XVIII Airborne Corps Pre-Deployment Interagency Conference Recently Conducted by the Institute for Defense and Business

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Institute for Defense and Business (IDB), through its Center for Stabilization and Economic Reconstruction (CSER), continued its support of deploying units of the United States military when it recently conducted a conference for the XVIII Airborne Corps focused on interagency cooperation.  Ambassador (ret.) David Litt, Executive Director of CSER, chaired the event.

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The XVIII Airborne Corps will be deploying more than 750 service members to Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn in January 2011, replacing III Corps as the Headquarters Element.

The conference, held in Research Triangle Park, NC from August 11-13, was attended by LTG Frank Helmick, the Commanding General, and 60 senior members of the Corps, as well as senior leadership from the 4th Infantry Division and 25th Infantry Division, and the 36th Infantry Division of the Texas National Guard.

Designed to prepare the Corps to support the development of the Iraqi government's capacity and ensure political, economic and diplomatic progress in the country, the conference included discussions on the Iraqi economy and security forces, the US government's policy in Iraq, issues of justice and corruption, Iraq's relationship with its neighbors and the role of the United Nations in Iraq.

Seventeen speakers, representing diverse range of organizations, spoke to the attendees including:

• Mr. Ad Melkert – The United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Iraq
• Mr. Michael Corbin - Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq
• Dr. Colin Kahl - Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East
• Ms. Greta Holtz - Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy
• Ms. Molly Phee - Iraq Director, National Security Staff
• Maj Gen Mark Matthews (USAF) – Former Director of Strategy, Plans and Assessments, United States Forces - Iraq
• Maj Gen (ret.) James Hunt (USAF) – Former Deputy Commanding General, United States Forces - Iraq

The IDB has delivered pre-deployment conferences for Army and Marine Corps units heading to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2006. The Department of Defense's Task Force for Business and Stability Operations is the DoD proponent for these conferences.  The IDB worked in partnership with the prime contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton, in delivering this conference for the DoD.

The Institute for Defense and Business (IDB) is a non-profit research and education institute formed in 1997 by UNC-Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina. The IDB offers a series of educational programs for the military, government, non-governmental agencies, and private industry, in the areas of logistics, operations, life cycle management, organizational change, and economic stabilization. For further information contact Mr. Jason Barber at [email protected].

CONTACT: Jason Barber of Institute for Defense and Business, +1-919-966-8008, [email protected]

SOURCE Institute for Defense and Business