 So I'd like to thank you again for coming here today. Let's kick off by talking about technology. How do you think we can best leverage new technologies like unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to improve mission execution? What are the technology areas in which the Coast Guard should be making strategic investments if we wanna keep ahead of our adversaries? Yeah, well, thanks for the question first. It's a real honor and a pleasure to be here. And thank all you for being here. I look forward to answering any questions that we have at the end of the more formal interview process. But I think we're in the middle of a technology revolution. I think we have to be a little bit impatient. It's got to be faster. It's got to be better. It's got to be more robust. And I think technology is the future of the Coast Guard. We have to build tomorrow's Coast Guard today. So we have to invest in technology today. I'm glad you talked about AI and machine learning. I think that's critical. We compile a lot of data in the Coast Guard. It's not accessible. So we need to have a decision advantage as a military service across our entire mission spectrum. And I think we can only do that if we harness data in a more usable and analytical way. So I see that as one of the first steps. Obviously I'm an operational commander. I've got a huge operating area. And it's critical for me to improve my awareness of the domains in which we operate. So the Scan Eagle on NSC has been a game changer for us. We can field a more formidable force package. We need to do more of that. We need to look for additional technologies where we can expand domain awareness and leverage both decision superiority and operational advantage. I think the other area where oftentimes it's overlooked where technology is going to be critically important is supporting our workforce. We have to move into an advanced learning system that delivers better training to our workforce in terms of time, quality, and substance. You know, I think of the Coast Guard I grew up in where you learn by turning a wrench. And that's important. We have to have hands on learning. But there are technologies out there that allow you to show through 3D imagery and through, you know, mobile technology how to overhaul an engine and the list could go on and on and on. But there's a learning management component of this that I think is critically important as well. So what I would say in summary, one is our workforce and learning management. Secondly is leveraging the data environment to give us decision advantage. And third is leveraging technology for better operational success. Great, thank you so much. Now talking about looking ahead, I'm sure when Alexander Hamilton started the Coast Guard, he never had vision that we would be talking about space exploration. What challenges and opportunities does the continued expansion into space present to the Coast Guard, both in terms of commercial space launches and growing commercial space based sensors and communication? Yeah, that's a great question. I think it's a twofold question, right? So how can the Coast Guard as an operating agency leverage the space environment in a way that we don't now? I think that goes back to your first question about leveraging technology. I remember not too many years ago, the Coast Guard was looking at cube satellites and how it can improve communications and search and rescue. I think there's still an opportunity out there, both partnering with other agencies who are already in that space, but also looking at how we can leverage the space environment to enhance our surface operations. The second part of that though, is what are we doing to support commercial space? I'm going to take issue a little bit with your question because I think the character of the Coast Guard has not fundamentally changed in the last six years. Alexander Hamilton envisioned us back in 1790. He envisioned a maritime force that would be a Sentinel for America in terms of safety, security, and environmental protection. That's what we do. That's what we do in commercial space. So what are our specific responsibilities? Our specific responsibilities are first to ensure the security of launches and large platforms. Our second responsibility is to ensure safety of life and that safety of those who are flying into space and returning and that's safety of those who are on the vessels that support commercial space operations. And the third function is for us to continue to facilitate safe marine transportation. What I mean by that is that, I'm excited about where space is going. I'm a guy who, parents woke him up at night and let me see the TV when they landed on the moon and that was just a seminal moment for a lot of us who are my age. And so I'm excited about where the United States is going into space and we want to be part of that. But the way that we're best part of it is making sure that we leverage our Coast Guard abilities, our regulatory authorities, and our capabilities to make sure that commercial space and manned spaceflight is safe and the marine transportation is safe as well. So I think we've got multi-fold responsibilities there. Now I will admit this, our regulatory processes aren't as quick as they should be. There's a reason for that. We have to be very deliberate and there's always a cost benefit that goes into regulating. But we are now not just on the precipice of autonomous vessels, we've already crossed the precipice and we're seeing those autonomous vessels launched. I was down in Port Canaveral not too long ago and I met with SpaceX and I got to see what they're doing with autonomous vessels. And it's amazing. It's amazing to see these rockets come back down and land on an autonomous vessel. But yet, our regulatory processes don't really contemplate the operation of autonomous vessels. Now we've done as much as we can under our authority to regulate and make that safe. And I think we've got a very productive dialogue with all the space agents, it's not just SpaceX, it's Blue Origin, there are a number of others out there who are entering into the commercial space environment. In fact, I'm gonna forecast that space launches will quadruple over the next