Speakers
Speakers' biographies will appear on this page as they are submitted.
General Ehsan Ul Haq
Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Pakistan
General Ehsan Ul Haq, Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) retired as the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee on 8th of October 2007, an assignment he assumed three year earlier, on his promotion to the rank of Four Star General. In addition to his responsibilities in the Armed Forces, he was a member of the National Command Authority, (the Apex decision making body responsible for formulating policies and controlling all aspects of Pakistan’s nuclear and missile program) as well as the Deputy Chairman of the Development Control Committee, with the responsibility of overseeing the development of the strategic weapon’s programme.
General Ehsan Ul Haq was also a member of the National Security Council, the highest politico – administrative forum in Pakistan (which was headed by the President and included the Prime Minister, Chairman Senate, Speaker of the National Assembly, Chief Ministers of the provinces and the Chiefs of Staff of the armed forces).
Earlier, on his promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General in May 2001, General Ehsan Ul Haq was given command of the elite11th Corps in Peshawar, responsible for the defence of the Pakistan – Afghanistan border as well as internal security in the North West Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas. On the 11th of September 2001, Lieutenant General Ehsan Ul Haq was in this critical assignment at Peshawar.
On 8th October 2001, as the bombing of Afghanistan commenced, Lieutenant General Ehsan Ul Haq was asked to take over as the Director General Inter Services Intelligence (DG ISI). In his three year tenure as the DG ISI, Lieutenant General Ehsan Ul Haq restructured Pakistan’s intelligence services and led them in their new role in the war against international terrorism. During this period the ISI successfully undertook operations to evict Al Qaeda from Pakistan’s urban centers while containing their operations in the tribal areas along the Pakistan Afghanistan border.
As the DG ISI and earlier as the Director General Military Intelligence, General Ehsan Ul Haq was also responsible for the security of Pakistan’s Strategic Programmes and Counter proliferation efforts and played an instrumental role in the evolution of strategies and implementation of wide ranging reforms that were credited with the turn-round of Pakistan’s politico – security environment.
General Ehsan Ul Haq has a vast experience of command, staff and instructional assignments in the armed forces of Pakistan. Born on 22 September 1949, he joined Pakistan Military Academy as a cadet in 1968 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in an Air Defence Regiment of the Pakistan Army.
On promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in September 1986, the General had the honour of commanding the Regiment in which he was commissioned. He has also served on deputation with the Saudi armed forces from 1980 to 1983. In June 1992, he was promoted Brigadier and commanded an Air Defence Brigade and an Infantry Brigade with the strike formations of Pakistan Army. He was elevated to the rank of a Major General in 1996 and was appointed Commander of an Air Defence Division. He also commanded an Infantry division in the most challenging desert of Pakistan. His major instructional and staff appointments include serving as an instructor on the faculty of the Army Air Defence School. As a major he has served in Military Operations Directorate in General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army as well as Brigade Major of an infantry brigade. As a lieutenant colonel, he held the appointments of a General Staff Officer Grade 1 at Military Operations Directorate, General Headquarters as well as an Infantry Division. As a brigadier, he was appointed Deputy Military Secretary in the Military Secretary’s Branch at General Headquarters.
The General has the distinction of being the first Air Defence officer of Pakistan Army to have attained the rank of a four star General. He is also the honorary Colonel-in-Chief of Army Air Defence of Pakistan Army.
General Ehsan Ul Haq is an alumnus of the PAF Public School Sargodha, one of the finest educational institutions in Pakistan and is the President of its Old Boys Association. The General obtained his GCE ‘O’ level (Cambridge University) from Sargodha. He is a graduate of the Command and Staff College Quetta and attended the Armed Forces War Course at the National Defence College (now university), Islamabad. He holds a Masters degree in War Studies from the Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad. The General has attended several courses abroad. He is a graduate of the Army Logistic Management College Fort Lee, Virginia USA, where he attended the Logistics Executive Development Course 1989. He also attended Air Defence Command Course at the People Liberation Army Air Defence Command College Zheng Zhou City - China, in 1975. He also attended training courses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and was an exchange instructor at the Iranian Artillery and Missile Centre Isphahan, Iran in 1977.
