The 17th annual Indo-Pacific Intelligence Chiefs Conference (IPICC) ran Sept. 1 to Sept. 4, bringing together directors of military intelligence and intelligence leaders from 23 countries to discuss regional issues and shared security challenges.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Director for Intelligence J2, Army Brig. Gen. Dave Elsen, and Australian Chief of Defence Intelligence, Tom Hamilton, co-hosted the event.

The IPICC 2024 theme “Strengthening Intelligence Collaboration to Meet Future Challenges,” emphasized the more we build trust in our partnerships, the more capable we are to safeguard mutual interests, preserve our values and meet any future challenges together, the organizers noted.

“Building and strengthening intelligence partnerships has been an overarching goal of IPICC from its inception,” said Elsen. “Our mission here is advancing these partnerships, and posturing them to anticipate and help overcome future challenges, in order to preserve a free, open, safe, and prosperous international system.”

The assembled intelligence leaders expressed concerns on a variety of issues, such as state and non-state actor use of lawfare and the increasingly assertive and destabilizing actions in the region and globally; climate change and the second and third order effects to states and societies; overarching global trends; and impacts ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East are having regionally. A variety of intelligence leaders provided briefings and participated in panels discussing these topics, and all partners shared their primary areas of security concern and intelligence priority.

Senior enlisted leaders from eight countries executed panels focused on recruitment, training, and retention in their respective intelligence organizations, and the importance of well-resourced enlisted intelligence corps in partner nations.

Defense Intelligence Agency Director, Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, a former U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Director for Intelligence, reflected on the advancements made among regional partnerships over the past several years and the growing demand, size, and scope of the security landscape in the Indo-Pacific region.

IPICC is an annual executive-level forum for the directors of military intelligence from across the Indo-Pacific region and globe.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Director for Intelligence co-hosts the event with a rotating partner nation in order to foster shared understanding of regional issues, and advance multilateral and regional security cooperation on areas of interest to each state’s respective Chief of Defense.

Participants in this year’s conference were Australia, Canada, Fiji, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.