Home / Conference / KCIS 2021

KCIS 2021

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY:

The Military’s Role in the Pandemic & Future Crises

page updated: Jan 21, 2022

IN-CASE-BANNER-2.jpg

From 2020 to the present, national armed forces from all over the world have been called upon to support civilian authorities in the fight to defeat COVID-19. In addition to responding domestically, the military has also adapted the conduct of its operations abroad. As the vaccines continue to be rolled out (unevenly across regions), it is time to take stock of the pandemic from the perspective of Western armed forces.

KCIS 2021 will incorporate lessons learned to strengthen national emergency resilience moving forward. This conference also provides an opportunity to reassess allied threat assessments, asking which vulnerabilities have been made more salient by this global crisis.

Conference Agenda

  • Day 1: Oct 25, 2021

    1100 - Welcome Remarks and Introductions

    - Dr. Stéfanie von Hlatky, Director, CIDP
    - MC – Lieutenant Colonel Chad Pillai, US Army Visiting Defence Fellow, CIDP

    1115 - Opening Keynote: Adapting Training, Operations and Partnerships

    Introduction by: Dr. Stéfanie von Hlatky, Director, CIDP

    General Wayne Eyre, CMM, MSC, CD, A-CDS, Canadian Armed Forces

    1215 - Panel 1: The Pandemic as a Lesson in Military Adaptions

    This panel examines how the military has adapted to the pandemic and how this will alter planning to conduct future domestic operations. In particular, strengthening national emergency resilience moving forward will require improved government-military & public-private response.

    Chaired by:  Professor William G. Braun III, Strategic Studies Institute (SSI), US Army War College

    Panelists:
    - Brigadier-General Krista Brodie, Vice President of Logistics and Operations for Public Health Agency of Canada / Commander of Military Personnel Generation Group (MPGG), Canadian Armed Forces
    - Professor Nate Freier, Associate Professor of National Security Studies, Strategic Studies Institute
    - Mr. Harold ‘Quin’ Lucie, Strategy, Policy and Plans - Infrastructure, Risk and Resilience Department of Homeland Security

    1330 - End of Day 1

  • Day 2: Oct 26, 2021

    1100 - Welcome and Introductions

    - Dr. Thierry Tardy, Director of Research Division, NATO Defense College
    - MC– Colonel Trevor Teller, Canadian Army Visiting Defence Fellow, CIDP

    1110 - Stress Tested: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Canadian National Security

    Introduction by: Dr. Carol Evans, Director, SSI, US Army War College (USAWC)

    Guest Speakers:
    - Dr. Leah West, Assistant Professor of International Affairs at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University
    - Dr. Thomas Juneau, Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
    - Dr. Amarnath Amarasingam, Assistant Professor in the School of Religion, and the Department of Political Studies, at Queen’s University

    1200 - Panel 2: Allied Experiences and Coordinated Responses

    What changes are we anticipating from allies and partners, based on their experiences with employing national armed forces for pandemic response?

    Chaired by: Dr. Stéfanie von Hlatky, Director, CIDP

    Panelists:
    - Major-General Michel-Henri St-Louis, Acting Commander of the Army, Canadian Armed Forces
    - Ms. Elisabeth Braw, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
    - Mr. Timothy Lannan, Head, Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre, NATO
    - Dr. Bethan Greener, Associate Professor, School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University, NZ

    1330 - End of Day 2

  • Day 3: Oct 27, 2021

    1100 - Welcome and Introductions

    - Professor William G. Braun III, Strategic Studies Institute (SSI), US Army War College
    - MC – LTC Chad Pillai, US Army Visiting Defence Fellow, CIDP

    1110 - Guest Speaker

    Introduction by: Howard Coombs, CIDP Deputy Director

    Rear Admiral (Ret’d) John Polowczyk, Managing Director at EY

    1200 - Panel 3: Landforce Implications


    What changes in structure, equipment, and training are necessary to contribute to national resiliency and response missions in the future?

    Chaired by: Colonel Tod Strickland, Commandant, Canadian Army Command and Staff College

    Panelists:
    - Professor Yoonkap Lim, Professor at the Peacekeeping Center, National Defense University, Nonsan Korea
    - Dr. Michael Lynch, Research Historian and Assistant Professor at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, US Army War College 

    1330 - End of Day 3

  • Day 4: Oct 28, 2021

    1100 - Welcome and Introductions

    - Colonel Tod Strickland, Commandant, Canadian Army Command and Staff College
    - MC– Col. Trevor Teller, Canadian Army Visiting Defence Fellow, CIDP

    1105 - Panel 4: Updating Allied Threat Assessments

    Have adversarial and cooperative relationships been altered? How have international operations adapted – will human security be further emphasized? Has the pandemic revealed new vulnerabilities?

    Chaired by: Dr. Thierry Tardy, Director of Research Division, NATO Defense College

    Panelists:
    - Ms. Fenella McGerty, Senior Fellow for Defence Economics, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
    - Ms. Tania Latici, Policy Officer, Security and Defence Policy, European External Action Service
    - Dr. Jean-Christophe Boucher, Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy and Department of Political Science, University of Calgary

    1220 - Closing Keynote

    Introduction by: BGen. Mark Campbell, Commander CADTC

    Lieutenant-General Olivier Rittimann, Commandant, NATO Defense College

    1315 - Closing Remarks

    - Dr. Carol Evans, Director, SSI, US Army War College (USAWC)

    1330 - End of Day 4

 

Conference Video Highlights

KCIS 2021 Co-organizers


KCIS 2021 Sponsors