Virtual Conference - Critical Minerals and National Security

Описание: This conference took place on January 10, 2025. The views presented by the faculty or other guest speakers do not reflect official positions of the Naval War College, DON or DOD.

Speakers:

Introduction - Captain Andrea H. Cameron, Ph.D., Ed.D., Permanent Military Professor, National Security Affairs Department; Director, Climate & Human Security Studies Group, U.S. Naval War College
NWC Welcome - Rear Admiral Darryl L. Walker, President, U.S. Naval War College

Keynote - Ms. Carla N. Zeppieri, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience [address delivered by Mr. Adam Burstein]

Panel - Critical Minerals in National Security
• Critical mineral availability, capabilities, and concerns: Mr. Adam Burstein,
Technical Director, Strategic & Critical Materials, ASD, Industrial Base Policy, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
• National Defense Stockpile (NDS): Ms. Theresa Leland, Deputy
Administrator, Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Materials (DLA-SM)
• AGR policy perspective on strategic engagement with allies and partners:
Mr. Gregory Pollock, Principal Director for Arctic & Global Resilience Policy,
ASD Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, Office of the Under
Secretary of Defense for Policy

Background:

In 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order 13817 which drove A Federal Strategy To Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals. This was followed in 2020 with Executive Order 13953 on Addressing the Threat to Domestic Supply Chain From Reliance on Critical Minerals From Foreign Adversaries and Supporting the Domestic Mining and Processing Industries. President Biden expanded on this further with Executive Order 14017 on America’s Supply Chains in 2021, specifically tasking the Secretary of Defense to identify risks in the supply chain for critical minerals and policy recommendations to mitigate these risks. The DoD delivered the Securing Defense-Critical Supply Chains in February of 2022.

In addition to this executive direction, the 2022 National Defense Strategy identified adapting and fortifying the defense ecosystem that includes the defense industrial base and global supply chains. This, in turn, strengthens resilience and adaptability of the force. Building on this, in 2023, the Department of Defense released the first ever National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS) offering a strategic vision to coordinate and prioritize actions to build a modernized defense industrial ecosystem that is fully aligned with the strategic guidance. The National Defense Industrial Strategy Implementation Plan for 2025 (NDIS-IP) highlights six initiatives including production and supply chains, allied and partner industrial collaboration, and capabilities and infrastructure modernization. These are directly in support of initiative #1: Indo-Pacific Deterrence.

The combination of defense industrial base support and attaining the necessary critical minerals required for the DoD capabilities to do the mission has led to the rapid developments with the aim to improve these shortfalls and vulnerabilities. In the context of competition with China, where the majority of the minerals are mined and processed, this event examines the role critical minerals play in the DoD, issues with supply chain, storage and stockpiles, and how we can work with allies and partners to achieve improved resilience.