General James Mattis, Commander of US CENTCOM, in Conversation with Mike Shuster, NPR

Please join us for a conversation with GENERAL JAMES MATTIS, Commander of U.S. Central Command and successor to General David Petraeus as top commander of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Mike Shuster, award-winning foreign correspondent, National Public Radio.

Friday, November 18, 2011
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Korn Convocation Hall, UCLA Anderson School of Management
Los Angeles, CA 90095

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

GENERAL JAMES N. MATTIS serves as commander, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), located in Tampa, FL. Gen. Mattis has commanded at multiple levels. As a lieutenant, he served as a rifle and weapons platoon commander in the 3rd Marine Division. As a captain, he commanded a rifle company and a weapons company in the 1st Marine Brigade. As a major, he commanded Recruiting Station Portland. As a lieutenant colonel, he commanded 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, one of Task Force Ripper's assault battalions in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. As a colonel, he commanded 7th Marines (Reinforced). Upon becoming a brigadier general, he commanded first the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade and then Task Force 58, during Operation Enduring Freedom in southern Afghanistan. As a major general, he commanded the 1st Marine Division during the initial attack and subsequent stability operations in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In his first tour as a lieutenant general, he commanded the Marine Corps Combat Development Command and served as the deputy commandant for combat development. He also commanded the I Marine Expeditionary Force and served as the commander of U.S. Marine Forces Central Command. Previous to this assignment, he served as both NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation from 2007-2009 and as commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command from 2007-2010. Gen. Mattis, a native of the Pacific Northwest, graduated from Central Washington State University in 1972. He is also a graduate of the Amphibious Warfare School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the National War College.

MIKE SHUSTER is an award-winning diplomatic correspondent and roving foreign correspondent for National Public Radio News. When not traveling outside the U.S., Shuster covers issues of nuclear non-proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and the Pacific Rim. In recent years, Shuster has helped shape NPR’s extensive coverage of the Middle East as one of the leading reporters to cover this region, traveling in the spring of 2007 to Iraq to cover the increased deployment of American forces in Baghdad. He has traveled frequently to Iran, seven times since 2004, to report on Iran's nuclear program and political changes there. He has also reported frequently from Israel, covering the 2006 war with Hezbollah, the pullout from Gaza in 2005 and the second intifada that erupted in 2000. His 2007 week-long series "The Partisans of Ali" explored the history of Shi'ite faith and politics, providing a rare, comprehensive look at the complexities of the Islamic religion and its impact on the Western world. Shuster has won numerous awards for his reporting. He was part of the NPR News team to be recognized with a Peabody Award for coverage of September 11th and its aftermath. He was also part of the NPR News teams to receive Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards for coverage of the Iraq War (2007 and 2004); September 11th and the war in Afghanistan (2003); and the Gulf War (1992).

ADMISSION

Registration for this event is required for admission, and will be available ONLINE ONLY; we CANNOT hold seats and we will not be able to make special accommodations. There will be seats for guests with disabilities.

GUIDELINES FOR ALL GUESTS

Arrive early, doors open at 10:30 am
Parking is available in Lot 4 for $11, and Lot 5 (disabled only) for $3.
No bulky video equipment or flash photography permitted
No food or beverages permitted inside the Convocation Hall
All vacant seats will be filled at 10:50 am
Details for this event are subject to change.
Please check our website for last minute details prior to the event: http://www.international.ucla.edu/burkle/