The Honorable Ike Skelton. U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) has represented Missouri's Fourth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1977. His district includes Missouri's state capital, Jefferson City, and much of the Ozark region of the state.
Mr. Skelton, a native of Lexington, is a graduate of Wentworth Military Academy and the University of Missouri at Columbia where he received A.B. and L.L.B. degrees. He was named as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Law Review. Prior to his election to Congress, Mr. Skelton served as Lafayette County Prosecuting Attorney and as a Missouri State Senator.
A leader in the House on defense issues, Mr. Skelton was appointed to the House Armed Services Committee in 1981. After serving as the Committee’s Ranking Democrat from 1998 to 2006, he became Chairman of the Armed Services Committee in 2007. His district is home to Fort Leonard Wood, Whiteman Air Force Base, and the Missouri National Guard Training Center. He was instrumental in bringing the Army Engineer School to Fort Leonard Wood and the B-2 Stealth bomber to Whiteman.
Congressman Skelton was also instrumental in the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. Mr. Skelton chaired a House Panel on Military Education in 1987-1988 and has advocated better strategic thinking and improvements in the intermediate and senior level educational programs for the four services. A former chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Forces and Personnel, Mr. Skelton has warned against further cuts in the defense budget and focused on efforts to improve military pay, health care, and quality of life.
Mr. Skelton is regarded by many as the godfather of joint professional military education. In recognition of his contributions to military education, the National Defense University awarded him its first honorary degree as Doctor of National Security Affairs in 2001. He authored the book: "Whispers of Warriors: Essays on the New Joint Era," published by the National Defense University in 2004. In addition to his numerous accomplishments in Congress, Mr. Skelton received the Harry S. Truman Award for Public Service in 2006. Ike Skelton is an Eagle Scout, a member of Sigma Chi social fraternity, a Lions Club member, and vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation.
The Honorable William A. Navas, Jr. was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, ASN(M&RA), on 17 July 2001. As the Assistant Secretary, Mr. Navas is responsible for providing Secretariat leadership and oversight on all matters pertaining to manpower and personnel policy—for all active duty, reserve, and civilian personnel—within the Department of the Navy. Secretary Navas was commissioned as a Regular Army officer in 1965 upon graduation from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez with a degree in civil engineering. His tours in the Army included command of a combat company in the 168th Engineer Battalion. After service in the Army, he joined the Puerto Rico Army National Guard and concluded his military career with an active duty assignment as the Director of the Army National Guard where he managed a $6 billion budget and was responsible for over 362,000 citizen-soldiers across 54 states and territories. Mr. Navas holds a Master of Science in Management Engineering from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. He attended numerous military schools, including the Command and General Staff College, and the Inter-American Defense College, as well as the program for Senior Managers in Government at Harvard University. Mr. Navas has served as a member of numerous organizations including the American Veterans for Puerto Rico Self Determination, Minuteman Institute for National Defense Studies and the Army Engineer Association.
LtGen Frances C. Wilson, USMC is President of the National Defense University. Lieutenant General Wilson served as Commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, from 2003 to 2006. General Wilson has a BS in social sciences from Michigan State University and was commissioned a 2nd Lt in 1972. She was the Honor Graduate and recipient of the Leadership Award from the U.S. Marine Corps Women Officer Basic School. As a company grade officer, she served as an Air Traffic Control Officer at Yuma and Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Stations and as an Instructor at Marine Corps Development and Education Center's Instructional Management School. Following graduation from Amphibious Warfare School in 1980, she served as Staff Secretary, 3d Marine Division, III Marine Amphibious Force. As a field grade officer she was a Company Officer, Brigade of Midshipmen, and served as an Assistant Professor in the Professional Development Department at the United States Naval Academy. A graduate of the College of Naval Command and Staff, Naval War College, she served as a manpower management analyst in the Manpower Plans, Manpower and Reserve Affairs Department, Headquarters Marine Corps; and as Special Assistant for General and Flag Officer Matters, Joint Staff, and as Executive Assistant to the Vice Director, Joint Staff.
General Wilson commanded the Fourth Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island Recruit Depot from 1988-1990. She had a Federal Executive Fellowship with the Brookings Institution before serving as the Marine Forces Pacific Requirements and Programs Officer. In July 1993, General Wilson assumed command of Camp H.M. Smith and the Headquarters and Services Battalion, Marine Forces Pacific. Returning to Washington, D.C., in 1995, she participated on Roles and Missions Coordination Group, Requirements and Plans, Headquarters Marine Corps before being assigned as Secretary, Joint Staff. General Wilson commanded the Marine Corps Base at Quantico and the 3d Force Service Support Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force. She then directed Manpower Management Division, Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Headquarters Marine Corps, and was the Marine Corps representative to the Secretary of Defense's Reserve Force Policy Board.
