Speakers

Rear Admiral Cameron Chen is Deputy Director of Operations and Cyber, United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). A U.S. Naval Academy graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Physics, he earned a Master of Science degree in Applied Physics from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. His initial operational assignments include Damage Control Assistant and Operations Officer onboard USS GUARDIAN (MCM 5) homeported in Sasebo, Japan; Officer in Charge of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Mobile Unit 3 Marine Mammal Systems Detachment consisting of California Sea Lions and Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins; and Platoon Commander of EOD Mobile Unit 3 Detachment 11 deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in support of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. After selection and training at Naval Special Warfare Development Group in Dam Neck, Virginia, he was assigned to Naval Special Warfare Tactical Development and Evaluation Squadron 2 as the EOD Troop Commander. As Executive Officer of EOD Mobile Unit 11, he led a homeport shift from Whidbey Island, Washington to Imperial Beach, California. His command assignments include Commodore of Task Force 68, headquartered in Rota, Spain, where he employed Navy Expeditionary Combat Forces in support of U.S. 6th Fleet and NATO in Europe and Africa, EOD Squadron Commander, Naval Special Warfare Development Group, and Commanding Officer of the EOD Tactical Development and Evaluation Squadron. Ashore, he commanded the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Florida which provides initial and advanced dive training for all Services. Rear Admiral Chen has completed three shipboard deployments in the Pacific and Central theaters and three combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of Joint Special Operations Task Forces. Navy staff assignments include Requirements and Resourcing Branch Head for Navy Expeditionary Combat (OPNAV N957), Irregular Warfare analyst (OPNAV N00X) and Mine Counter-Measures Section Head on the Chief of Naval Operations Staff (OPNAV N81). Additionally, he served in the Joint Staff Global Operations Directorate (JS J39) and as Flag Lieutenant for Carrier Strike Group 8. Rear Admiral Chen is a designated EOD Warfare Officer, Deep Sea Diving Officer, Surface Warfare Officer, and Naval Parachutist and is proud to have served in EOD, US Marine Corps, and Naval Special Warfare units awarded multiple Presidential Unit and Meritorious Unit Commendations. He was awarded the SECNAV, CNO, and Navy League Safety Excellence unit awards while in command of a high-risk training site. A first generation American, Rear Admiral Chen’s father emigrated in 1964. Rear Admiral Chen is conversant in Mandarin, a Life member on the Council on Foreign Relations, and is married to the former Jessica Anderson Fox of La Jolla, California, with whom he has a daughter, Katherine, and three sons, James, Evan, and Jeremy. He enjoys skiing, water polo, and mountain biking with his family.