decade. So I think the Coast Guard's gonna be in this business for a while. And my responsibility at Land Area is to try and position us to meet demand and I think that demand will only continue to increase. Thank you. Much like the race to be in space, there's a race to control the Arctic. One of the Coast Guard's missions is to preserve and protect US geostrategic equities and interest in the Arctic region. Land area has been extremely active, oops. In multilateral exercises in the Arctic. What do you see the benefits of these exercises? What can we improve and how do you see that progressing? Yeah, another great question. And so I just sat through the Arctic panel that Admiral Fagan did, our vice commandant. And so I'm gonna steal from her a little bit. So she said, our interest in the Arctic are threefold. It's access, it's domain awareness and it's partnerships. And I don't think you can say it any better than that. And so those are gonna be our lines of effort in the Arctic. The United States is an Arctic nation. But what I try to do as Land Area is I try to explain that we have a continuity of interest across the Arctic. When people tend to think about the United States Arctic, they think of our extended continental shelf and our EEZ off of Alaska. That's important. It's either US territory or it's sovereign rights where we can assert some influence lawfully. But we have a continuity of interest that extends all the way over into the Atlantic Arctic. Even though we're not contiguous to the Arctic and the Atlantic, when we see increasing man-made activity, when we see migrating fish stocks, when we see our closest partners like Denmark and Canada and all our other Arctic nations have a growing interest in the Atlantic Arctic, we need to be there, we need to be present. And so that's what I'm focused on. And we have done a lot of joint exercise. It goes back to the partnership and partnerships build capability, partnerships build interoperability and partnerships I think create a presence that's a deterrent to malign activity. So I've been all in as area commander on supporting joint operations and international operations in the Arctic. People were looking at me somewhat cross-eyed when I said, hey, we're gonna take a 270 foot cutter and we're gonna take a fast response cutter and we're gonna send it north of the Arctic Circle off Greenland. We had never done that before and we did it. And we did it effectively. So to me it's about projecting presence, but more so it's about collaboration with our key strategic allies who want what we want. Safe, secure and an environmentally sound Arctic. Speaking of our strategic allies, one of your operational priorities is efforts in illegal, unreported and unregulated or IUU fishing. IUU fishing is often presented as a Pacific-centric issue. However, we know that it is a global threat with illicit operations occurring on every ocean. What can you tell us about your growing knowledge of the IUU fishing threat in the Atlantic and what is land area in particular doing to combat that threat? Yeah, well first we have to recognize that IUU is a global problem. It's not a regional problem, it's a global problem. Fish stocks don't respect boundaries, right? So IUU fishing is a global problem. And I will tell you, I've had a great opportunity to work with a lot of international partners both in South America, in the Caribbean, certainly over in Africa with our African engagement. And when you ask them, what do they see as their number one national security threat? It's IUU fishing. And so we have to meet them in that space and that's what we're trying to do. So last year I sent Coast Guard Cutter Stone on its post-shakedown cruise down to Brazil and Uruguay and to Argentina to work illegal fisheries. I don't think we had done that in more than a decade. But it was a sign from us that we understand the challenges that our partners have and we want to do what we can to share our information, share our capability and share our practices because at the end of the day we are a maritime governance force and we want to help other people build maritime governance. It wasn't too long ago that maybe we'd have a deployment to Africa once every five years, maybe once every three years. Now we're doing that annually or twice a year just because the challenges and the Gulf of Guinea in particular with China's distant water fleet and overfishing are profound. And I heard the commandant mention this morning that in the next 20 years, Africa will have 25% of the world's population. That population is going to rely on protein. So what we have to do is work with partners to help them project maritime governance for their own fish stocks and work with them to be good stewards of scarce marine resources and that's what we want to do. And then it does also circle back to the Arctic, right? I mean, as we see migrating fish stocks move to the Arctic, the fishing fleets will move with the stocks and we've got to make sure that we work with partners to make sure that we have good governance in the Arctic, one that adheres to and observes international norms. Okay, you mentioned that IUU was a global problem and it seems that the Coast Guard has really becoming, having an increasingly global mission. What role do you see the Coast Guard playing in the broader joint force around the world? What level of interoperability do you envision with the US Navy and the US Marine Corps as part of the tri-service maritime strategy? Well, we action that strategy each and every day. We are very connected with the numbered fleets. We're very connected in Coast Guard Atlantic area with US Fleet Forces. One of the hats I wear that was mentioned at the outset is I'm Defense Force East. By definition, that makes me part of the joint force and I think that's our heritage, that's our history and it's a mission that we're really proud of. I have never seen the Coast Guard in higher demand. I've been wearing the Coast Guard uniform for 38 years of commission service. If you had the Academy, that's four. So over four decades, I've never seen the Coast Guard in higher demand globally. I wish I had resources to support everybody who wants Coast Guard. In some sense, it's a good