General Wilson has Masters degrees in education from Pepperdine University, psychology from the University of Northern Colorado, business management from Salve Regina College, National Security and Strategic Studies from Naval War College, and she has a Doctorate of Education from the University of Southern California. She also completed the U.S. Army Basic Airborne Course, Armed Forces Staff College's Joint and Combined Staff Officer School, National Defense University's CAPSTONE course, Naval Post Graduate School's Revolution in Business Practices, and Harvard University's JFK School of Government's Senior Executive Course in National and International Security.
VADM Donald C. Arthur, Medical Corps, USN, is the 35th Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy and he is also Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Vice Admiral Arthur, a native of Northampton, Massachusetts, entered naval service in 1974 and attained his Doctor of Medicine degree from the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. After a surgical internship, he completed Navy training in Flight Surgery and Undersea Medicine. His additional operational qualifications include Surface Warfare Medical Department Officer, Saturation Diving Medical Officer, Hyperbaric (Recompression) Facility Operator, Radiation Health Officer, Navy-Marine Corps Parachutist & Jumpmaster, and he is qualified in submarines.
Vice Admiral Arthur's early naval service includes research in mixed gas saturation diving and cold weather medicine. He served in the Philippines as both a Flight Surgeon and Diving Medical Officer followed by duty as Senior Medical Officer in USS KITTY HAWK (CV-63). He completed his residency in emergency medicine and served as Head of Emergency Medicine at Naval Hospital San Diego. At the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute, he was Head of the Special Products Division. Following deployment to Southwest Asia with the Marine Corps Second Medical Battalion during Operation DESERT SHIELD/STORM, he served as Director of Medical Programs for the U.S. Marine Corps at Marine Corps Headquarters, Washington, DC. He then served as Deputy Commander (Chief Operating Officer) of Naval Medical Center, San Diego and, subsequently, as Commanding Officer (Chief Executive Officer) of Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 1998, Vice Admiral Arthur returned to Washington, DC to serve as Assistant Chief for Health Care Operations, Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. He held the positions of Deputy Surgeon General, Vice Chief (Chief Operating Officer) of the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, and Chief of the Navy Medical Corps before assuming command of the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, in 2002. Vice Admiral Arthur attained board certification in Emergency Medicine and Preventive Medicine (Aerospace). Admiral Arthur is a Fellow and Past President of the Aerospace Medical Association and he was President of the Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S. in 2005. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He was also the 2002 recipient of the American College of Healthcare Executives' Federal Excellence in Healthcare Leadership Award and 2002 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S. Outstanding Federal Healthcare Executive Award.
Col Jeffery W. Bearor, USMC (Ret.), is the Director, US Marine Corps Center for Advanced Operational Cultural Learning at Quantico, Virginia. The Center’s mission is to provide operational cultural training and foreign language familiarization to Marine Corps operating forces, school houses, and individual Marines. He is the principal architect of the newly chartered USMC Center for Irregular Warfare.
Jeff Bearor is a 1975 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. In more than thirty years on active duty in the Marine Corps, his assignments included command of four rifle companies, service at Marine Barracks, Washington DC, and a tour as USMC exchange officer with 45th Commando Group, British Royal Marine Commandos. Having completed the Royal Marine Commando Course is entitled to wear the green beret of the British Royal Marines. Jeff is also a badged scuba driver and military free-fall parachutist. Jeff was detailed to the CIA in 1989-1991 serving as an operations office with the Counter-terrorism Center. During Operation Desert Shield/Storm he deployed with a Joint Special Operations Task Force. He commanded Third Battalion, Sixth Marine Regiment and also commanded the Recruit Training Regiment at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC. Principal staff tours include Executive Officer of Marine Corps Officer Candidates School; Operations Officer of 2nd Marine Division; Fleet Marine Officer and Force Protection Officer for U. S. Naval Forces Central Command and 5th Fleet; and Chief of Current Operations, J3, U.S. Central Command at MacDill AFB, Florida. His last assignment before retirement was Chief of Staff of the Marine Corps Training and Education Command at Quantico. He retired from active Marine Corps duty in January 2006.
