Seton Hill University will host a presentation by the U.S. Army War College on Thursday, February 10, sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh

The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and Seton Hill University will host “U.S. National Security: New Challenges in an Unstable World,” a seminar by the Current Affairs Panel of the U.S. Army War College, on Thursday, February 10, 2005 from 9 – 11:45 a.m. in Lynch Hall on Seton Hill’s Greensburg, Pa. campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.

To date, 160 students and teachers from the Greater Latrobe High School, Hempfield Area High School, Franklin Regional High School, Blairsville High School and Connellsville High School will attend the presentation at Seton Hill.

Proposed topics for discussion include: “Fighting Terrorists: Should Detainees Receive the Protections of the Geneva Conventions?” “Department of Defense Countermeasures Against Biological Agents,” “Nation Building: Is the Defense Department Up to the Task?” “Transforming Defense: Challenges Facing the Acquisition and Defense Contracting Communities,” “Maintaining U.S. Air Supremacy in the 21st Century,” and “Changing Roles of the Army National Guard at Home and Abroad.”

Current Affairs Panel Biographies:

Colonel Thomas McShane, U.S. Army. COL McShane teaches National Security Legal Studies at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and is faculty director of the Eisenhower Series College Program. McShane is admitted to practice law in California and Tennessee and before the United States Supreme Court. He has served overseas in Korea, Germany, and Italy, and in Saudi Arabia and Iraq during the First Gulf War. He taught criminal law at the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Virginia, and served in the Pentagon on the Joint Services Committee on Military Justice.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas E. Ayres, U.S. Army. LTC Ayres is a lawyer and a paratrooper. Ayres was the lead attorney for the 82nd Airborne division during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also assisted in the reconstitution of the Iraqi legal system. He began his Army career as an infantry officer in Italy, and later served as chief prosecutor at Fort Stewart, Georgia and as an environmental litigator in Washington, D.C. He was recognized as the American Bar Association’s Outstanding Military Trial Advocate in 1995, and his awards include the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and Master Parachutist Badge.

Colonel Kathleen (Katie) Carr, U.S. Army. COL Carr has focused on medical countermeasures against biological threat agents for the past decade, and has extensive experience in the area of biological surety and safety. She most recently served at the Pentagon, providing assistance to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) on issues related to medical biological defense. Carr has held a variety of assignments as a veterinary officer with elements of the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, Special Operations and the U.S. Army.

Lieutenant Colonel Mike B.K. Fulford, U.S. Army Reserve. LTC Fulford is a professional engineer, registered environmental manager, and a member of the Army Acquisition Corps. He was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps from the University of South Florida in 1984. Prior to attending the United States Army War College, he served as an action officer in the Office of the Assistant to the Chairman for Reserve and National Guard Matters, the Joint Staff, Washington, D.C. In addition to military assignments in the United States, Germany, Korea, El Salvador, and Central Asia, he holds a civil service position as the Deputy District Engineer for Project Management for the Detroit District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Lieutenant Colonel David E. Lockhart, U.S. Army. LTC Lockhart served in a variety of tactical communications and research, development and acquisition management positions in the United States, Europe, and Asia prior to his assignment to the United States Army War College. His most recent assignment was product manager for the Joint Tactical Radio System. He was selected as the Army’s Product Manager of the Year in 2003. Other awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Assault Badge, Parachutist Badge, and the U.S. Army Ranger Tab.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark T. McKenzie, U.S. Air Force. Lt. Col. McKenzie is a command pilot with over 2800 flying hours. During his 20-year career, he has served in nearly every role of operational air superiority. He is a veteran of numerous combat tours including Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, as well as numerous humanitarian aid missions. His military decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Air Medal. His most recent assignment was as the Commander, 71st Fighter Squadron, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, during which time he led his squadron in their combat deployment to Southwest Asia.

Colonel Tim Sullivan, U.S. Army National Guard. Colonel Sullivan is an air defense officer and his major deployments include Hurricane Andrew, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has served on Active Duty, the Individual Ready Reserve, and is a member of the Florida National Guard. He has Commanded units from Battery to Group level with his most recent Command/Deployment being to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait as part of the largest logistics operation since World War II. Colonel Sullivan has held numerous local elected and community leadership positions in Florida to include Mayor/City Commissioner and Lake County School Board.

The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting greater understanding of important international issues throughout the community and especially within the region’s secondary schools. For more information on U.S. Army War College’s Regional Seminars or the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, please contact Annie Prucey, Education Director, World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh, at 412-281-7970.

Seton Hill University, chartered in 1918, is a coeducational Catholic liberal arts university in Greensburg, Pa. with more than 30 undergraduate programs and 8 graduate programs, including an MBA. Seton Hill brings the world to its students through its distinguished lecturers and nationally and internationally renowned centers. Twice recognized by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the nation’s Top 100 Entrepreneurial Universities, Seton Hill has also been named one of the Best Mid-Atlantic Colleges by The Princeton Review and one of Pennsylvania’s Top 100 Businesses by Pennsylvania Business Central. For more information on Seton Hill please visit www.setonhill.edu or call 1-800-826-6234.