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Program of Events  

 

 

 

Speaker Biographies

 

 

 

Speaker Biographies

 

 


 

Media Inquiries: 

Contact our press desk if you are a journalist with a media inquiry or interview request. 

E-mail INDOPACOM_j0pao@us.navy.mil 
Main Office Phone Number:  +1 (808) 477-1341
Duty Officer Phone Number:  +1 (808) 221-5559

 

 

 

“Sometimes we need to look beyond the money; we have to look at what is good for the safety and security of our people long term”

- His Excellency President Surangel S. Whipps, Jr.- Keynote speaker MILOPS 2025

 

 

“We live in a decisive decade, where the law is used as a strategic terrain. ‘Legal Warfare’ - the misuse and abuse of the law for national objectives - is pervasive in our region. It demands our attention and combined efforts to expose it and to take timely, transparent and coordinated action to hold those actors accountable.”

- Staff Judge Advocate U.S Indo-Pacific Command, Captain Dustin E. Wallace, United States Navy

U.S Indo-Pacific Command’s annual international Military Law and Operations strategic engagement (MILOPS) brings together over 200 national security personnel from over 30 nations in the Indo-Pacific for transparent discussion and concrete actions on complex challenges in law, operations and policy.


> MILOPS empowers nations to address common challenges to determine how we can better work together to deter and respond to coercion, aggression and legal warfare

> MILOPS is a force multiplier providing a unique opportunity for nations with shared values of sovereignty, a free and open Indo-Pacific, respect for the rule of law and peaceful resolution of dispates to come together for regional security solutions.

 

Karena Lyons, Pacific Community director of partnership, integration and resource mobilization, delivers remarks at the 36th annual international Military Law and Operations strategic engagement to leaders from more than 30 nations in Honolulu, Hawaii, Sept. 10, 2025
HONOLULU, Hawaii Mar 04 2026
Indo-Pacific regional leaders from over 30 nations attend the 36th annual international Military Law and Operations strategic engagement in Honolulu, Hawaii, Sept. 8, 202
HONOLULU, Hawaii Mar 04 2026

 

 

“The Rule of Law is critical to advance freedom, security and prosperity. China is regularly employing lawfare as a pretext for coercion, using its dedicated three-warfares strategy to isolate, intimidate, and delegitimize countries and their territorial integrity. China declares laws unilaterally and then applies them retroactively; China pressures nations to concede sovereign rights they lawfully possess and use false claims of legitimacy to justify coercion. That is not ‘Rule of Law’, that is ‘Rule by Law’.

– Commander U.S Indo-Pacific Command- Admiral Samuel Paparo, United States Navy

 


“Peace is not passive; peace must be protected which requires acting together, and is why we must in-vest in strengthening our relationships and advancing our legal interoperability. We must forge bonds across militaries and ministries. Deterrence is a shared responsibility and is exponential when exercised together.”

– Commander U.S Indo-Pacific Command- Admiral Samuel Paparo, United States Navy

 

 

 

 

 

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