Christopher M. Carr, Ph.D., HSPPis the Sport and Performance Psychologist and Coordinator for Sport and Performance Psychology at St Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. In this role Dr. Carr coordinates training, supervision, research, and applied practice in the area of sport and performance psychology. This unique program addresses "elite" performance issues in areas such as sports/athletics, performing arts, high performance occupations (e.g. police/fire), business performance, and positive psychology applications. Dr. Carr is a licensed psychologist in the state of Indiana and is HSPP-endorsed. He is the consulting sport psychologist for both the Purdue University Athletic Department and Indiana University Athletic Department. He is the Director of Sport Psychology and National Team Sport Psychologist for USA Diving, and was with the team at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, the 2006 World Cup in Changshu, China, and the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Since 2002 he has also been the Team Sport Psychologist for the Indiana Fever (WNBA). Prior to joining St. Vincent, Dr. Carr was the Sport/Performance Psychologist at the Methodist Sports Medicine Center, and had been the Sport Psychologist for The Ohio State University Sports Medicine Center, where his responsibilities included coordinating psychological services for the OSU Athletic Department; including counseling and sport psychology consultation with individuals, teams, coaches, and student-athlete support staff.
A former collegiate football player, Chris Carr received his B.A. in Psychology from Wabash College, and his M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Ball State University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology with a minor in Exercise Science/Sport Psychology from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He was a Performance Psychology Consultant with the United States Navy and worked with the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida from 1997-2001. He was the Team Psychologist for the Columbus Crew (1995-2000); he has done consultation with other Olympic Sports Organizations, Major League Baseball, and the Championship Auto Racing Teams. He was (2004-06) on the National Advisory Board for the Citizenship Through Sport Alliance (CTSA) "Report Card on Youth Sport", which presented a nationwide "report card on youth sports" in November of 2005 to address the state of youth sports in America, and the role that parents, coaches, administrators, and officials have in developing "child-centered" youth sports programming. Dr. Carr provided over 50 workshops on effective youth coaching and parenting during his career; he hopes to develop educational programs that enhance the effectiveness of youth sport coaching, administration, and parenting to reflect a "child-centered" model of youth sports participation.
Dr. Carr is the President-Elect for Division 47 (Exercise and Sport Psychology) of the American Psychological Association. He is on the United States Olympic Committee Registry of Sport Psychology Providers based at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He spent 6 years (1999-2005) as the Sport Psychologist for the Kansas City Royals Baseball Club. Dr. Carr served for ten years (1992-2002) as the Sport Psychologist for the United States Men’s Alpine Ski Team, and was the team psychologist for the US Men's Alpine Olympic Ski Team during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Ralph Ernest Chatham, Ph.D., is Program Manager, Training Superiority, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Ralph received his bachelors degree in physics from the University of Kansas; and while he was a Navy Lieutenant, received his Ph.D. in laser physics at the University of New York in 1977. As a Naval Officer, Dr. Chatham had a tour as Military Assistant to the Defense Science Board and his first tour at DARPA, where he tried to make lasers in space talk, through clouds, to submarines underwater. Ralph has been a physicist, submariner of the diesel persuasion, research program manager and small business corporate officer. He remains an all-purpose curmudgeon, technical handwaver and professional storyteller. Over the last 10 years he has taken up the cause of military training, viewing the proficiency of our people to be as important as the technology of the weapons systems they use. He co-chaired two Defense Science Board task forces: Training Superiority and Training Surprise (2001) and Training for Future Conflicts (2003). In the wake of the September 2001 atrocities, he left private industry and synthetic aperture sonar development to create an initiative in training technology at DARPA: DARWARS - DARPA’s universal, persistent, on-demand, training WARS. Dr. Chatham managed a program that applied science to the subject of deception detection, something that has been mostly missing for the last 80 years. He also managed a host of smaller projects addressing the unintended human consequences of military transformation.
Ralph earned both the Defense Superior and Defense Meritorious Service Medals. In 2006 he received a DARPA Agency Award for his Training Superiority programs. DARPA designated his Tactical Iraqi Language and Culture Program as its 2005 Technical Achievement of the year. Ralph and his wife Margaret, both professional storytellers, were jointly awarded a 2003 National Storytelling Network Oracle Award.
Peter A. Hancock, Ph.D., is Provost Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology, the Institute for Simulation and Training, and at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Central Florida. He recently served as the Principal Investigator on the Army Research Institute (ARI) and Army Research Office (ARO) co-sponsored Multi-Disciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) in which Dr. Hancock oversaw a $5M funded research program on topics related to soldier stress, workload, and performance - -research carried out at four universities. His book "Performance Under Stress," documenting work done on the MURI project is in press at Ashgate Publishing (Hancock and Szalma, 2007).
