NSF’s Fall Series: Securing Our Future
NSF Hybrid Event
In-Person at
J Resort
345 N Arlington Ave, Reno, NV 89501
(Park at the East entrance, enter the casino, and take the stairs or elevator to the Mezzanine level)
Breakfast served 7:45-8:30 am, Forum 8:30-9:30 am
$30 members/$35 guests
Virtual on Zoom
Forum 8:30-9:30am PST
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MRCEwFGiSECUUWj-UYds9A#/registration
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
SPEAKER:
Michael Jiru Jr.
USAF Colonel (Ret.), Director, Aerospace and Defense Academy, University of Nevada, Reno
Welcome Back to the National Security Forum
Welcome back! After pausing our regular programs in August and September, we are delighted to gather again for a vibrant and forward-looking fall season. During our summer hiatus, NSF staff have been busy updating the NSF website and communications platforms, developing new program offerings for future forum events, and strengthening our partnerships with the Washoe County School District and other school districts. And in close collaboration with our corporate partner Mission Support and Test Services (MSTS) at the Nevada National Security Site, to expand our Youth Security Forum event and encourage the next generation of national security-informed citizens and leaders.
We are excited to welcome everyone back for a series of programs focused on the people, knowledge, and partnerships needed to secure our future with a new generation of leaders and informed citizens.
Introducing Our New Series: Securing Our Future
Our October forum launches Securing Our Future, a new NSF series examining what Nevada and the nation must do to support the next generation of national security leaders, warriors, and informed citizens. The series will connect emerging security challenges with the education, technical skills, civic understanding, and career pathways that tomorrow’s workforce will need.
Please join us at our breakfast forum Tuesday, October 6, for a conversation with Michael Jiru Jr., a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and Director of the Aerospace and Defense Academy at the University of Nevada, Reno. His experience spans defense acquisition, aerospace engineering, unmanned aircraft systems, technology, and workforce development—an ideal perspective for opening this new series.
The program will introduce NSF members and guests to UNR’s Aerospace and Defense Academy and explore how Nevada can prepare young people for meaningful national security careers. We will consider how drones and other emerging technologies are changing warfare, what skills future professionals will need, and how universities, government agencies, businesses, schools, and community organizations can work together.
This will be a moderated conversation rather than a conventional lecture, with ample time for questions from both the in-person and Zoom audiences. Michael will describe the Academy, share insights from his Air Force and defense-acquisition experience, and discuss practical ways to build a national security-savvy workforce in Nevada that can serve the nation in the decades ahead.
Program Overview
Drawing on nearly three decades of Air Force leadership and his current work at UNR, Michael Jiru will discuss the people and capabilities needed for a rapidly changing security environment. The conversation will address the incredible rapid change in technology in warfare driven by AI and drone warfare and what innovations are needed in education, workforce readiness, and public-private collaboration to meet these growing challenges and rapidly evolving threat environment.
We will also look at the Aerospace and Defense Academy’s role in developing skilled talent and supporting small-business growth in Nevada’s aerospace and defense sector. The goal is a practical discussion of how our state can turn its institutions, partnerships, and national security assets into durable career pathways.
What must Nevada do now to prepare the leaders, warriors, technologists, and informed citizens who will secure our future?
Topics We Will Explore
- Drones and the Changing Character of Warfare: How unmanned systems and emerging technologies are reshaping operations and defense needs.
- Skills for Tomorrow’s Professionals: The technical, analytical, leadership, and systems-thinking abilities the next generation will need.
- A National Security-Savvy Workforce: How Nevada can build talent that understands both advanced technology and the national security mission.
- Career Pathways for Young Nevadans: How education and training can connect students with aerospace, defense, and public-service careers.
- Partnerships That Deliver: What universities, schools, government, businesses, and community organizations can accomplish together.
Why Attend?
- Launch a New NSF Series: Join the first Securing Our Future conversation.
- Discover UNR’s Academy: Learn how the Aerospace and Defense Academy is strengthening Nevada’s workforce and industry.
- Hear a Defense Leader’s Perspective: Gain insight from a retired Air Force colonel who led complex aerospace and acquisition programs.
- Help Shape Nevada’s Future: Explore practical steps for preparing young people for national security careers.
- Connect with the Community: Meet military leaders, educators, students, government professionals, and business partners committed to Nevada’s future.
About the Speaker
Michael Jiru Jr. is Director of the Aerospace and Defense Academy and Principal Lecturer in Economics at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Academy works with educational and government organizations, private foundations, professional associations, and industry to develop Nevada’s aerospace and defense workforce and foster small-business growth. Before joining UNR, Jiru completed a 29-year U.S. Air Force career, retiring as a colonel. In his final assignment, he led the Medium Altitude Unmanned Air Systems Program Office, a 510-plus-person organization operating across 12 locations, and served as program manager for a $21.9 billion major defense acquisition program supporting the Air Force and seven international partners. His career included executive leadership and technical assignments involving manned and unmanned aircraft, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, command and control, software, space systems, foreign military sales, and NATO security cooperation. He holds degrees in aerospace engineering, project and systems management, and systems engineering.
New to the NSF or have questions? Whether you are new to the community, have questions, or need help registering for our events, please contact the NSF at info@nationalsecurityforum.org or leila@nationalsecurityforum.org for assistance. We look forward to welcoming you to our upcoming series, Securing Our Future.
The National Security Forum is a non-partisan, educational, nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering civil discourse and informed discussion about timely and important national security topics. We bring expert speakers from around the U.S. to talk about national and international security, domestic and foreign terrorism, economic and financial threats, the safety of our food and water supply, energy policy, electrical grid stability, and a variety of other topics that affect all Americans. The National Security Forum partners with the Washoe County School District to host an annual Youth Security Forum to encourage future generations of national security leaders.
To support NSF continuing to bring national security programs to our community and our local students, please join NSF as a member or Friend of the Forum at: https://nationalsecurityforum.org/membership/about-our-membership/