In the spirit of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and the wilderness, MDAA has cast its gaze across the vast Pacific, launching the ARTEMIS Executive Program to strategically pursue with our Pacific allies the challenges of sensors in this expansive, remote region of water, air, and space.
The ARTEMIS program is an 8-month annual executive program producing relevant capstones for courses of action in the Pacific region starting in May 2025 and concluding in December 2025 focusing on the development, utilization and policy implications of satellite sensor technology for Earth observation. There will be four capstones completed in ARTEMIS 2025. The curriculum is designed for professionals aiming to lead and innovate in the field of space operations and technology. The program offers modules on satellite sensor development and utilization, space energy, dual-use technology exploration, and the integration of policy and engineering for space operations, integrated air and missile defense, and technology. It is poised to advance workforce development for space operations and IAMD through a rigorous, application-oriented curriculum.
For more information about participating in ARTEMIS ‘25, click here.
“We are at a time when the world order is being challenged, and the equilibrium of that world order is shifted. And you can see it, know it, here in the Pacific more than anywhere else. And we, as a Western society, the United States cannot do this by ourselves. We have to shift that equilibrium back and restrain the dogs of war. That’s what this mission is about and this forum.
We are losing the equilibrium because they are beating us on cost war capabilities. This is China, Russia, Iran, North Korea being able to be more innovative than we are, and being able to overmatch with 10,000 drones, $30,000 drones and we, on the other side, our expenditure is 5-10x that to defeat them. We can’t keep doing what we’re doing. What we’re doing is a result of the McNamara 1960s acquisition process built in a Cold War environment and pace.
We believe in you. We believe in the innovation of our nation. We are the best in the world at innovating, but that innovation is not yet able to move fast into our military.
This is our third university program that we have created to lead the system, our first one, USC Shield brings together, like what we’re going to do here, a team of diversity across our COCOMS, across our services, across our acquisition, across our policy to figure this out and give them challenges by the COCOMS to create thought with outside civilian universities and guided by our experts, that program, the USC program has produced 16 capstones. Four of the six this year are courses of action for warfighters. That means that’s not a publication. That means they are active. We want to go to the center of the Pacific, get back to this equilibrium, control the dogs of war, restrain them, and change that balance by creating cheap innovation.
So that’s the intent of what we’re doing today, and it’s taken up this program to do it, and we see the vastness of that ocean. There’s not going to be acoustics on land. It’s going to be other capability, certainly from space, looking down on the water and air, and we will discuss that in our panels. I think you’re right at the concept right at the beginning of this. We have just tremendous opportunity, because this is the center we can bring in our foreign allies into this team.”
– Riki Ellison, ARTEMIS Forum, University of Hawaii, August 14th
“We simply don’t have the visibility that we need and simply can’t afford it. We’re really good at producing very big, large, heavy sensors. We have a couple out in in the AOR in the area of operations. However, we don’t have enough, and we don’t have it at the price point that we need. So this group of neighbors, together with those that come behind us that are going to help us get to where we need to go.”
– LTG Laura Lenderman (Deputy Commander PACAF), ARTEMIS Forum, University of Hawaii, August 14th
“That expertise is why we are here. The other reason why we are here is because of our very close and long partnerships with DOD, INDOPACOM, the Office of Naval Research.”
– Michael Bruno, Provost, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, ARTEMIS Forum, University of Hawaii, August 14th
Expertise at the forum included: LTG Laura Lenderman (Deputy Commander PACAF), JD Gainey (US Indo-Pacific Command), COL Matthew Dalton (94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command), COL Nathan Vosters (Space Forces Indo-Pacific), COL Richard Tanner (Pacific Air Forces), COL Jeff Duplantis (Space Command), GPCAPT Matthew Hetherington (Royal Australian Air Force Liaison Officer to US Pacific Air Forces), CPT Roldydin Cris Sergio (Philippines Liaison Officer to US Indo-Pacific Command), Dr. Robert Wright (Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics & Planetology), Dr. Luke Flynn (Space Grant & Hawai‘i Space Flight Lab), Dr. Larry Denneau (Institute for Astronomy), Dr. Branden Allen (Astronomer & Planetary Scientist), Dr. Margo Edwards (Applied Research Laboratory), Curt Dodds (Institute for Astronomy), and Joaquin Malavet (Major General USMC (Ret) MDAA).
“The ARTEMIS Program will be unprecedented, successful, and extraordinary in ways that will serve both national security imperatives and humanity. This is about defending lives and empowering livelihoods. We will achieve the long-term ARTEMIS objectives and outcomes with a forward-looking campaign design. In time, I predict that ARTEMIS will be renowned as a strategic catalyst for scientific/technological innovation and solutions-oriented dual-use initiatives that will strengthen peace and security, and advance a ‘Free & Open Indo-Pacific.’ The ARTEMIS program initiatives will inevitably expand out from the Indo-Pacific to the global commons. Our MDAA and University of Hawaii (Manoa) teams, along with our like-minded allies and partners, are absolutely committed to this game-changing initiative.”
– Joaquin F. Malavet, Major General USMC (Ret), MDAA Advisory Board, ARTEMIS Forum, University of Hawaii, August 14th
