Panel Discussion with Council on Foreign Relations Military Fellows
November 27, 2018 | 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Every year, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) selects fellows to represent the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy, from a pool of nominated candidates. These fellows spend a year in New York sharing their unique perspectives on foreign relations with CFR and its members. This year, the fellows will address Network 20/20’s membership, covering topics such as NATO, the current landscape of the U.S. armed forces, and other current events from a military point of view.
Captain Kevin M. Brand, of the U.S. Navy, has sailed and commanded ships throughout Asia and the Middle East for twenty-six years. He has spent eleven years developing U.S. national security and military strategy in Asia. For the past several years, he has worked in national security decision-making and policy development for Asia, with both the Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump administrations. Brand is a graduate of Texas A&M University and holds master’s degrees from the Navy War College and National Defense University.
Colonel John M. Klein, of the U.S. Air Force, commanded the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base in California and the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia, among other leadership and command positions. He has served multiple tours on the Joint Staff and the Air Staff at the Department of Defense. Klein is a mobility pilot with experience in both airlift and tanker aircraft. He is a 1994 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy with a degree in astronautical engineering. He holds an MS in joint campaign planning and strategy from the National Defense University and earned an MAS in international and European security from the University of Geneva while serving as a defense fellow at the Geneva Center for Security Policy.
Colonel Erica C. Nelson, of the U.S. Army has commanded at the brigade, battalion, and company levels. She is a Military Police officer and has served in law enforcement, criminal investigation, and corrections/detention units. Her previous staff assignments include positions at U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Army Pentagon, and the 42nd Military Police Brigade. Her overseas assignments include Germany and deployments to Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iraq, and Kuwait in support of combat and contingency operations. She earned a BA from St. Norbert College, a MS in administration from Central Michigan University, and a MS in national resource strategy from the Eisenhower School at the National Defense University.
Colonel Matthew S. Reid, of the U.S. Marine Corps, has commanded and deployed in the infantry from the platoon to regimental level and as the deputy commander for Task Force Southwest in Afghanistan. He served at the counter-IED operations integration center within the Joint IED Defeat Organization and has staff duty on a regimental combat team and in the G-3 of 1st Marine Division. Reid graduated from Norwich University with a BS in civil engineering and has master’s degrees from Marine Corps University and the National War College.
Captain Steven Wittrock, of the U.S. Coast Guard, has commanded four Coast Guard cutters including the USCGC Katherine Walker, CGC Aspen, CGC Reliance, and most recently the CGC Sherman. Wittrock also served in the headquarters budget, programs, and strategy offices as well as taught civil engineering at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and holds an MS in civil engineering from the University of Illinois.
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