International Defense; Local Expertise

RADM Bert Johnston, USN (ret) Defense Aerospace Consultant; Steve Cricchi, SES, Executive Director, NAWCAD; Bonnie Green, Executive Director, The Patuxent Partnership; and Dale Sisson, SES, Technical Director, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division. (Photos courtesy The Patuxent Partnership)

The return of The Patuxent Partnership’s annual full-day Defense Summit in 2023 drew more than 250 attendees and recognition in Maryland Daily Record.

TPP Executive Director Bonnie Green’s opened the 2023 summit, TPP’s first full-day program since fall 2019, introducing Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD), a powerful champion of Pax River in the US Congress. Rep. Hoyer welcomed the keynote speaker Frederick “Jay” Stefany, Acting Assistant Secretary of Navy, Research Development and Acquisition.

But more than half of the 2023 Defense Summit presentations from top military leadership were presented by NAWCAD and NAVAIR leaders joined by industry leaders to discuss naval aviation and national security with the Pax River military and contracting community. Carroll P. “Rick” Quade, Deputy for Test and Evaluation Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research Development and Acquisition), SES, discussed the importance of test and evaluation at Pax River, as well as the research, development, and acquisition work. He also spoke of the importance of workforce development and growing the STEM pipeline to meet national security requirements.

NAVAIR opened the afternoon with the panel: “Thinking Differently – Delivering outcomes that matter to the Warfighter.” VADM Carl Chebi, Commander, NAVAIR led the panel. The panelists RADM John Lemmon, Program Executive Officer for Tactical Aircraft Programs, Roy Harris, SES, Deputy Commander, Executive Director, Fleet Readiness Centers, RADM Donald “BD” Gaddis, USN (ret), Vice President Air Dominance Division Business Development, Integration and Interoperability Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and Scott Pfeiffer, Vice President, Platform Sustainment and Mission Readiness, Northrop Grumman Corporation, shared their perspectives on delivering to the warfighter.

Alex Lovett, Director for Prototypes and Experiments for the Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Mission Capabilities (DCTO(MC)) in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering OUSD(R&E), addressed the attendees on prototyping and delivering to the warfighter.

RADM Bert Johnston, USN (ret) Defense Aerospace Consultant moderated the panel on NAWCAD and NSW Dahlgren Collaboration. Steve Cricchi, SES, Executive Director, NAWCAD; and Dale Sisson, SES, Technical Director, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, discussed the many ways NAWCAD and NSWC Dahlgren work together.

Tom Rudowski, Deputy Commander, NAVAIR, pulled together the common themes of The Patuxent Partnership’s 2023 Defense Summit and closed the summit for this year.

TPP would again like to thank the sponsors of this very successful Defense Summit, which include Northrop Grumman, Chenega Agile Real-Time Solutions (CARS), Naval Systems Inc., Boeing, InDyne Inc., KBR, SURVICE Engineering Co., Lockheed Martin, Resource Management Concepts Inc., MIL Corp., St. Mary’s County Economic Development, Cogito Innovations, and VDC.

About The Patuxent Partnership

The Patuxent Partnership is a nonprofit member organization that fosters collaboration between government, industry, and academia to advance education through STEM-based initiatives; to advance technology through speaker programs, forums, and networking; to advance science and technology transfer through the exchange of ideas, information, and data related to technologies; and to increase workforce development through an array of initiatives.

To learn more about The Patuxent Partnership and its programs, visit its Leader member page.