In recognition of his meritorious services in the armed forces of Pakistan and contributions to international peace and understanding, General Ehsan Ul Haq has been awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) and Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) by the government of Pakistan. He is also a recipient of the King Abdul Aziz Medal from the Government of Saudi Arabia as well as the Chevalier de la Legion d’ Honneur from the French Government.
Lieutenant General Johan Kihl
Former Chief of Staff, Swedish Armed Forces, Sweden
General Johan Kihl has since 1996 until his retirement in May 2004, been responsible for the transformation of the Swedish Armed Forces. He made it possible for the Swedish Armed Forces to be among the first in the World and the first in Europe to establish Network Enable Capability into The Armed Forces. Gen Kihl was deputy chairman in the Steering Committee for the Noridic Heli-copter Programme 1998-2001.
Gen Kihl was Swedish representative in the six nations agreement ( France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Sweden) and responsible for the working group Harmonization of Military Re-quirement 1998-2000.
The Network Enable Capabilities (NEC) has today many names for example NCW; NBO. But it is about the same- to use the existing network to enprove capability.
Most people are awere of that today, but because Sweden was ahead of most others and Gen Kihl was the leader, there is still a great demand for him as speaker and adviser.
Mr Warren Prentice
Business Development Manager, Defence & Public Safety, APAC Microsoft, Singapore
Warren Prentice has worked in the Information Technology (IT) Industry for 14 Years and has been affiliated with the Military for 23 years. Warren served in the Royal Australian Engineers and is a Certified Military Engineer through the Royal Australian Army’s School of Military Engineers. In 1995 Warren became a member of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He completed his Certification as an Information Systems Specialist where he was attached to the ADF’s IT Architecture team. During his time in the RAAF Warren was involved with numerous successful IT transformation initiatives undertaken by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) on a large enterprise scale.
At the conclusion of his uniform career, Warren Prentice was re-employed by the ADF as a Civilian System’s Architect. He was responsible for systems design and implementation of the ADF’s Secret and Special Forces Standard Operating Environments of that time. At the same time, the ADF continued to embrace the concept of IT Transformation binding it to programs such as Network Centric Warfare, Allied Collaboration and, Interoperability. Key to the success of these programs was the ADF’s decision to centralise the design and architecture of its Information Technology Infrastructure and its approach to adopting a Standard Operating Environment. To this day the values and benefits of the early contributions of the ADF’s Architecture Team continue to set the benchmark for other Nations around the world.
Following Warren Prentice’s involvement with the Australian Military he was recruited by Microsoft in 2002. To date, Warren is a thought leader across the Microsoft Defence community and is recognised for his direct engagements with ADF and its Coalition Allies. Achievements within Warren’s role include the prototyping of architectures for collaboration and allied interoperability. As part of this program Warren led Microsoft’s successful involvement for 3 consecutive years in the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration. The purpose of which was to showcase the use of Microsoft Collaboration tools in Mission Critical Environments. This program was conducted across 5 nations (5 Eyes) and was sponsored by the United States Northern Command. Further, Warren was one of the few Foreign National Microsoft employees who deployed with United States Navy to technically support humanitarian and anti terrorism operations in the Pacific.
Recently Warren relocated from Australia to Microsoft’s Regional Head Quarters in Singapore as the Regional Business Development Manager within Microsoft’s Defence and Public Safety Team. Warren’s primary responsibly is to support business partners building solutions on Microsoft technology that deliver capabilities to - Defence and Public Safety customers in the Asia Pacific Region.
