Webinar: AUSA Noon Report: AI at the Core: Advancing Army Cyber Priorities by Association of the United States Army

AUSA Noon Report: AI at the Core: Advancing Army Cyber Priorities

About

Please join us on Thursday, 12 March, at 12:00 PM EST, for a Noon Report featuring a critical discussion on Army Cyber priorities. Principal Cyber Advisor Mr. Brandon Pugh and Deputy Chief of Staff, G-6 LTG Jeth Rey will address the integration of AI into the Cyber process not as an option, but a core component of the Army's future. Mr. Pugh will share his strategic vision and policy that will secure the Army's role as a leader in cyber and AI, while LTG Rey will speak on the data-centric network architecture he is enabling to power AI-driven decision-making for warfighting commanders and Soldiers.

When

Thursday, March 12, 2026 · 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (US & Canada) (GMT -4:00)

Agenda

1145-1200: Log-on
1200: Opening remarks by LTG(R) Charles Hooper, AUSA Senior Fellow
1205-1225: Fireside Chat with LTG Jeth Rey, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-6 & Brandon Pugh, Principal Cyber Advisor & LTG(R) Charles Hooper, AUSA Senior Fellow
1225-1245: Question & Answer Session with LTG Jeth Rey, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-6 & Brandon Pugh, Principal Cyber Advisor & LTG(R) Charles Hooper, AUSA Senior Fellow
1250: Closing remarks by LTG(R) Charles Hooper, AUSA Senior Fellow

Presenters

LTG Jeth Rey

Deputy Chief of Staff, G-6

Lieutenant General Jeth B. Rey assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-6 on January 1, 2025. In this capacity, he is the principal military advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Chief Information Officer for planning, strategy, network architecture, and implementation of Command, Control, Computers, Communications (C4) and Cyber Operations and Networks for worldwide Army operations.

Lieutenant General Rey is a native of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Since his career began in September 1983, he has successfully served as an enlisted Soldier, Warrant Officer, and Officer including assignments in Special Operations units at Fort Bragg, Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, and White House Communications Agency at Camp David Presidential Retreat.

He is a graduate of Basic Training, Advanced Individual Training, Primary Leadership development Course, Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course, Warrant Officer Candidate School, Officer Candidate School, Signal Officer Basic Course, Signal Captains Career Course, Naval Command and Staff College, and the Army War College. He has master’s degrees in Telecommunications Management from Webster University, National Security Studies from the U.S. Naval War College, and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

His previous assignments include Director of Network C4 Services and Integration, Army G-6 (2024); Director of the Network Cross-Functional Team at Army Futures Command (2021-2024); Director of C4Systems, J6, United States Central Command (2019-2021); Army Cyber Command G3 (2018-2019); Executive Officer to the Army Chief Information Officer/G-6 (2017-2018); Commander of the 516th Signal Brigade, Fort Shafter, HI (2015-2017); Commander of the 112th Signal Battalion (Special Operations) (Airborne), 528th Sustainment Brigade (Special Operations) (Airborne), Fort Bragg, NC (2012-2014); Commander of the Special Missions Command, White House Communications Agency, Camp David Presidential Retreat (2010-2012); Commander, Signal Squadron, United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), Fort Bragg, NC (2007-2010); Signal Squadron Operations Officer, USASOC, Fort Bragg, NC (2005-2006); Alpha Company Commander, 112th Signal Battalion (Special Operations) (Airborne), Fort Bragg, NC (2004-2005); Signal Squadron Executive Officer, USASOC, Fort Bragg, NC (2002-2004); Tactical Communications Troop Commander, USASOC, Fort Bragg, NC (2000-2002); Communications Officer for the Combatant Commander at United States Southern Command, Quarry Heights, Panama/Miami, FL (1997-2000); and Signal Officer, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment (Airborne), Fort Benning, GA (1996).

His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster (OLC), Legion of Merit with 2 OLCs, Bronze Star with 1 OLC, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with 3 OLCs, Combat Action Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge, and the Ranger Tab. Other awards include the Presidential Service Badge, the Army Staff Badge, and the Signal Corps Regimental Bronze Order of Mercury.

Mr. Brandon Pugh

Principal Cyber Advisor

Brandon Pugh is the Principal Cyber Advisor (PCA) for the Department of the Army. In that role, he is responsible for advising the Secretary of the Army and the Army Chief of Staff on all cyber matters, including issues of readiness, budget, capabilities, and strategy.

