Interactive Session with US Officials

Venue: Boardroom # 104, First Floor
Speakers: Col David O Smith & Mr. Jason Portner

Short Bio:

David O. Smith is formerly the Senior Defense Intelligence Officer for Pakistan in the Defense Intelligence Agency. Previously he was the Senior Country Director for Pakistan in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy). A career Army officer, he retired in 2003 after 34 years of military and government service. His last military assignment was a three-year tour of duty as Army Attaché in the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, his second assignment in that capacity. As an Army Foreign Area Officer, he spent 22 years dealing with politico-military issues in the Near East and South Asia. Other military assignments included duty in the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Army (International Affairs) as Director of Army Foreign Liaison; Senior Military Fellow in the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University; Division Chief for Latin America and Africa, Defense Security Assistance Agency; and command of a field artillery battalion. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Armed Force Staff College, and the Pakistan Army Command and Staff College.

Jason Portner is a Policy Analyst in the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Nonproliferation and Arms Control. He develops and oversees programs relating to nuclear confidence building measures and the promotion of regional nuclear stability. Mr. Portner has worked at the Department of Energy’s Beijing Office and in the nonprofit sector on nuclear safety issues in China. He is a graduate of Northeastern University and earned his Master of Arts degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.