Mr Sudhir Mahara
Director, International Training Programs, BlueForce LLC, USA
Mr. Sudhir Mahara: Mr. Sudhir Mahara is a Senior Partner and Director of International Training Programs at Blue Law International LLP, an global defense, security and legal consultancy. Mr. Mahara has more than 17 years of professional experience spanning the globe in counter insurgency, U.N. peacekeeping operations, conflict analysis and response, rule of law, security sector reform, special operations, civil military operations, and security assessment and planning. His most recent assignments include supporting and participating in U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State and UN democracy and governance, rule-of-law, human rights, anticorruption, security sector reform, and police and military training projects and programs in South Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
Mr. Mahara formerly served as special assistant to the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) Chief of Counter-Insurgency Operations Planning Task Force, where he designed integrated security and development projects, conducted military and police training courses and advised national-level decision-makers on stability operations, human rights, civil military relations, and foreign aid in the context of the civil emergency in Nepal.
As operations officer at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) headquarters, Mr. Mahara served in the command and control nexus of the UN mission during the 1996 Israel and Lebanon conflict. Mr. Mahara was also specially assigned by the RNA Director of Military Training as a founding instructor and special coordinator for the establishment of RNA’s Regional Peacekeeping Training Center. In this capacity he designed the Peacekeeping Training Center’s first generation tactical, staff officer and pre-deployment training courses, and conducted several multi-national peacekeeping training exercises and conferences involving over 30 participant countries.
Mr. Mahara is a frequent lecturer on South Asian Security Affairs at the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Institute’s Advanced Foreign Area Studies Program, specifically on the topics of police and military cultures, and developing integrated and coordinated international military missions. Mr. Mahara is fluent in English, Nepali and Hindi, and speaks intermediate Urdu.
Rear Admiral Chris A Snow
Flag Officer Sea Training, Royal Navy, UK
Rear Admiral Chris Snow joined the Royal Navy as a Seaman (Warfare) Officer in 1976. After selection for university, he graduated in 1980 with a degree in Archaeology from Durham University. He assumed his current post as FOST in February 2009
Rear Admiral Snow has held six command appointments at sea, including HM Prize TIGER BAY, the mine countermeasures vessel HMS ATHERSTONE, the frigates HMS IRON DUKE and HMS COVENTRY and the commando helicopter carrier HMS OCEAN. His most recent Command appointment was as the 2* Maritime Component Commander of STRIKFORNATO Maritime Forces based in Naples and USS MOUNT WHITNEY. He is also an antisubmarine warfare specialist, and earned his submarine dolphins following a 2 year appointment to HMS TIRELESS. His joint operational experience includes leadership of the multi-national operations team for Kabul (ISAF I) at the Permanent Joint HQ Northwood, for which he was awarded a CBE. This joint experience was reinforced during combined and multinational operations in Norway and Sierra Leone as CO HMS OCEAN, including a period as Commander Amphibious Task Force.
Rear Admiral Snow’s policy appointments include a period as Military Assistant to the Vice Chief of Defence Staff, and as the Assistant Director Navy Staff responsible for industrial and academic partnerships and NATO, EU, and international relations activity. In the resources field he was responsible for co-ordinating the Fleet HQ budget during the transition to resource accounting and budgeting and the delivery of the Fleet operational programme. As Director Navy Resources and Plans (DNRP) in the Ministry of Defence he co-ordinated the navy resource programme and force structure. He has also led a number of change programmes, including the post-‘Fleet First’ HQ structure and the re-organisation of the MOD Resource and Programmes area.
Chris Snow has attended the London Business School MOD finance course, and is an alumnus of the Windsor Leadership Trust Strategic Leaders’ Consultation. He is married to Helen and they have 2 children who were educated in Tavistock. He has lived for the last 21 years in West Devon and enjoys sailing (he has a boat in Plymouth), and walking Dartmoor and the coastal footpaths of the South West.
Mr Giles Noakes
Chief Maritime Security Officer, BIMCO, Denmark
Giles is the Chief Maritime Security Officer and runs the Maritime Security Department of BIMCO. Tasked with serving and protecting the interests of BIMCO’s members in matters concerning maritime security and trade facilitation. The department focuses on providing security services/advice to ship owner/manager members and advocates on their behalf in international fora (the UN, IMO, WCO, and ISO TC). The department covers all aspects of illegal maritime and criminal activities from drug and immigrant smuggling through stowaways, fraud, piracy and terrorist risk.
