director of the Senator’s offices across the Commonwealth. In 2000, Secretary Braithwaite was hired by St. Thomas Health Services in Nashville, Tennessee, a division of the Ascension Health, the nation’s largest hospital system, to serve as vice president of Public and Government Affairs. In 2003, he was promoted to the corporate level to establish offices in Washington, D.C. as vice president of advocacy. In 2006, he left Ascension Health to become the executive director of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council in Philadelphia where he later led the merger with the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) to become a senior vice president of HAP. In 2011, the Secretary was asked to join VHA, Inc., a Dallas-based hospital group purchasing and performance improvement company, initially to serve as the chief executive of the Mid-Atlantic region. In 2014, as part of the effort to acquire and merge with University Health Consortium and MedAssets, Inc., he helped create and lead the new organization, Vizient, Inc. as group senior vice president until he was asked by the President to serve as Ambassador to Norway in 2018.

Secretary Braithwaite’s decorations include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal (with oak leaf cluster), Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal (five awards) with Combat “V”, Navy Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon and numerous campaign and service medals. However, he is most proud of having received the Navy Unit Commendation as part of the USS Guadalcanal Amphibious Readiness Group off Beirut, Lebanon in 1983 and being a part of U.S. Joint Forces Command when it was awarded a Joint Meritorious Unit Commendation in 2007.

Keynote Speakers:

Col Jennifer K. "Boots" Reeves, USAF (Ret.): Senior Resident Fellow for Spacepower Studies, Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence (MI-SPACE)
Jennifer Reeves is a Senior Resident Fellow for Space Studies at the Mitchell Institute's Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence. She retired as an Air Force colonel after nearly 29 years of active duty. Her final assignment was Chief of the Air Force's Engine Room, where she led the service's Program Objective Memorandum (POM) build. She commanded the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom AFB, a team of 4,000. She also commanded the 381st Training Group at Vandenberg AFB, which trained about 250 students a year for the space and nuclear career fields. Earlier, she commanded the 2d Space Warning Squadron, operating the DSP and SBIRS missile-warning satellite constellations. She is a Space Weapons Officer with multiple deployments supporting the joint fight with space assets. Her expertise spans space-based missile warning, nuclear operations, space control, and Air Force budget programming. She holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from San Diego State University, a Master of Basic Science in Physics from the University of Colorado Denver, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the Air War College.

Ms. Kari Wilkinson: Executive Vice President, HII; President, Newport News Shipbuilding
Kari Wilkinson is executive vice president of HII and president of its Newport News Shipbuilding division. She took the role in 2025 and leads more than 26,000 shipbuilders who design, build, and maintain the Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines. From 2021 she was president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, where she led more than 11,000 shipbuilders building amphibious ships, destroyers, and cutters for the Navy and Coast Guard. She started at Ingalls in 1996 as an associate naval architect. She moved into program management in 2007 as a ship program manager for the San Antonio-class LPD and became vice president of program management in 2016. As Ingalls president, she helped secure serial production contracts for the destroyer and amphibious ship programs. A Michigan native, she earned a B.S. in naval architecture and marine engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Temple University. She serves on the boards of the Mariners' Museum and Park, the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable, and the Naval Submarine League.

Dr. William C. "Bill" Greenwalt: Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Bill Greenwalt is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on defense management and innovation. He sits on several corporate boards and is a founder of the Silicon Valley Defense Group. His work covers technology-transfer reform, defense acquisition and procurement reform, technology policy, and integrating U.S. and allied commercial and defense industrial bases. He began his career at the U.S. General Accounting Office. On Capitol Hill, he served as senior staff on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and the House Appropriations Committee. As Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, he advised the Under Secretary for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics on the defense and commercial industrial bases. In industry, he worked for Lockheed Martin and the Aerospace Industries Association. He holds a B.A. in economics and political science from Cal State Long Beach, an M.A. in international relations and defense and security studies from USC, and a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Matt Turek: Chief Scientist, Systems & Technology Research (STR)

Dr. Matt Turek is currently a Chief Scientist at STR (www.str.us), where he leads the development of counter-AI technologies. He spent over seven years at DARPA, from July 2018 to October 2025, as a program manager, Deputy Office Director, and briefly Acting Office Director of the Information Innovation Office (I2O), now the Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO). As Deputy Office Director, Dr. Turek provided strategic direction and mentorship to 25 Program Managers executing I2O’s $500M+ annual research portfolio focused on artificial intelligence, information and cyber operations, and secure and resilient software systems. As a DARPA Program Manager he conceived, developed, and transitioned impactful programs in AI, machine learning, information operations, media authentication, and decision-making, totaling over $300M in investments. Before DARPA, Dr. Turek worked in computer vision and medical imaging, across roles at GE Medical Systems, GE Global Research, and Kitware, Inc. He holds a PhD from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a master’s degree from Marquette University, and a bachelor’s degree from Clarkson University.

Dr. John G. "Jerry" McGinn: Director, Center for the Industrial Base, CSIS
Jerry McGinn directs the Center for the Industrial Base at CSIS and is a senior fellow in its Defense and Security Department. He is a leading expert on the industrial base, acquisition, government contracting, and security policy. He previously served as executive director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, where he published more than 70 reports and commentaries. Before that, he was the senior career official in DoD's Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy. There he led a staff of 80, reviewed major mergers and CFIUS transactions, and ran advanced manufacturing programs. He also spent a decade in senior industry roles at Northrop Grumman, Deloitte Consulting, and QinetiQ North America. Earlier, he was Special Assistant to the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and a political scientist at RAND. He has testified before Congress and the UK House of Commons. He was commissioned as an Army infantry officer and is a Ranger and Airborne School graduate. He holds a Ph.D., M.S., and M.A. from Georgetown and a B.S. from West Point.

Mr. Alex Erving, USNA '03: Director, Future Submarine Design and Undersea Warfare Systems, Newport News Shipbuilding
Alex Erving is the Director of Future Submarine Design and Undersea Warfare Systems at HII's Newport News Shipbuilding, where he has worked for about 18 years. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2003 and served as a nuclear-trained Surface Warfare Officer before joining the shipyard. NNS's future submarine design department supports programs including SSN(X), SSN-AUKUS, and other undersea warfare efforts.