Shortburst: Milley visit, former students, ‘Save the Date’, Thanksgiving and much more!

“Shortburst” is an occasional feature of Lawfire^® that aims to bring you up to date with bursts of information on a variety of topics and/or advise you of a happening you may find of interest. 

Dinner with General Milley

Duke hosted a visit from General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,  on November 12.  A summary of his interesting remarks from his campus-wide presentation is found here.

I was fortunate enough to be among those who had dinner with him.  I haven’t always been a fan of everything he’s done (see here and here), but he was gracious, informative, and candid throughout the visit. Also met some intellectually-driven and interesting undergrads at the dinner!

Former students!

It was wonderful to spend time with two former students recently.  Hensey Fenton was in town for an alumni event, and Joy and I had dinner with him.  As a Duke student Hensey took multiple national security-related courses, and was very active in LENS. 

One of his course papers, “Proportionality and its Applicability in the Realm of Cyber Attacks,” was published in the Duke Journal of International and Comparative Law and was later cited by the Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal as one the top articles in the cyber law field.

After clerking, he joined the Washington, DC law firm of Covington, and national security matters as part of his practice.  I was thrilled to see that the firm says:

Another facet of Hensey’s practice involves cutting-edge legal issues in the cybersecurity space. He counsels clients on preparing for and responding to cyber-based attacks. Hensey regularly engages with government and military leaders to develop national and global strategies for complex cyber issues and policy challenges. Having published scholarly work in the areas of cybersecurity and cyberwarfare, Hensey keeps his finger on the pulse of this fast-developing legal field. 

I know we’ll continue to hear great things about Hensey!

Lawfire^® readers may recall Major Greg Speirs, who is a graduate of North Carolina Central University School of Law, but took his national security law-related courses here at Duke through the Interinstitutional Program. (more about Greg here, here, and here)

Greg was Wing Legal Advisor with the 621st Contingency Response Wing at Travis AFB, CA, but has been promoted to major and is currently a Staff Attorney in the General Torts Branch of the Claims and Tort Litigation Division, Joint Base Andrews, MD,. 

He’s defending the  Air Force against various claims and lawsuits totaling millions of dollars of potential liability, working with United States Attorneys across 22 states in developing litigation strategies and advising wing level claims offices on Air Force tort policy and procedures.  His career continues to soar!

Save the Date

LENS Conference headliner announced!

We are very pleased to tell you that the Honorable Jeh Johnson, the former Secretary of Homeland Security and General Counsel of the Department of Defense will speak at the 2022 in-person LENS conference.  It was recently announced that Mr. Johnson, now a partner with the leading New York firm of Paul, Weiss, will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from The American Lawyer on December 2nd.

Aspen Security Forum

I attended the Aspen Security Forum in early November and had a chance to chat with a number of luminaries, including General Richard Clarke, the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.  (I’m trying to entice him to speak at the LENS 2022 Conference!).

Call for Papers for the 2022 Lieber Society Richard R. Baxter Military Writing Prize

Our friend Dr. Chris Bailey announces that submissions are now open for the 2022 Baster Military Writing Prize.  Here’s some info:

The Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict, an interest group of the American Society of International Law, has annually recognized a paper that significantly enhances the understanding and implementation of the law of war.  The Richard R. Baxter Military Prize is awarded for exceptional writing in English by an active member of the regular or reserve armed forces, civilian employees of an armed force/ Ministry of Defense (or Department of Defense for the United States), or military service veterans, regardless of nationality. 

Paper length may not exceed 35 pages if written with single line spacing or 70 pages if written with double line spacing, including footnotes. Paper size must be either 8.5 x 11 or A4, with all margins at least one inch and at least 12-point font. The paper should have written/published should have been written or published in 2021. Inquiries, as well as submissions, should be sent to the Baxter Military Prize Coordinator, Dr. Christopher E. Bailey, at christopherbailey286@yahoo.com .

The deadline is 7 January 2022.  More details and submission guidance are found here.

Thanksgiving in the military

Thanksgiving is always a major holiday in the military, especially for those far from home.  CNBC reports that the Defense Logistics Agency “delivered more than 390,000 pounds of traditional Thanksgiving food, such as ham and sweet potatoes, to service members on ships and installations throughout the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Korea, Guam and Honduras, as well as other locations.”   The list included and estimated:

• • 5,706 whole turkeys
  • 59,666 pounds of roasted turkeys
  • 99,187 pounds of beef
  • 51,994 pounds of ham
  • 43,767 pounds of shrimp
  • 38,400 pounds of sweet potatoes
  • 68,465 pounds of pies and cakes
  • 23,461 gallons of eggnog

Wow!  I hope you take time this holiday to give thanks for all we have in this great country, and that you have a great Thanksgiving wherever you are!!!!!