Former Defense Secretary William Perry to participate by video teleconference
The 90-minute discussion, which will take place in Tucson at the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, will focus on the capacity of the U.S. military to meet current and future challenges.
Giffords, a member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees, recently voted for the Ensuring Military Readiness Through Stability and Predictability Deployment Act of 2007. The act requires a minimum period of rest and recuperation for members of the Armed Forces between deployments for Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was approved by the House of Representatives on August 2 in a 229 to194 vote.
Perry served as the nineteenth United States secretary of defense, from February 1994 to January 1997. He has also served as deputy secretary of defense and undersecretary of defense for research and engineering. Perry currently is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, a professor at Stanford University, and co-director of the Preventive Defense Project, a research collaboration of Stanford and Harvard universities.
Joining the discussion will be:
Phillip Carter, a former Army captain who fought in Iraq and has written extensively on military issues;
Maj. David Rataczak, the adjutant general of the Arizona National Guard and a Vietnam combat veteran;
Retired Maj. Gen. Bill Van Dyke, the former adjutant general of the Arizona National Guard; and
Retired Maj. Gen. Donald Shepperd, the former director of the Air National Guard and a CNN analyst.
The discussion is open to the public and media, but seating is limited.
WHAT: Military Readiness Roundtable with U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and former Defense Secretary William Perry
WHEN: 10-11:30 a.m., Monday, Aug. 20
WHERE: Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, 4575 E. Broadway