Speakers
- Lieutenant Colonel Samuel LinnAffiliationUS Army War College
- Lt. Colonel Mike BurnsAffiliationUS Army War College
- Lieutenant Colonel Patrick WalshAffiliationUS Army War College
Details
The ever-deepening digital information age poses new security challenges to the United States, the US military, and the US Army and raises new questions deserving answers. Cyber attacks are a significant threat to national security, and yet the world still has no shared standard for when a cyber attack can be considered an act of war. Does the absence of this standard erode deterrence against malign cyber actors and risk unintended escalation to war? Similarly, as “gray zone” information warfare increases in prevalence, should military public affairs personnel take on a greater role to improve the US population’s resilience against misinformation related to the US military, and can they maintain their image as an “honest broker” in the process? Finally, does the increasing popularity of cryptocurrency potentially weaken the US dollar’s long-time status as the world’s reserve currency? Should the United States hedge against that outcome by adding crypto to its own currency reserves and should military cyber forces be used to help secure it?
Speakers:
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Linn is an Army Officer with a 19-year career balanced between tactical leadership and academic endeavor. He has deployed to combat six times with Infantry and Ranger units, and most recently commanded an Artillery Battalion of 700 personnel in the 101st Airborne Division. He has also spent six years on the board of directors for the Veterans Service Organization “Team Red, White and Blue”, providing governance and oversight from startup to congressional recognition. Lieutenant Colonel Linn holds a degree in Economics from West Point, an MBA from UPENN’s Wharton School of Business, and has served as both an Assistant Professor of Economics and Professor of Military Science.
Lt. Colonel Mike Burns is a native of Charleston, South Carolina and has served more than 27 years in the U.S. Army. He has spent the last 12 years as a public affairs professional serving at multiple echelons across the globe. His previous experiences also include assignments as a human resource professional, an armor officer, and an aviation maintainer. He has multiple deployments to Iraq and Kuwait. Burns holds a Master of Business Administration from Webster University and a Doctorate in Philosophy with a specialization in Organizational Management. He is married with two collegiate children and currently resides in Carlisle, Pennsylvania as a student at the U.S. Army War College.
Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Walsh is U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate and a former federal prosecutor. As a judge advocate, LTC Walsh has served as a legal advisor to a Military Police unit in Iraq, an associate professor of national security law and criminal law, a military prosecutor and a defense attorney. As a civilian, Mr. Walsh has prosecuted federal crimes including cyber intrusions and terrorism crimes with the United States Attorney’s Office. When he is not on military orders, he teaches law to federal agents at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. LTC Walsh has a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law and an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law and is currently a student at the US Army War College.
This event will be held in person. To ensure the safety of this event, mandatory pre-registration with a Princeton email address and face covering are required for in-person attendance. Dinner with the panelists will immediately follow the event and a select number of individuals from the RSVP list will be invited. The dinner guest list will be revealed on Wednesday morning. Those invited to dinner must attend the event in person. RSVP BELOW.