CSF 2024 | Keynote Address - Mr. Steven V. Brock, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy

Keynote Address: An Interview - Mr. Steven V. Brock,
Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy
with Dr. James R. Holmes, U.S. Naval War College

Mr. Steven V. Brock (CAPT, USN, Ret.) is Senior Advisor to Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. During the Obama Administration, Steve served as Director for Asia Security Affairs at the National Security Council and co-chaired the Interagency Policy Committee tasked with managing the environmental impact of the U.S. military’s global strategic rebalance. In uniform, Steve served for 28 years as a career Naval Intelligence officer, with tours including Chief of Staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Activity, Operations and Intelligence Briefer to the Secretary of Defense, Deputy Director for Intelligence at the Joint Staff, Assistant Chief of Staff (Information Dominance) for Carrier Strike Group Eleven (NIMITZ Carrier Strike Group), Officer in Charge at the DOD Field Operating Base Europe – Berlin, and Senior Analyst for the United States Seventh Fleet. He additionally served as Military Advisor to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations under Ambassadors Richard Holbrooke and John Negroponte. Steve is a Distinguished Graduate of master’s degree programs at Georgetown University and National Defense University, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Marine Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Senior Adjunct at RAND, and a fellow of the U.S.-Japan Foundation.

Dr. James R. Holmes holds the J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at the Naval War College and served on the faculty of the University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs. A former U.S. Navy surface-warfare officer, he was the last gunnery officer in history to fire a battleship’s big guns in anger, during the first Gulf War in 1991. He earned the Naval War College Foundation Award in 1994, signifying the top graduate in his class. His books include Red Star over the Pacific, an Atlantic Monthly Best Book of 2010 and a fixture on the Navy Professional Reading List. General James Mattis deems him “troublesome.”

About the Current Strategy Forum:

This year marks the 73rd annual Current Strategy Forum (CSF) at the Naval War College in Newport, hosted by the Secretary of the Navy. The first CSF was held on 9 May 1949 under the title “Round Table Talks.” This event offers an opportunity for the Nation’s public servants, scholars, and senior military officers to join the College faculty and students to discuss the future strategy of the United States. Over the years, the CSF has expanded to include a cross section of America’s civilian and military leadership to encourage a wide-ranging debate on national and international security. This year’s theme: "America’s Seapower and Maritime Statecraft."

The wars in Europe and the Middle East, and the danger of conflict in Asia and the Pacific, underscore the need for clear strategic guidance to provide for the security and wellbeing of the American people and the partners of the United States around the globe. In a speech at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro introduced the theme of Maritime Statecraft as a guiding principle for understanding the importance of seapower and maritime strategy in upholding an American-led, rules-based international order. The Secretary underscored the importance of strategy in meeting the challenges ahead for the United States. “I always say that I expect my Admirals and Generals to be skilled warfighters. But more so, I demand that they be strategic thinkers — that they strive first to deter our adversaries and, if called upon, be victorious during times of conflict.” The Naval War College, since its founding by Stephen B. Luce and the teachings of Alfred Thayer Mahan, has led professional military education in developing future leaders to be strategic thinkers.

This year’s forum will seek to understand the role of the United States naval forces and maritime statecraft as part of an overall national strategy to meet the strategic challenges before us.