Speakers

Lieutenant General Jack W. Klimp is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, a non-profit military aid society dedicated to assisting Sailors, Marines and their families.

General Klimp held multiple command and staff positions including operational tours in Vietnam, Korea, Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm and in Somalia where he commanded Task Force Mogadishu. From 1993 to 1995 he was the Commanding General at Parris Island. His last assignment was Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps, Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

Since his retirement from the Marine Corps, he has led a number of non-profit organizations as President and Chief Executive Officer, including drug rehabilitation programs at Phoenix House and Second Genesis. Upon learning of his selection, General Klimp said, “It is a distinct privilege and honor to be asked to lead the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, its dedicated, compassionate volunteers and permanent staff, in providing support to our Marines, Sailors and their families in need.”

Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, General Klimp graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1968 with a B.S. degree and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He also holds M.A. degrees in Public Administration and National Security and Strategic Studies.

Rear Adm. Lorin C. Selby is a native of Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in nuclear engineering and earned his commission through the Navy’s Reserve Officers Training Corps program. He also holds a Master of Science in nuclear engineering and a Nuclear Engineer degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

His shipboard tours include USS Puffer (SSN 652), USS Pogy (SSN 647) and USS Connecticut (SSN 22). From July 2004 to May 2007, he commanded USS Greeneville (SSN 772) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. During these assignments, Selby conducted several deployments to the western and northern Pacific, northern Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

Ashore, Selby’s staff assignments include duty as a company officer and instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy; service as the deputy director of the Navy’s liaison office to the U.S. House of Representatives; and duty as the Submarine Platforms and Strategic Programs branch head in the Submarine Warfare Directorate on the Navy Staff. Following selection as an acquisition professional, he served as the program manager for both the Submarine Imaging and Electronic Warfare Systems Program Office (PMS 435) and the Advanced Undersea Systems Program Office (PMS 394).

As a flag officer, Selby served as commander, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) from October 2014 to August 2016. In this position, he led more than 17,000 scientists, engineers, technicians and support personnel, both civilian and active duty, within eight NSWC divisions located across the country.

From June 2016 until May 2020, he served as the Navy’s chief engineer and the Naval Sea Systems Command deputy commander for Ship Design, Integration and Naval Engineering, where he led the engineering and scientific expertise, knowledge and technical authority necessary to design, build, maintain, repair, modernize, certify and dispose of the Navy’s ships, aircraft carriers, submarines and associated combat and weapons systems.

In May of 2020, he assumed command of the Office of Naval Research as the 26th Chief of Naval Research.

Selby is authorized to wear the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (three awards), Meritorious Service Medal (four awards), the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (six awards), the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (three awards) and various unit awards.

Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow & Director, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, Hudson Institute

Bryan Clark is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at Hudson Institute. He is an expert in naval operations, electronic warfare, autonomous systems, military competitions, and wargaming.

From 2013 to 2019, Mr. Clark was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) where he led studies for the DoD Office of Net Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Defense Advanced Research Products Agency on new technologies and the future of warfare.

Prior to joining CSBA in 2013, Mr. Clark was special assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations and director of his Commander’s Action Group, where he led development of Navy strategy and implemented new initiatives in electromagnetic spectrum operations, undersea warfare, expeditionary operations, and personnel and readiness management.

Mr. Clark served in the Navy headquarters staff from 2004 to 2011, leading studies in the Assessment Division and participating in the 2006 and 2010 Quadrennial Defense Reviews. His areas of emphasis were modeling and simulation, strategic planning, and institutional reform and governance. Prior to retiring from the Navy in 2008, Mr. Clark was an enlisted and officer submariner, serving in afloat and ashore submarine operational and training assignments including tours as chief engineer and operations officer at the Navy’s nuclear power training unit.

Mr. Clark is the recipient of the Department of the Navy Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit. He received his M.S. in national security studies from the National War College and B.S. in chemistry and philosophy from the University of Idaho.

Todd Harrison is the director of Defense Budget Analysis and director of the Aerospace Security Project at CSIS. As a senior fellow in the International Security Program, he leads the Center’s efforts to provide in-depth, nonpartisan research and analysis of defense funding, space security, and air power issues. He has authored publications on trends in the defense budget, military space systems, threats to space systems, civil space exploration, defense acquisitions, military compensation and readiness, and military force structure, among other topics. He teaches classes on military space systems and the defense budget at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Mr. Harrison joined CSIS from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, where he was a senior fellow for defense budget studies. He previously worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he consulted for the U.S. Air Force on satellite communications systems and supported a variety of other clients evaluating the performance of acquisition programs. Prior to Booz Allen, he worked for AeroAstro Inc. developing advanced space technologies and as a management consultant at Diamond Cluster International. Mr. Harrison served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with both a B.S. and an M.S. in aeronautics and astronautics.

Edgar (Ed) Thaxton is the CTO & Vice President Business Development for DRS Naval Power Systems.  Ed has overall responsibility for Naval Power Technology, Strategy and Business Development. 

Ed joined DRS Power Technology, Inc. in 2003 as the Director of System Engineering, and in 2005 was promoted to VP Engineering and Technology. Prior to joining DRS, Ed spent 15 years General Dynamics Electric Boat on the VIRGINIA Class Electric Plant and leading electric drive development. Following that, Ed consulted briefly for ExxonMobil for the development of 80,000hp electric drive system for the world’s largest LNG production facility. 

While at DRS, Ed has spent the past 18 years fostering organic growth and develop-ment and led technology and engineering. Ed has been the technology leader for DRS’s Columbia Class submarine propulsion programs.

A graduate of Florida Institute of Technology, Ed holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Rhode Island. He and his wife, Collene, live in Groton, MA.

.

Jon Miller is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Leonardo DRS Naval Power Systems business.

Most recently, Jon served as L3’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Maritime Controls Systems of the Integrated C5 Systems division and has over thirty years’ experience in the Maritime Defense Industry with experience in Engineering, Program Management, Business Development, Operations and P&L within the maritime sector.

Jon joined L3 when Henschel, Inc. was acquired by L3 in 1998, leading the successful integration and restructuring of the businesses.

Prior to Henschel, he held various engineering and engineering leadership positions at Newport News Shipbuilding. He brings a wealth of experience as a visionary and a leader of positive change and growth.

Jon holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Boston University and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology

George Jackson is director of events at GovExec – the largest and most-influential media company in the public sector marketplace. He joined the company in 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences. In 2021, George launched GovExec TV (streaming video content) and received the company’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, part of their firstannual Icon Awards.

George graduated from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in English. In 2006, he earned his master’s in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

George spent the first five years of his journalism career at WJHL-TV in Johnson City Tenn. – beginning as an overnight producer for the station’s 6 a.m. broadcast. He advanced to lead on-air reporter for WJHL’s 11 p.m. newscast.

As a reporter, George examined the earnings of two non-profit hospital systems, felony charges filed against a local sheriff, predatory paving companies, a health benefits backlog for local veterans, and a series of cold-case murder investigations. He received an honorable mention for Best TV Reporter in the 2011 Tennessee AP Broadcast awards and won a Best Investigative Reporting award from Media General in 2010.

George joined DC’s ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in 2012 to produce Capital Insider, which won him an Emmy award. One year later, he developed and recorded the pilot episode of Government Matters – a program about the business of government. It debuted as a weekly show on Sunday, August 4th of 2013. George led Government Matters through September of 2020, expanded its reach to a daily worldwide audience, and produced its first feature-length documentary The Dawn of Generation AI.

George is from Toledo, Ohio. He lives with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of rescue dogs in Northern Virginia.