The USC SHIELD Executive Program ’23; Global Defense and Deterrence – Developing leaders in Policy, Space, and Technology for National Security
“I need your help. We’re in a decisive decade, 10 year window that is our opportunity and necessity to tackle this era’s defining challenges. Look, we have government here, civilian and military. We have think tanks, we have academia, we have business, we have industry. So here’s what I respectfully ask you to help us go do. First, revise the theory of strategic deterrents. This is a long term effort that is going to take the best minds across government, academia and private industry. We have to grow the next generation of strategic deterrents thinkers to think about these problems.”
– Admiral Charles A. Richard | Commander, STRATCOM
MDAA is honored and excited to announce The USC SHIELD Executive Program ’23; Global Defense and Deterrence – Developing leaders in Policy, Space, and Technology for National Security. This is a joint program with the University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy and Viterbi School of Engineering, and is an 8-month program designed to educate aspiring senior leaders from the military, government, and innovation technological communities about the intersection of public policy and engineering. It is designed to close the widening gap between theory and the practical application of National Security constructs.
Participants are drawn from a unique cadre of aspiring senior leaders from the military, government, industry, and innovation communities to develop the executive and leadership skills needed to grapple with today’s increasingly complex security environment. This includes new challenges from the burgeoning use of space for both civilian and military uses by the United States and its allies and adversaries.
The USC SHIELD Executive Program ’23 is led by USC’s renowned faculty in public policy and engineering, along with guest speakers from current and former senior defense officials, military leaders, and experts in defense policy, strategy, operations, and innovation. The program will be conducted over the course of seven months from September 2022-April 2023, with a mix of in-person and online instruction two or three days per month. Instruction will typically occur on Friday and Saturday to facilitate participation by working professionals. Two in-person sessions will be held on USC’s campus in Los Angeles, California to provide networking opportunities critical for professional development. The capstone exercise of the course will consist of group projects in which participants will tackle some of the toughest problems facing government and military leaders in space and defense, and will be presented during the final session in April 2023.
MDAA is led by Riki Ellison, a 1983 graduate of the USC School of International Relations and a recipient of a certificate in Defense and Strategic Studies at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Art and Sciences. Mr. Ellison was also presented the Scholar-Athlete Award of Honor by the David X. Marks Foundation. During his time at USC, he started at middle linebacker on the football teams that won the 1978 national championship and 1979 and 1980 Rose Bowls.
Session 1: September 15-17, 2022 (University of Southern California)
Thursday, September 15, 2022
8:00am – Check In and Breakfast
8:45am – Program Welcome
Riki M. Ellison Chairman & Founder Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
Candace House Teixeira Associate Dean, Corporate Engagement and Programs Viterbi Admission and Student Engagement
Frank V. Zerunyan, J.D. Professor of the Practice of Governance Director of Executive Education and ROTC Programs
9:00am – Faculty Lecture
Introduction to the Policy Curricula and Setting up for Collaboration – Frank V. Zerunyan, J.D
12:00pm – Lunch Forum
12:30pm – Presentation from Brig Gen Timothy Sejba, Space Force
1:30pm – Break
2:00pm – Faculty Lecture
The Engineering Life-Cycle, and Which Life-Cycle Stages are Most Influential On The Success of Missile Defense Projects – Neil Siegel, Ph.D
5:00pm – Welcome Reception
Friday, September 16, 2022
9:00am – Faculty Lecture Leading Complex Systems through collaboration and ecological organization – Peter J. Robertson, Ph.D.
12:00pm – Lunch Forum
12:30pm – Presentation from The Honorable John C. Rood, MDAA Board Member and former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
1:30pm – Break
2:00pm – Workshop – Peter J. Robertson, Ph.D.
5:00pm – Conclusion
Saturday, September 17, 2022
Capstone Development (LA Live, Los Angeles, California)
9:00am – 2:00pm
Mr. Riki M. Ellison
The Honorable John C. Rood
Lt Gen (Ret) Jon “Ty” Thomas
RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery
CAPT (Ret) Zoah Scheneman
COL James B. Kavanaugh, USC SHIELD ’22 Alumni
Lt Col Joshua Wehrle, USC SHIELD ’22 Alumni
Session 2: October 21-22, 2022 (Online Interactive)
Friday, October 21, 2022
9:00am – Faculty Lecture Organizational Behavior and Survey Design – Howard Greenwald, Ph.D.
12:00pm – Lunch Forum
12:30pm – Presentation from MDAA Board Members RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery and Lt Gen (Ret) Jon “Ty” Thomas, CAPT (Ret) Zoah Scheneman, and MDAA Founder and Chairman Mr. Riki Ellison
1:30pm – Break
2:00pm – Faculty Lecture Overview of Data Science and Big Data – Seon Ho Kim, Ph.D.
5:00pm – Conclusion
Saturday, October 22, 2022
8:45am – Presentation from Mr. Stanley Stafira, Chief Architect of the Missile Defense Agency
9:45am – Faculty Lecture Workshop – Howard J. Greenwald, Ph.D.
12:00pm – Lunch Forum
12:30pm – Presentation from Gen Charles A. Flynn, Commanding General for U.S. Army Pacific
1:30pm – Break
2:00pm – Faculty Lecture Common Errors in Engineering Assessment, and How to Avoid Them – Neil Siegel, Ph.D.
5:00pm – Conclusion
Session 3: November 17-19, 2022 (University of Southern California)
Thursday, November 17, 2022
8:00am – Check In and Breakfast
8:45am – Program Welcome
9:00am – Faculty Lecture Decision Analysis, risk analysis, multi-attribute utility theory, information theory, Bayesian analysis, and data-based decision making – Ali Abbas, Ph.D.
