Monthly Strategy Conversations: Congressional Reality in Today’s Defense Environment

Our April Strategic Conversation will be on Tuesday, April 16th at 5pm ET, and virtual only. Our speakers, Michael Henson and Vago Muradian will share their insights on the intricate process that funds our national security community.

Speakers

Michael Herson is President and Chief Executive Officer of American Defense International, Inc. Michael Herson is President and Chief Executive Officer of American Defense International, Inc. He was raised in New Jersey and has a Bachelor’s Degree in American Government from Georgetown University, a Juris Doctor from Rutgers University School of Law, and a Master’s Degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University.

While a student at Georgetown, Michael was selected to be a White House intern where he served in the Executive Office of President Ronald Reagan and in the speech writing office of Vice President George Bush. After returning to Washington in 1990, Herson was appointed as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management and Personnel, the Pentagon’s senior manpower official responsible for all personnel policy and oversight of the recruiting, training, compensation, support, and management of the Department’s military and civilian personnel. In 1993, he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.

After leaving the Department of Defense, Michael joined the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution as a Visiting Fellow for National Security Affairs. From April 1993 to June 1993, he was part of the team that successfully defended the Great Lakes Naval Training Center before the Base Closure Commission. From August 1993 through September 1994, Michael was the Assistant Vice President of HealthCare Imaging Services, Inc. in Middletown, New Jersey, a health care company which specializes in magnetic resonance imaging. On June 7, 1994, Michael won the Republican primary election becoming his party’s nominee for the U.S. Congress in New Jersey’s Sixth District and received national recognition as one of the youngest candidates in the country.

He has been quoted as a political and defense expert in many national and Washington publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Businessweek, Investor’s Business Daily, The Huffington Post, Politico, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Stars and Stripes, The Hill, and Roll Call and has been interviewed on National Public Radio, and XM Talk Radio 168, and is a regular guest on the Defense & Aerospace Report Washington roundtable podcast. Defense News has recognized him as one of the top 100 influential people in US Defense, and the Hill newspaper consistently names him as one of the top lobbyists in Washington and one of the top “Hired Guns” in the nation’s capital.

Michael serves on the board of many national security and defense-related organizations, as well as charitable organizations.

He is a member of the American Security Project’s Consensus for American Security, a group of influential military and national security leaders who have come together to highlight growing support for a new, sustainable and comprehensive national security policy. He serves on the Board of Trustees at the Lexington Institute, a non-profit public-policy think tank that focuses on national security, education reform, and U.S. relations with Cuba. Through the National Center for Children and Families, Michael and his wife, Vicki, serve as the ambassadors to the Montgomery County School District, providing food, shoes, school supplies, and other basic needs for impoverished children. Michael is also an honorary Member of the Board of Surprise Lake Camp, which provides high quality Jewish camping experiences for underprivileged children and young adults from the greater New York City area, and he previously served on the board of the Bronx Freedom Fund, which helped indigent defendants meet their bail obligations. Michael has also passed the Court of Master Sommeliers Level One examination and has his own wine label.

Vago Muradian is the editor-in-chief and host of the Defense & Aerospace Report, and hosts the Defense & Aerospace Business Report podcast and the Air Force Association’s Airman for Life podcast. Vago has been an international security reporter, editor, commentator and broadcaster for nearly 25 years. For 14 years, he was the editor of Defense News, the world’s leading defense news weekly, expanding its network of correspondents to 21 countries. He was also the founding host of Defense News with Vago Muradian, the world’s only TV talk show dedicated to defense issues that for eight years in the Washington area and worldwide on American Forces Network.

Before joining Defense News, he was the founder and managing editor of Defense Daily International and the business and international reporter for Defense Daily, the leading U.S. daily newsletter covering the defense and aerospace industry. While at Defense Daily, Vago won numerous awards including for best breaking news coverage in 1998 for his series on the U.S. government’s rejection of the proposed merger between Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

He joined Defense Daily from Air Force Times, the independent U.S. publication covering the U.S. Air Force where he covered global operations, including in Europe, Haiti, Somalia and Zaire. Before covering the Air Force, Vago served as Defense News’ the land warfare reporter. He started his career at Inside the Army.

Vago has made numerous television appearances on C-SPAN, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, conducted radio interviews with local stations as well as international outlets like the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Swiss TV and others. His work has been cited in books and he has been quoted in publications including the Economist.

At security conferences worldwide, Vago is a frequent speaker, panelist or moderator and lectures on the military and the media, including at the Defense Acquisition University. He is a member of the National Press Club and the Naval Submarine League. A native of New York City, Vago lives in Washington, D.C., with his family.

Virtual Access: This event is virtual only, and no RSVP is required.