Secret Summit

The fourth annual Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense (JIAMD) Summit is scheduled to be held next month in Huntsville, AL.

The Pentagon's acquisition office, the Joint Staff's force protection office, U.S. Strategic Command, U.S. Joint Forces Command, U.S. Northern Command, the Joint Functional Component Commander for Integrated Missile Defense (JFCC-IMD) and the Missile Defense Agency are supporting the April 6-9 confab, according to the conference Web site.

The annual JIAMD Summits provide a forum to aid in achieving improved Government and industry communication by obtaining innovative industrial inputs necessary to attain a more joint and integrated Air and Missile Defense Family of Systems (FoS). At each of the Summits, experts from Government, industry, military, and academia will work together to resolve key issues and improve overall participation in the present and proposed JIAMD architecture and FoS implementation plan. In reflection of this spirit of cooperation, the motto of the Annual JIAMD Summits is "One System …One Team …One Fight …One Future."

The subject matter to be discussed during JIAMD Summit 2009 will include issues relating to gaps in our present JIAMD system capabilities that threaten the security of our Homeland and our deployed forces overseas.

Feel like attending? That might be a problem unless you have an invitation. Not to mention the fact that it's classified as "Secret." But hey, the keynote dinner on April 8 will be open to the public, according to the Web site announcement.

Here's some more -- unclassified -- info on the conference:

The theme for the Fourth Annual JIAMD Summit is "Process to Product." This year's work will build on the progress that has been made during the previous three Summits. Resolutions for JIAMD issues that have been identified in previous Summits will be the focus of discussions that will lead to executable project plans that can obtain measurable results in a reasonable timeframe.