Gen. James Cartwright on the advantages and challenges of increased sensing capability

General James E. Cartwright serves as the eighth Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity, he is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the nation's second highest-ranking military officer. As Vice Chairman, he chairs the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, co-chairs the Defense Acquisition Board, and serves as a member of the National Security Council Deputies Committee, the Nuclear Weapons Council and the Missile Defense Executive Board. In addition, he co-chairs the Deputies Advisory Working Group, which provides advice to the Deputy Secretary of Defense on resourcing and other high-level departmental business issues.

Cartwright received the DSS Lifetime Achievement Award at SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing in Orlando, Florida, in April 2011. He spoke to the banquet audience on "Competitive Advantage for the Warfighter", including 21st Century National Security and DoD Requirement Trends.

Cartwright is a distinguished graduate of the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, received his Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, (Newport, RI) and completed a fellowship with Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

General Cartwright's command assignments include: Commander, United States Strategic Command (2004-2007); Commanding General, First Marine Aircraft Wing (2000-2002); Deputy Commanding General, Marine Forces Atlantic (1999-2000). His joint staff assignments include: Director for Force Structure, Resources and Assessment, J-8 the Joint Staff (2002-2004); Deputy Director for Force Structure, Requirements, J-8 the Joint Staff (1996-1999).