He is currently heavily involved in directing the shipping industry input into dealing with piracy off the coast of Somalia, from both a practical and advocacy position. He was the drafter and coordinator of the Industry “Best Management Practice” in the spring of 2009 and this has now been endorsed by IMO. Equally he has just produced BIMCO guidelines for the use if privately contracted armed security on US Flagged vessels (which BIMCO strongly discourages but would rather is managed globally successfully to reduce the risk of escalation in this arena). He is also currently drafting Guidelines for Companies and Masters to cover from Point of Capture to Release having run workshops on the subject with owners who have been involved.
Giles also advocates on behalf of BIMCO in the current ongoing high level debates in the USA and the UN. He liaises directly with the USCG, MARAD, the State Department and the DOD on the subject and is currently discussing the use of the BIMCO AVRA with the USCG. He testified to Congress on Piracy in the early spring and sits on the UN Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and two of its subsidiary working groups.
He was previously employed by Hart Security to manage part of DP Worlds current ports corporate security direction – ISO 28000 compliance globally. Giles successfully implemented ISO 28000, in one of the most difficult port working environments in the world, Djibouti (PAID) whilst also running the security of the nations only Oil Terminal and refueling jetty and its’ Duty Free Zones. He has an intimate knowledge of the ISPS codes and has practical experience of developing other assessment and port security plans around the globe ( UK, Belgium, Mauritania, and the Caribbean).
With in depth experience of shipping, logistics, containerisation and port facilities, he has provided consultancy services in Maritime and Supply Chain Security to a broad spectrum of commercial, government and supranational clients over the last 10 years. He has MCT experience ranging over 20 years and was responsible for a major physical security review of Plymouth Dockyard. On leaving the Royal Marines he completed an MBA and became the CEO of Multistar Container Transport. Thereafter as the CEO of Jigsaw Container Logistics Security (JCLS), he specialised in container transport, shipping and port security consultancy. During this time he also ran a Joint Venture business with Global Marine Systems where he developed practical experience of ship security assessments and plans.
Mr Nick Gibbons
Deputy Director, National Security Secretariat, Cabinet Office, UK
Nick Gibbons is presently a Deputy Director in the National Security Secretariat having previously been the Head of Counter Terrorism and Crisis Management in the Cabinet Office. He is one of the Prime Minister’s advisors on national security issues. He is also responsible for the management of the United Kingdom’s national crisis centre.
Previous appointments include separate stints as Principal Private Secretary to the Lord Privy Seal, Private Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister, five years in the Central Statistical Office and a spell in the Economic and Domestic Secretariat as an advisor on food standards to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He has also been seconded to the Government of Brunei.
He was awarded the MBE in 1991 for services during the Gulf Conflict and an OBE in 2002.
Mr Michael Marx
Senior Civil-Military Coordination Advisor, United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN/OCHA), USA
Mr. Michael Marx is the Senior Civil-Military Coordination Advisor for the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN/OCHA) at the UN Headquarters in New York. Prior to this position, he was based in Geneva, Switzerland where he served as the Chief of the Civil-Military Coordination Section (CMCS) in UN/OCHA in Geneva. OCHA’s Civil-Military Coordination Section is mandated to facilitate and coordinate the access to and use of international Military and Civil Defence Assets (MCDA) in countries hit by humanitarian emergencies. For this purpose, it serves as the UN focal point for governments, international organizations and military and civil defence establishments for the employment of these assets in humanitarian situations.
Michael joined the UN after more than two decades working within the US Government, including serving as the Division Director for the Disaster Response and Mitigation Division in the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance at the US Agency for International Development (USAID/OFDA). While in OFDA he served in various disaster response assignments, including Disaster Response Team Leader; Africa Team Leader; DART Team Leader (Disaster Assistance and Response Team) in Iraq, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Mozambique; as well as the Response Manager for the US Government’s assistance to numerous crises, including the Asia Tsunami in 2004 and the Pakistan Earthquake in 2005.
