Shutdown? What Shutdown?

With the government shutdown averted, many of the organizers of defense-related conferences taking place this week are breathing a sigh of relief. One of them, the Navy League's annual Sea-Air-Space conference, even had a contingency plan set up if the shutdown had gone through.

Another confab, the 39th IFPA-Fletcher Conference on "The Marine Corps: America's Expeditionary Force in Readiness," is proceeding as planned, according to an IFPA statement. It will take place on April 14-15, 2011 at the Marriott at Metro Center in Washington. Specifically:

Over 25 senior DOD officials, service chiefs, combatant commanders, members of Congress, and non-governmental experts are confirmed as speakers at the 39th IFPA-Fletcher Conference on The Marine Corps:  America’s Expeditionary Force in Readiness. This includes Senator Jack Reed, Chairman, Subcommittee on Seapower, Senate Armed Services Committee; Representative Todd Akin, Chairman, Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, HASC; General James L. Jones, USMC (Ret.), former National Security Advisor, former SACEUR, and former USMC Commandant; General James F. Amos, Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps; Admiral Robert J. Papp, USCG Commandant: Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert, USN, Vice Chief of Naval Operations; General Philip Breedlove, USAF, Vice Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force; and The Honorable Robert Work, Under Secretary of the Navy.