Enhancing National Security Through Conservation Partnerships

Aired on 5/5/2016

This webinar focused on implementing conservation partnering programs between the military services and public and private conservation stakeholders, to enhance military readiness through habitat protection. Learn from military officials and environmental facilitation experts from Marstel-Day how shared resources can improve quality of life, reduce costs and improve sustainability.

Conservation Partnerships (Communities and Military Bases) from Security & Sustainability Forum on Vimeo.


Meet the Panel

Moderator: Rebecca R. Rubin is the founder, president, and CEO of Marstel-Day, LLC, an international environmental consultancy that she established in 2002 to provide expertise to public and private sector organizations in the areas of climate change, habitat, open space, water, energy, land use and natural resource conservation issues.  Prior to founding Marstel-Day, Ms. Rubin was the director of the Army’s Environmental Policy Institute, after leading a variety of environmental studies and analyses at the not-for-profit Institute for Defense Analyses.


Lt General John F. Regni, USAF (Retired)  served as Base Commander, Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea from 1990-91, commanded the Second Air Force from 2000-04, commanded the Air University from 2004-05, and culminated his distinguished career as Commander and Superintendent of his alma mater from 2005 through  2009. One of his numerous contributions at the Academy was championing and publishing the AcademyEnergy Strategic Plan-that has the Air Force Academy on an achievable path to produce 100% of its electricity by 2015, and to be “carbon free” by 2025. Notably, this plan leverages the abundant natural resources at the expansive Academy and builds solar fields, hydroelectric turbines, a waste-to-energy plant, geothermal heat pumps, a dry fermentation biomass facility, woody biomass and low profile wind devices to reach its goals.


Major General E. Gray Payne, USMC (Retired)  has over 40 years of military tactical, operational, and strategic expertise alongside significant experience in the private sector. In his last assignment, he served as Assistant Deputy Commandant for Installations and Logistics (Facilities), Headquarters, United States Marine Corps. His command tours as a general officer include Commanding General of Marine CorpsMobilization Command, Marine Corps Logistics Command, and 4th Marine Logistics Group. He also served as Director of CENTCOM Deployment and Distribution Operations in OIF. General Payne is the past Chairman of the Marine Corps Reserve Policy Board and currently serves on the Marine Corps Association’s Board of Governors and the Marine Corps Association Foundation Board of Directors. In 2014-2015, he was appointed to and served on the Commonwealth of Virginia Commission on Military Installations and Defense Activities.


Jennifer Graham manages the Headquarters Air Force Encroachment Management and Community Partnership portfolio for Marstel-Day, which includes: communications and engagement/stakeholder facilitation, encroachment control planning, real estate and conservation transactions, and environmental and land use studies and analyses. She retired from the U. S. Air Force with the rank of Colonel and 23 years of experience in installation command, human capital management, strategic planning, studies and analysis and policy formulation. She has effectively led organizations at base, major command and inter-agency levels, each with award winning results. Her Air Force career includes assignments at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Office of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office.


Paul Friday serves as the Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff G7 and as the Director of its Government and External Relations (GER) Division. His duties include shaping the strategy and implementing programs to enhance compatible resource use among competing interests in support of the military’s training mission. In April, 2006, Mr. Friday became the Marine Corps Installations East’s (MCIEAST) first Community Plans and Liaison Coordinator. His coverage area extends from Quantico, VA to Blount Island, Florida. His duties include: utilizing current and planned GIS mapping and evaluation tools to assess scarce resource use suitability options; working across our military Services to generate combined mission footprints for sharing with states to develop mutually beneficial resource use strategies and implementation plans; building lasting governmental and other external relationships; creating stronger ties among states with their military neighbors