DEF CON 13 - Keynote: Dr. Linton Wells
Channel: DEFCONConference
Date: 2014-02-07

Keynote: Dr. Linton Wells
Dr. Linton Wells II, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration / CIO

Dr. Linton Wells, II was named Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (C3I) on August 20, 1998, and serves in that capacity in the C3I successor organization, Networks and Information Integration (NII). In addition, Dr. Wells serves as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Spectrum, Space, Sensors, and Command, Control, and Communications (DASD (S3C3)).

Prior to this, Dr. Wells served the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) from July 1991 to June 1998, concluding most recently as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Policy Support).

In his twenty-six years of naval service, Dr. Wells served on a variety of surface ships, including command of a destroyer squadron and a guided missile destroyer. In addition, he acquired a wide range of experience in operations analysis; Pacific, Indian Ocean and Middle East affairs; Networks and Information Integration (NII); and special access program oversight.

Dr. Wells was born in Luanda, Angola, in 1946. He was graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1967 and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and oceanography. He attended graduate school at The Johns Hopkins University, receiving a Master of Science in Engineering degree in mathematical sciences and a PhD in international relations. He is also a 1983 graduate of the Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies in Tokyo, the first U.S. Naval officer to attend there.

Dr. Wells has written widely on security studies in English and Japanese journals. He co-authored Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War, which was published in 1997. His hobbies include history, the relationship between policy and technology, scuba diving, and flying.