The IMSA Great Minds Program®
Admiral Owens discussed the very different
national security challenges facing the United States after September
11th and the important role that America's dominance in Science and Technology
have and will play in addressing those challenges. This included a review
of the commercial technologies around us and the dramatic changes taking
place in the art
of warfare as America over the next decade
Lifts the Fog of War
for the first time in the history of
mankind (with the accompanying cultural and political changes that will
elicit).
A reception followed the lecture.
Bill Owens
Co-Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman Teledesic LLC
Bill Owens is co-chief executive officer and vice chairman
of Teledesic LLC, which is building a global, broadband Internet-in-the-Sky.
Using advanced satellite technology, Teledesic is the first satellite
communications network that will enable affordable, worldwide access to
fiber-like
telecommunications services such as computer networking,
broadband Internet access, videoconferencing and interactive multimedia.
Owens also serves as chairman and chief executive officer of affiliated Teledesic Holdings Ltd. Previously, he was president, chief operating officer and vice chairman of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the nation's largest employee-owned high-technology company.
Prior to joining SAIC, Owens was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the second-ranking military officer in the United States. He had responsibility for the reorganization and restructuring of the armed forces in the post-Cold War era. Widely recognized for bringing commercial high-technology into the Department of Defense for military applications, Owens was the architect of the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA), an advanced systems technology approach to military operations that is the most significant change in the system of requirements, budgets and technology for the four armed forces since World War II.
From 1991 to 1993, Owens was the deputy chief of Naval Operations for Resources, Warfare Requirements and Assessments. Owens served as commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet in 1990 and 1991. Between 1988 and 1991, Owens served as senior military assistant to Secretaries of Defense Frank Carlucci and Dick Cheney, the senior military position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
In 1988, Owens was the director of the Office of Program Appraisal for the Secretary of the Navy. In 1987, he served as commander of Submarine Group Six, the Navy's largest submarine group with 20 strategic ballistic missile submarines, 45 nuclear attack submarines, and more than 15,000 men and women. Earlier in his career, he commanded Submarine Squadron Four, the USS Sam Houston and the USS City of Corpus Christi.
Owens has written more than 50 articles on national security and authored
the book High Seas." His latest book,
Lifting the Fog
of War," was published in April 2000. He is a 1962 graduate of the
US Naval Academy with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He has bachelor's
and master's degrees in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford
University and a master's in management from George Washington University.
He joined Teledesic in August 1998.
The IMSAGreat Minds Program® is made possible, in part, from a generous contribution from the Tellabs Foundation.