ARLINGTON, VA., Aug. 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NDIA's Expeditionary Warfare Division is pleased to announce that it will present its first award to General James L. Jones, USMC (Ret), who has made distinctive lifetime contributions with significant impact in Expeditionary Warfare.
The Expeditionary Warfare Division will present the Smith-Turner Expeditionary Operations Award at its awards dinner on October 12, 2016 during the 21st Annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference, held from October 11-13, 2016 at the Renaissance Portsmouth-Norfolk Waterfront Hotel in Portsmouth, VA.
"General Jones has been selected for the inaugural Smith-Turner Expeditionary Operations Award in recognition of his crucial leadership, groundbreaking expeditionary and amphibious warfare initiatives and many accomplishments across a distinguished career of service as a Marine and expeditionary warrior," said General Timothy Hanifen, USMC (Ret), Chair, Expeditionary Warfare Division, NDIA. "His leadership and actions have resulted in substantial improvement to the nation's security and within naval expeditionary warfare capabilities."
Jones graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and was commissioned into the Marine Corps in January 1967. He served in Vietnam, serving as rifle platoon and company commander. On returning to the U.S., he pursued a career in the Marines, attending the Amphibious Warfare School in 1973 and the National War College in 1985, and serving as Marine Corps liaison officer to the U.S. Senate. He was also commanding officer of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Northern Iraq and Turkey on Operation Provide Comfort; chief of staff, Joint Task Force Provide Promise, for operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia; and commanding general, 2nd Marine Division, Marine Forces Atlantic. He also served as Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense from 1997-99. He became the 32nd commandant of the United States Marine Corps in July 1999.
During his NATO assignment from 2003-2006, he advocated energy security and the defense of critical infrastructures as a core part of NATO's future missions. Upon retirement in February 2007, the combat veteran became the president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy and, in 2008, served as the State Department's Special Envoy for Middle East Regional Security. With the Chamber, Jones worked to unite energy consumers and producers for a common goal - to increase the variety of the U.S. energy supply and associated infrastructures, to advance international cooperation on energy issues, to protect national energy security, and to promote better understanding of changes to the global climate and its effects on the environment. From 2009 until 2010, he served as President Obama's National Security Advisor at the White House.
About the Smith-Turner Expeditionary Operations Award
The Smith-Turner Expeditionary Operations Award, named after two of the foremost practitioners of Expeditionary Warfare during WWII: General Holland M. Smith, USMC, and Admiral Richmond K. Turner, USN, will recognize individuals who have provided momentous leadership, contributed significant guidance and decisions, and undertaken substantial actions resulting in improved national expeditionary warfare capability. The achievements for which this award to be considered will align with the mission of the Expeditionary Warfare Division to serve as the focal point and coordinating element within NDIA for the identification, study and resolution of expeditionary warfare and force protection issues in the littoral regions of the world impacting on the strength of the national defense industrial base and the armed services. Though not comprehensive, the scope and scale of an individual's lifetime achievement can be considered through the EWD activities in the following committees: industry; amphibious warfare; littoral and mine warfare; expeditionary unmanned vehicles; C4I in the littorals; sea basing and sustainment; and force protection/anti-terrorism.
For further information on the 21st Annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference, visit www.ndia.org/meetings/7700.
About NDIA
The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides trusted leadership through the convening and collaboration of global leaders to solve the most complex challenges in Defense and National Security. NDIA's membership embodies the full spectrum of corporate, government, academic and individual stakeholders who advocate for a strong, vigilant and innovative Security and Defense for the United States of America, its allies and partners.