On April 5, the Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Vayl Oxford gave a key talk at Missouri State University’s defense and strategic studies (DSS) graduate program (at its Washington, D.C. metropolitan location) as part of the graduate school’s Van Cleave Distinguished Guest Lecture Series.
This important lecture by Oxford provided Missouri State’s Defense and Strategic Studies students with a rare opportunity to hear directly from one of the leaders of the U. S. defense community. It was both an honor and privilege to learn from such an experienced professional and a lecture that the students of the Department of Defense and Strategic Studies will not soon forget. Oxford provided candid answers to the students’ most pressing questions, and was not shy about sharing his professional insight to help them move forward with their careers in the field of international security, including in the Department of Defense.
About Oxford
Oxford is a key figure in U.S. defense and strategic policy. He began his defense career as a cadet in the U.S. Air Force Academy, served as an Air Force officer and later served as a policy adviser to the Under Secretary for Science and Technology. He advanced to become the acting director of the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency. He subsequently served as the first Director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. Director Oxford specializes in counterforce capabilities, counter-weapons of mass destruction (CWMD) strategies and national defense strategies.
About the lecture
Oxford began the lecture by stating to the university’s current graduate cohort in defense and strategic studies that they would be the next generation of defense professionals working throughout the many Department of Defense agencies and elsewhere in the U.S. government. With a smile on his face, but with an “I’m serious” tone, Oxford pressed the point that DTRA is working diligently to establish next-generation pipelines for recruiting from graduate college programs, like the DSS, to fill the places of retiring members of the defense community.
Oxford circled back to explain how DTRA came to be and its current missions and goals within the defense community. DTRA’s continuing goal, he said, is to fully align its activities with the national defense strategy of the United States. He noted that the international security environment has returned to a condition of great power struggles.
At the heart of DTRA’s goals, he commented, is the nexus created by the global weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threat. Therefore, the agency’s number one priority is to provide support to U.S. military commanders. This importantly encompasses both preparing for and combatting WMD, and includes both improvised threats and nuclear deterrence around the globe. Director Oxford laid out DTRA’s priorities as:
- offering combat support
- facilitating innovation
- leveraging and expanding collaboration and
- empowering DTRA leadership and staff.
Q&A with Oxford
After the discussion of DTRA’s mission and the goals it has for the future, the director took many questions from the assembled grad students. One student asked the director what he believed to be the biggest threats to the United States at present. Russia is a threat, the director said, because of its nuclear presence and capabilities – but in the tactical sense (i.e. short- and medium-range nuclear weapons) not classical Inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). He said that DTRA and the intelligence community are keeping a close eye on the latest developments with the Russian Federation.
Another threat, the director commented, is China. He explained that the Chinese are carrying out the largest military buildup witnessed in decades and that China would be a long-term threat to the United States, but at present is not the number one security issue globally.
Oxford listed another threat to the United States security as Iran. He indicated that DTRA would be watching Iran closely as we go forward in our agreement with the Iranians under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA.)
Aside from these key threats, the director sees the U.S. priority as being the security of the Pacific, including many of the “moving parts” in the region. On cyber threats, Director Oxford observed that these kinds of threats from actors around the globe are here to stay, and that the United States must continually protect against cyber vulnerabilities.
Confidence in MSU’s program
So how is it that Director Oxford thinks so highly of the DSS program that he warmly welcomed its graduate students to consider careers at DTRA? That’s easy. It’s the expertise, experience and caliber of DSS faculty members and their network of connections within U.S. defense and diplomatic offices, intelligence agencies and non-government organizations, as well as the program’s focus on both theory and practice.
Learn more about MSU’s DSS graduate program.