problem to have, right? On the other hand, one of the biggest challenges I have is how to allocate scarce resources between all the different missions that the Coast Guard has, whether it's fisheries, whether it's counter drug, whether it's the flow of human migration in certain areas, whether it's the Arctic. But I am gonna remain fully committed to doing what I can to support the joint force. I do see that we have an access, we have capabilities and we have authorities that are desired by many nations with which we work. And I heard Admiral Giltay say it this morning for those of you who listen. He said, look, we work with a lot of navies, but they're not blue water navies. They're navies that look more like a coastal constabular force that reflect more Coast Guard than they do blue water navies. So I think it's important for us to partner together and be part of that joint force so that we can extend security cooperation where we can best return, get a return on investment. Well, the Coast Guard motto is always ready. And one of the ways that we have to be ready is to look to the future. How do you see the land area mission set changing or evolving in the future? What is the outlook 20 years from now or further on even? That's a great question. Well, let me start with space because I think that's an emerging mission for us. Even though I said we've already kind of crossed the Rubicon and we're seeing autonomous vessels, I do project an exponential rise in space launches and we're gonna have to do our part. I think the Arctic's gonna become even more critically important as we see more human activity as we see strategic competition expand in the Arctic region and the Coast Guard's gonna have to be there like we've been for 150 years. I think we're still trying to see how the security situation in Europe evolves. It's changed. We all know it's changed. How has it changed? We're not quite sure. But I know that however it's changed, the Coast Guard will have a role, strengthening partnerships, thinking those lines of partnership, but also projecting Coast Guard presence where we can add value as part of the joint force. And then I think as we see energy exploration expand off of Africa, we see more African nations build capability to protect their own EEZs. I think there'll be a growing demand for the Coast Guard in Africa as well. I'm excited about that. That's a mission that we'd love to do. I wish we could do more of it. I think you're gonna see us do more of it. But what we have to do is have a more persistent and habitual interaction with our partners over in Africa. And I see that becoming a real important location for us as the United States, not just the Coast Guard, as the United States in the future. I had the real pleasure of being at the International Sea Power Symposium in Newport last year. And I had the opportunity to meet with a lot of Chiefs of Navy from our African partner countries. And I tell you, they were excited about the Coast Guard. They were excited about the opportunity for us to send cutters over there. And when I pledged to them, as I said, look, I may not be able to send a cutter, but I can send people. I can send subject matter experts. I can send people over there to help work with you to build something that fits your legal regime, your particular security situation. And you have my commitment that will be an enduring partner for you. Well, I know that you have a hard stop. So we're going to offer, to take some questions from the audience here. Any questions from the audience? So sir, we see that the Coast Guard's FY23 budget request includes $125 million for a commercial security cutter or a polar icebreaker. Can you give us any more information about that evolving turn of events and any chance that's going to the Atlantic Command? I think those are all early questions, right? Here's what I'll say. We are so pleased that the administration and Congress understands the value of Coast Guard icebreakers. And the fact that the nation is investing in more polar capability, I should say high latitude capability, I think is refreshing to all of us that have worn the blue uniform for so long. When I came in the Coast Guard, we had icebreakers everywhere, right? West wind, north wind, glacier, and we could just go down and name them. Now we've got two, one heavy, one medium. So the fact that we're on a shipbuilding program and that we're going to have polar security cutters in our inventory, I think is a great thing. And then obviously Congress says, hey, there's got to be a bridging strategy to that end. And I think that's why you've seen the mark in the FY23 budget. Thanks, sir. I'm an Army guy and I stand in awe of the Coast Guard's ability to husband resources. I mean, I think you guys are a great, great guardian of the nation's resources and do a fantastic job executing a very difficult mission. And I think you ought to get a lot more money for more coasties and more equipment. Well, thank you. I really do appreciate that. And so you're going to be one of our best ambassadors and you're one of our recruiters, the Coast Guard's hiring. And so please go out and sing it loud and proud. The Coast Guard's hiring, we need great young men and women to serve. We still have some more time. Any other questions? Oh, okay, yes. Hi, my name is Sandy Trumblin with Pavilion Storage. We are a innovative data storage platform that is able to be able to do a lot of high-end analytic storage capacity. Where would we go and talk to folks within the Coast Guard for innovative projects that could take advantage of our platform? Yeah, Admiral Dave Durminellian is our CG6, our data guy. And look, I was a management major at the academy. So to me, it's just ones and zeros. But I know we've got a lot of smart people in the Coast Guard. What I am smart enough to know is that, as I said at the outset, we've got to do a better job, not only on data integration, but data management and data accessibility. We've got to do a better job analyzing the data that we collect to give us decision advantage. So thank you. Great, thanks. Okay, we still have about five minutes or so. Any other questions from the audience? Okay, Admiral, thank you very much. No, thank you.