Dr. Hancock’s current experimental work concerns the evaluation of behavioral response to high-stress conditions. His theoretical works concerns human relations with technology and the possible futures of this symbiosis. In a previous appointment, he founded and was the Director of the Human Factors Research Laboratory at the University of Minnesota; where he also held appointments as Full Professor in the Departments of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Psychology, and Kinesiology, as well as at the Cognitive Science Center and the Center on Aging Research. He currently holds a courtesy appointment as a Research Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and as an Adjunct Senior Research Scientist at the Transportation Institute of the University of Michigan.
Professor Hancock is the author of over four hundred refereed scientific articles and publications as well as editing numerous books including: Human Performance and Ergonomics in the Handbook of Perception and Cognition series (1999) and Stress, Workload, and Fatigue, (2001). He is the author of the 1997 book, Essays on the Future of Human-Machine Systems. He has been continuously funded by extramural sources for every year of his professional career, including support from NASA, NIH, NIA, FAA, FHWA, the US Navy and the US Army as well as numerous State and Industrial agencies. He has been elected to a three-year term as a Member of the National Research Council’s Committee on Human Factors which runs concurrently with his membership of the Executive Council of the Human Factors and Ergonomic Society. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) the Division of Military Psychology, and is both a Fellow and past President of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
Montgomery McFate, Ph.D., JD., is a cultural anthropologist by training. Dr. McFate spent the past few years trying to convince the Department of Defense that cultural knowledge should be a national security priority. She is currently a senior fellow at US Institute of Peace and concurrently, a professorial instructor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Formerly, Dr. McFate was a research staff member in the Joint Warfighting Analysis Program at the Institute for Defense Analyses in Alexandria, VA, where she remains on adjunct status. Formerly, she was an American Association for the Advancement of Science Defense Policy Fellow at the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research, where she worked on a project concerning Iraq’s cultural terrain for the Joint IED Task Force, among other projects. Dr. McFate was awarded a Distinguished Public Service Award by the Secretary of the Navy for her work at ONR.
Before coming to ONR, Dr. McFate was a social scientist in RAND’s Intelligence Policy Center, where her research focused primarily on North Korean culture and society. Dr. McFate received a B.A. from University of California at Berkeley, a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Yale University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Her Ph.D. dissertation concerned British counterinsurgency policy and operations in Northern Ireland. Dr. McFate’s legal background includes a clinical internship on the U. S. Attorney's Office Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Squad; and experience as a litigation associate at the law firm of Baker & McKenzie in San Francisco, CA. She has published in such journals as Journal of Conflict Studies, Military Review and Joint Forces Quarterly. Montgomery McFate is a native of Marin County, CA where she grew up on a WWII naval ammunition barge that had been converted into a houseboat.
CDR Dylan D. Schmorrow, Ph.D., USN, an Aerospace Experimental Psychologist in the Navy’s Medical Service Corps, is an Acquisition Professional in the Naval Acquisition Corps. He is currently serving as the Executive Assistant to the Chief of Naval Research (CNR), responsible for coordinating actions between the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and tenant commands, the Office of the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations, as well as intergovernmental agencies and international science and technology (S&T) organizations. The CNR oversees ONR, the Naval Research Laboratory and ONR Global and also serves as the Director of Test and Evaluation and Technology Requirements (N091) overseeing Navy’s RDT&E budget of $18B. Additionally, as the Director of the ONR Warfighter Enhancement Program Office, CDR Schmorrow leads and manages warfighter training and performance S&T programs transforming promising technologies into operational capabilities.
CDR Schmorrow received his commission in the U.S. Navy in 1993 and completed naval flight training in April 1994. He obtained a Masters and Ph.D. degrees in experimental psychology from Western Michigan University, and Masters degrees in operations research and in modeling, virtual environments and simulation from the Naval Post Graduate School. Prior to his current position, he served as a Program Manager at DARPA where he was responsible for creating and fostering imaginative, innovative, and high-risk research ideas yielding revolutionary technological advances in biomedical and information science and technology in support of the U.S. military. Additionally, during this period he managed training and human factors programs at ONR as a Human Systems Integration (HSI) Program Officer and he successfully developed and transitioned numerous S&T prototypes to Navy and Marine Corps acquisition programs. He authored over 50 scientific publications, lectured internationally in over a dozen countries and edited seven professional journals and books.