Mr. Marx is also a former US Army Officer, whose tours included Asia, Europe, and Africa. While in the Army, he participated in several support operations to international disaster responses, including operations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mr Soh Kong Pheng
Chief Executive, Defence Science and Technology Agency, Singapore
Soh Kong Pheng is the Chief Executive of the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA). Prior to assuming this position in January 2008, Kong Pheng was the Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) in DSTA, leading the project management of SAF’s acquisition programmes. This is a role he held since April 2000, following the merger of the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Materiel Organisation, where he was Director, with the other technology agencies in the Ministry to form DSTA.
Kong Pheng’s extensive experience in defence acquisition can be traced back to his military career in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) spanning close to three decades where he held various command and staff appointments in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). These included the appointments of Commanding Officer, Air Logistics Squadron and Deputy Head Air Logistics (Materials). From 1993 to 1997, he was the Head of Air Logistics, during which time he was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1994.
He had joined the SAF in 1972 after completing the Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Course and apprenticeship in Sydney ( Australia) under the Colombo Plan Fellowship Award and obtained a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Aeronautical Engineering in 1985 thereafter from the University of Manchester (UK).
Kong Pheng was awarded the SAF Good Service Medal in 1977, the SAF Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (12 years) in 1982, the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) (Military) in 1992, the SAF Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (22 years) in 1993, the SAF Long Service Award (25 years) in 1997 and the Public Administration (Silver)(Military) Award in 1998.
Kong Pheng is a member of the Workplace Safety and Health Council under the Ministry of Manpower, having served as a member of the Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee earlier. He sits on the boards of the Temasek Defence Systems Institute, Temasek Laboratories at the National University of Singapore and the Enterprise Challenge Panel, a committee under the Singapore’s Public Service Division.
General Boonsrang Niumpradit
Former Supreme Commander, Royal Thai Armed Forces
General Boonsrang Niumpradit was born on 15 January 1948. He attended the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School, Class 6, and Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, Class 17 in 1965. He then went to Norwich University, USA and later received a BSc from US Military Academy, an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1972, and PhD in Structural Engineering at Asian Institute of Technology ( AIT) in 1978.
General Boonsrang began his career in 1973 as an instructor of Mechanical Engineering Division, Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy. In 1978 he served as Aide-de-camp to Deputy Commander in Chief, Royal Thai Army. In 1983 he became Commander of the 31 st Artillery Battalion, the King’s Guard, a Staff Officer to Commander in Chief, Royal Thai Army, in 1986, and a Staff Officer to Deputy Supreme Commander in 1989.
An academic in military and strategy, General Boonsrang was appointed Director of Strategic Research Institute, Supreme Command in 1991 where he initiated publicizing the country’s first defence white paper. He was appointed Deputy Director, Directorate of Joint Operations in 1993. While serving as Adviser at National Defence Studies Institute during 1993 – 1994, he was also appointed Staff Officer to Supreme Commander. From 1997 to 1999, he was Commandant of Joint Staff College, and from 1999 to 2000 served as Director of National Defence College.
General Boonsrang was entrusted by the United Nations to serve as Force Commander of United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) between 2000 to 2001. His peacekeeping operations in East Timor were widely accepted by Timoreses and participating foreign military forces, the account of which is recorded in his book “410 Days in East Timor: A Peace Keeper’s Diary”. General Boonsrang lifted the Royal Thai Armed Forces’ peacekeeping operations and standard to a new height which promoted long term national interests, enhanced multilateral cooperation, and illustrated the Royal Thai Armed Forces’ personnel’s ability in commanding multi-national peacekeeping force. His bravery and dedication earned him a Chakdao award in military operations branch given by Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School in 2001.
From 2001 to 2002, he was Director of Joint Operations, and later Director General, Office of Policy and Planning, Ministry of Defence from 2002 to 2003, and Chief of Joint Staff from 2003 to 2005. He was a Deputy Supreme Commander before his appointment to the highest office of the Royal Thai Armed Forces as Supreme Commander on October 2006, until his retirement in September 2008.
General Boonsrang is married to Colonel Doctor Nucha Niumpradit. General Boonsrang’s devotion to duties is a testament to his ability and sacrifice for the benefit of the country, the people, and the armed forces.