In this presentation of the Forum, retired Army Lieutenant General Robert L. Caslen, Jr., will lead a discussion on the leadership challenges and lessons learned from his various assignments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Central America, and how these lessons are applicable to corporate executives. Caslen served as the senior commander during the Iraq drawdown and remained in Iraq nearly two years, working with the Iraq’s senior political and military leadership, as well as the Obama administration’s senior leadership at the DoD, State Department, CIA, and National Security Council. He will cover topics such as adaptive and agile leadership, leading in crisis, understanding cultures, building teams, and developing leaders. He will share personal challenges and examples such as building teams and developing trust through shared hardships during the infamous “Surge” in northern Iraq. Caslen was in the Pentagon on 9/11 and was subsequently assigned the responsibility of writing the national defense strategy for the War on Terror. Since then, he has written strategies for West Point and other higher education institutions. Caslen is currently pursuing a doctorate in business and writing about leadership development for corporate executives for his dissertation.
Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Robert L. Caslen, Jr.
Lieutenant General Robert L. Caslen, Jr., was commissioned as an infantry officer in the United States Military Academy class of 1975. He served in the U.S. Army for 43 years retiring in 2018 as the 59th Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Before becoming the West Point Superintendent, Lt. Gen. Caslen served as the chief of the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq, and was the commander of the Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth and commandant of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Caslen also commanded the 25th Infantry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom and was chief of staff of both the 101st Airborne and the 10th Mountain Divisions, where he also served as chief of staff of Task Force Mountain during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. He also served in combat and overseas deployments in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Honduras, and Operation Uphold Democracy and the United Nations Mission in Haiti. After his military retirement he served as the 29th president of the University of South Carolina.
Caslen holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Long Island University and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Kansas State University. In addition to his many military awards and accomplishments, Caslen is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Military Academy, a member of the Kansas State Engineering College Hall of Fame and co-authored the book, The Character Edge Leading and Winning with Integrity. He was born in Connecticut, and grew up in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. He has been married to the former Michele Pastin, from Highland Falls, New York, for 45 years and has three adult sons and five grandchildren.
Questions about registration? – Contact Laurie Morgado, lmorgado@cgscf.org or call 913-651-0624.
For questions about the DMNSF contact Col. (Ret.) Robert Ulin, Simons Center Director, at rulin@cgscf.org or call 913-240-1495.
Please register below.
The Des Moines National Security Forum is an exclusive professional information sharing and networking event exclusively for members of the forum and select invitees of the CGSC Foundation’s Simons Center and Brownells, the co-hosts of the Forum. 
