Oct. 22, 2002

Contact: Bruce Berglund, Center for Russian and East European Studies, (785) 864-4236

Former senior commander of all U.S. forces in Pacific, Indian oceans to speak

LAWRENCE-- Admiral Dennis Blair, the former senior commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific and Indian Ocean areas, will give a public lecture at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23 on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence.

Blair's talk, "The Russian Far East Military District: How the Distant Regions Are Coping," will take place in the Jayhawk Room, on the fifth floor of the Kansas Union. He is currently senior fellow at the Institute for Defense Analysis in Alexandria, Va.

Blair was Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command, from February 1999 to May 2002, directing the operations of Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force units throughout an area of more than 100 million square miles. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a Rhodes Scholar, Blair served as an officer in both the Pacific and Atlantic fleets and for various intelligence and security policy staffs, including the staff of the National Security Council.

Blair's lecture is sponsored by the KU Center for Russian and East European Studies, the Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth, and the Office of the President of Kansas State University.