Most recently, Mr. Pugh served as the director and a resident senior fellow for the R Street Institute's Cybersecurity and Emerging Threats Team, which focuses on emerging cyber and national security threats, data privacy and security, and artificial intelligence.

Mr. Pugh continues to serve in the U.S. Army Reserve as a national security law professor at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, having previously served as a paratrooper and international law officer. Mr. Pugh is also a nonresident fellow with the Army Cyber Institute at the United States Military Academy at West Point, a member of the International Association of Privacy Professional’s Research Advisory Board, a member of the Federalist Society's Cyber and Privacy Working Group, and a board member for a Governor’s Advisory Council.

Mr. Pugh’s past roles include serving as a fellow with the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Managing Editor of the Journal of Law and Cyber Warfare; Legislative Counsel for the New Jersey General Assembly Minority Office, handling nearly all policy and legislation on cybersecurity and emerging technology; President and CEO of a Homeland Security Advisory Firm; and member of the Rutgers University Cybersecurity Program Board.

Mr. Pugh also served in an elected and appointed official at the local, county, and state levels. This includes service as Vice President for legislation of the New Jersey School Boards Association, a quasi-governmental entity representing the state’s nearly 600 school boards. His early work was in emergency management and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents.

Mr. Pugh has presented and been published dozens of times; delivered congressional testimony; appeared on C-SPAN and other networks; contributed to the U.S. Army’s Critical Infrastructure Resiliency Project; and prepared cybersecurity guidance sent to thousands of public entities. He has received awards for his work from members of Congress and state legislators, among others.

Mr. Pugh holds a juris doctorate from Rutgers Law School and a bachelor’s degree from The College of New Jersey. He is a master continuity practitioner through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a Certified Information Privacy Professional, and a fellow of information privacy. He is licensed to practice law in New Jersey and the District of Columbia, along with being admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Pugh lives in New Jersey with his wife Linnea, who serves as an Air Force pilot, and their two sons.

LTG Charles Hooper, U.S. Army Retired

AUSA Senior Fellow

Lieutenant General Charles Hooper (Ret.) joined The Cohen Group as a Senior Counselor in October 2020 following a distinguished 41-year military career.
He most recently served as the Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). In this role, he led the agency responsible for the sale of all US weapons, military equipment, support services, and training packages to foreign governments, which included oversight of 20,000 people globally and over $50 billion in annual sales. As DSCA’s leader, Lieutenant General Hooper built strong relations with officials from allied nations around the world — not just defense officials, but with leaders from foreign ministries and finance ministries as well, among others.
Over the course of his career, Lieutenant General Hooper has held senior level military-political positions around the world. Prior to his role at DSCA, Lieutenant General Hooper served as the Senior US Defense Official/US Defense Attaché and Chief of the Office of Military Cooperation at US Embassy Cairo. He has also served as the Director of Strategy, Plans, and Programs at US Africa Command and Deputy Director for Strategic Planning and Policy at US Indo-Pacific Command.
Lieutenant General Hooper spent much of his career focused on US policy in the Indo-Pacific region, and specifically on the US-China bilateral relationship. He completed two attaché assignments in Beijing, including as US Defense Attaché to China, serving for a total of seven years in China. He also served as the Senior Country Director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, in addition to teaching Chinese foreign policy to rising US military leaders at the Naval Postgraduate School. In 1975, Lieutenant General Hooper was one of the first few West Point cadets selected to study the Mandarin dialect of the Chinese language, which he still speaks fluently. He also speaks Arabic.
Although Lieutenant General Hooper was commissioned as an infantry officer, he was later selected for the US Army’s prestigious Foreign Area Officer (FAO) program following extensive training and additional education. FAOs — best described as the Army’s “Soldier Statesmen” — are unique officers who combine professional military skills with regional expertise, language competency, and military-political awareness. With 16 years of security cooperation, security assistance, and military attaché experience, Lieutenant General Hooper retired as the Army’s Senior Career Foreign Area Officer.
A native of Willingboro, New Jersey, Lieutenant General Hooper is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is also a graduate of the US Army War College and the UK Ministry of Defense Chinese Language School, Hong Kong.
In addition to his work with The Cohen Group, Lieutenant General Hooper serves on the Board of Directors of General Dynamics and UL Inc. and the Board of Trustees of The National WWII Museum in New Orleans. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and is affiliated with the National Bureau of Asian Research and the Council on Foreign Relations.

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