His research interests focus on advancing neuroscience, human-factors, training, autonomy and decision support technologies to maximize human performance; his professional interests focus on the alignment of policy, personnel and emerging technology capabilities. He frequently collaborates with the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the other DoD Services to improve naval capabilities and to support academic and industry performers in advancing science and building new technologies. Dr. Schmorrow is the Founder and Chairman of the Augmented Cognition International Society.
Ms. Janet Weisenford, CPT, is the Deputy Director of the US Navy’s Human Performance Center (HPC) in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is a graduate of New College, Sarasota, Fla., and the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned a Master's Degree in International and Public Affairs. Ms. Weisenford entered Federal Service as a Presidential Management Intern. Her first assignment was as an analyst with the Office of the Secretary of the Navy's Office of Program Appraisal. She has served as an analyst and program manager with the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), the Training Data Analysis Center, and the Naval Training Systems Center. At the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, she lead a team to establish the National Center for Simulation, a consortium of military simulation and training agencies, private industry, and academia. In 1999, Ms. Weisenford founded the Joint Advanced Distributed Learning Co-laboratory where she managed over 25 prototypes, collecting and sharing lessons learned, and developing guidelines for creating effective on-line instruction. In 2002, Ms. Weisenford chaired the Navy’s Human Performance Center Implementation Team where she was instrumental in the establishment and development of the HPC.
Ms. Weisenford is a graduate of the Senior Executive Management Development Program and the American Society for Training Development Human Performance Certificate Program. She is a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT).
Ms. Anita K. Blair assumed the responsibilities of Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Total Force Transformation (TFX) on 1 February 2005. As the DASN (TFX), Ms. Blair serves as the program executive for the Department of the Navy’s human capital transformation agenda, leading efforts to modernize the management of the Department’s total force of active duty, reserve, civilian, and contractor personnel. Prior to this assignment, Ms. Blair served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Military Personnel Policy. In prior public service, Ms. Blair chaired the 1998-1999 Congressional Commission on Military Training and Gender-Related Issues, and also served for six years on the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Board of Visitors, originally appointed by Governor George Allen in 1995 and reappointed by Governor James S. Gilmore, III in 1999. Before joining the Department of the Navy, Ms. Blair had been a lawyer in private practice in Virginia and the District of Columbia since 1981, concentrating in business law and litigation. Beginning in 1992 Ms. Blair was also Executive Vice President and General Counsel and later President of the Independent Women's Forum (IWF), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and public education on policy issues concerning women. Ms. Blair received her bachelor's degree in Classical Greek from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1971. She graduated in 1981 from the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville.
Gerald P. Krueger, Ph.D., CPE, obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering psychology from the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Krueger is a graduate of the Army War College, and is a certified professional ergonomist (CPE). He has 40 years experience conducting, managing and directing multidisciplinary research, measuring and predicting human operator performance. An accomplished human systems integration (HSI) specialist, he is highly experienced in human factors design of both military and commercial materiel systems. He is a recognized authority on sustained human performance in harsh working environments, especially for equipment operators experiencing sleep deprivation and fatigue during sustained operations.
Dr. Krueger (Colonel, USA, ret.) is the former military commander and technical director of the USA Research Institute of Environmental Medicine at Natick, MA. During his 25-year active duty career, Dr. Krueger served at the USA Aeromedical Research Laboratory; at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; at the USA Human Engineering Lab; at the USA Medical Research and Development Command; and as a military advisor for DARPA in Vietnam. From 1999 to 2007, Dr. Krueger directed the Wexford Group International’s programs in Human Factors Engineering, Ergonomics, and Medical Research, where he provided a wide variety of scientific advisory services to organizations in the Departments of Defense, and Transportation. Dr. Krueger has authored 100+ technical publications; makes formal speeches and presentations at numerous scientific conferences, and continues to lecture on workplace ergonomics, equipment operator fatigue, and worker wellness, health and fitness. He is an adjunct associate professor of military psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland; a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) and is past-president of the APA division of military psychology, APA division of engineering psychology, and of the Potomac Chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
LTG William H. Reno, USA (Ret.), is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Wexford Group International (WGI) in Vienna, Virginia. General Reno has more than 35 years experience in command, engineering, finance, program analysis and evaluation, human resources, strategic planning and marketing. He provides the top-level management and administrative support for all contracts at WGI. General Reno retired as Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel (G1) of the U.S. Army and also served as the Army's Director of Program Analysis and Evaluation. General Reno served for five years as the Senior Vice President of National Operations at the American Red Cross where he was responsible for all Human Resources, Finance, and Business Management. He is a registered professional civil engineer, and he has served on numerous boards and commissions.