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Congressman to Introduce Webinar
on Protecting GPS
The Honorable John Garamendi (D-CA) will provide opening remarks
for a 17 November webinar co-sponsored by the Domestic
Preparedness Journal and the Resilient Navigation and Timing
Foundation. Garamendi is the chair of the House Armed Services
Readiness Subcommittee and has long been concerned about the
vulnerability of America’s Global Positioning System (GPS).
The
webinar will focus on ways to deter attacks on and interference
with GPS satellites and signals.
“America’s over-reliance on GPS makes it a high priority target
for a wide range of bad actors,” said Dana A. Goward, President
of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation, and one of the
webinar moderators. “And, since other nations, such as China,
Russia, and Iran, have terrestrial systems they can use when
space is not available, the U.S. is at a strategic disadvantage.”
This “technology resilience gap” is one of several dangers that
could lead to armed conflict that webinar panelist George Beebe
discusses in his book “The Russia Trap.” His concern is that,
having such a pronounced relative weakness can invite meddling
and exploitation by adversaries. Even if done on a small scale,
this could lead to a series of escalating responses ending in an
unintended, much more serious conflict that neither party wants.
Beebe is Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for
the National Interest. He spent more than two decades in
government service as an intelligence analyst, diplomat, and policy
advisor, including service as director of CIA’s Russia analysis,
and as Special Advisor to Vice President Chaney for
Russia/Eurasia and Intelligence Programs.
Eliminating the gap between the U.S. and its adversaries is key
to protecting GPS and the nation, according to webinar panelist
Greg Winfree, Director of the Texas Transportation Institute.
Winfree previously served as an Assistant Secretary for the U.S.
Department of Transportation. While acknowledging there is no
single answer, he has asserted that providing at least one
alternative system will go a long way toward “getting the
bullseye off GPS.”
The third webinar panelist, Scott Pace, has supported Winfree’s
approach. Pace is the Director of George Washington University’s
Space Policy Institute and former Executive Director of the
National Space Council. He has commented that having an
alternative to GPS will contribute to national security and
improve global stability. It will “lower the pressure on us to
escalate and respond” should GPS satellites be damaged, or
services disrupted.
The webinar will be held on Wednesday the 17th of
November from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM EST. More information is
available at DomesticPreparedness.com.
Attendance is free but attendees must register in advance HERE.
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