12:00pm – Lunch Forum
12:30pm – Presentation from Maj Gen Duke A. Pirak, Deputy Director of the Air National Guard
1:30pm – Break
2:00pm – Faculty Lecture Missile and Birth of Soviet Missile Defense – Berok Khoshnevis, PhD
5:00pm – Conclusion
Friday, November 18, 2022
8:00am – Check In and Breakfast
9:00am – Faculty Lecture Intercept 1961 – The First Intercept of A Long-Range Ballistic – Mike Gruntman, Ph.D. Exploiting the Growing Synergy of Engineering with other Disciplines to Eliminate Extraneous Design Iterations and Maximize Coverage of High-Risk Scenarios- Azad Madni, Ph.D.
12:00pm – Lunch Forum
12:30pm – RADM (Ret) Vic Mercado, MDAA Board Member, Director & Security Director at Momentus Space LLC, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities
1:30pm – Break
2:00pm – Capstone Project Session
Lt Col Jamie Johnson, USC SHIELD ’22 Alumnus, presenting on behalf of his teammates LTC Jason Albright, Mr. Paul Borboa, MAJ David Courter, and Mr. Dale Marks
Mr. Riki M. Ellison
RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery
Lt Gen (Ret) Jon “Ty” Thomas
CAPT (Ret) Zoah Scheneman
RADM (Ret) Vic Mercado
5:00pm – Conclusion
Saturday, November 19, 2022
Site visit to Vandenberg Space Force Base
Session 4: January 26-28, 2023 (Washington, D.C.)
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Site Visit Coordinated by MDAA
9:00am- Congress guest speakers; Rayburn House Office Building Room 2045
9:30am – Congressman Doug Lamborn CO 5th Congressional District, HASC
10:00am – Policy Discussions led by HASC Senior Staffer Maria Vastola
11:00am – Break/Lunch
12:00pm – Transit to Pentagon Room 1E774A
1:00pm – Brig Gen Paul “Dino” Murray; Deputy Director of Operations, HQ NORAD
2:00pm – Break
2:30pm – Ms. Laura DeSimone SES; Executive Director MDA
3:30pm – Dr. John Plumb; Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy and Mr. John Hill; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space and Missile Defense
4:30pm – Maj. Gen. Steve Whitney; Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, Washington, D.C.
5:00pm – “No host” cocktail hour; Mattie and Eddie’s Irish Bar, 1301 S Joyce St D-1, Arlington, VA 22202, Pentagon Row (Pentagon City Metro Stop)
Friday, January 27, 2023
8:00am – Check In and Breakfast
9:00am – Faculty Lecture
Digital Technologies Enabling JADC2 (Joint All-Domain Command and Control) – Randall Hill, PhD and Ryan McAlinden
12:00pm – Lunch Forum
12:30pm – Presentation from an MDAA Guest Speaker
1:30pm – Break
2:00pm – Faculty Lecture Big Data Management with Distributing Computing – Seon Ho Kim, Ph.D.
5:00pm – Conclusion
7:30pm – 9:30pm – Reception hosted by Riki Ellison – see email for address
12:30pm – Presentation from LTG Dan Karbler, Commanding General, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense
9:00am – Faculty Lecture Machine Learning and Its Applications – Seon Ho Kim, Ph.D.
12:00pm – Lunch Forum
12:30pm – Presentation from Gen. (Ret.) John Hyten and Mr. Wes Kremer, President, Raytheon Missiles & Defense
1:30pm – Break
2:00pm – Faculty Lecture Emerging Digital Technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, “big-data”, etc.) – Neil Siegel, PhD
5:00pm – Conclusion
Saturday, March 25, 2023
9:00am – Faculty Lecture Workshop for February Lecture – Ali Abbas, Ph.D.
12:00pm – Lunch Forum
12:30pm – Presentation from Lt Gen Philip Garrant, Deputy Chief of Space Operations, Strategy, Plans, Programs, and Requirements, United States Space Force
1:30pm – Break
2:00pm – Faculty Lecture Policy Formulation: Creating Credibility In A Set of Recommendations – Neil Siegel, PhD
5:00pm – Conclusion
Session 7: April 27-29, 2023 (University of Southern California)
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Site visit to Space Systems Command (SCC) at Los Angeles Air Force Base (LAAFB)
Presentation from Chief Master Sergeant Willie H. Frazier II
Friday, April 28, 2023
8:00am – Check In and Breakfast
9:00am – Faculty Lecture Case Study of Machine Learning: Object Detection and Classification – Seon Ho Kim, Ph.D.
12:00pm – Lunch Forum
1:30pm – Break
2:00pm – Faculty Lecture Case-Studies in Space, Air Defense and Missile Defense – Neil Siegel, PhD
5:00pm – Conclusion
Saturday, April 29, 2023
8:30am – Breakfast
9:00am – Capstone Introduction and Presentations
Presentation from MDAA Board Members Maj Gen Nicholas Gentile, MG Brian Gibson, RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery, Lt Gen (Ret) Ty Thomas, and CAPT (Ret.) Zoah Scheneman
12:30pm – Lunch Forum
2:00pm – Capstone Presentations
5:30pm – Certificate Ceremony
We politely request that only faculty and the cohort be present during the certificate ceremony. Should you wish to bring family/ guests we encourage you to celebrate on or off-campus after the certificate ceremony concludes.