Messages Session Overview

When I returned from command of the aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, I was a recently selected flag officer, still wearing Captain’s rank. The opportunity to apply for Seminar XXI came up, and a very close friend of mine and I both jumped at the chance and submitted our applications. He was on his way to J-5 on the Joint Staff, a policy job, and I was on my way to J-3 on the Joint Staff in an operations billet.

Seminar XXI began its first year of operation in September 1986; and with the banquet held on September 10, 2015, at the National Press Club, the program began its thirtieth year of operation.

From the beginning, this endeavor has been a labor of love for the three founders. The two Washington-based founders, Jake W.