Speaker

Maj. Gen. Julian C. Cheater

Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs, Department of the Air Force

Maj. Gen. Julian C. Cheater is the Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs, Department of the Air Force, Arlington, Virginia. In this position, he provides oversight and guidance for U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force international policy and programs supporting national security objectives through a broad security cooperation portfolio. These security cooperation activities include political-military affairs, security assistance programs, technology and information disclosure, education and training, exercises, cooperative research and development, senior leader engagements, and the Air Force Foreign Liaison Office.

Maj. Gen. Cheater also assists in managing 378 cooperative research, development, test, and evaluation agreements valued at $80.5 billion, as well as 3,400 foreign military sales cases valued at nearly $250 billion. Additionally, he chairs the developmental team, managing more than 400 U.S. Air Force Foreign Area Officers serving in 120 countries, and he leads more than 175 military exchange Airmen and Guardians in 38 partner nations. Maj. Gen. Cheater received his commission from the Air Force Academy in 1994. He has commanded at the squadron, group, wing, and headquarters levels and is a command pilot with more than 3,700 hours in seven aircraft types. His combat experience includes flying in operations Southern Watch, Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, Freedom’s Sentinel, Inherent Resolve, Nomad Shadow, Jukebox Lotus, Juniper Garrett and Copper Dune. Additionally, he was in the first class of political-military strategists and was a national finalist for the White House Fellowship.

Maj. Gen. Cheater commanded the 432nd Wing and the 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing. Immediately prior to his current position, he served in Joint positions while assigned to the Joint Staff J-3 Directorate followed by a deployment supporting Special Operations Command Central.

Moderator

Lance Stuart, MBA 1978

CEO, FastXchange Inc

Lance Stuart is the CEO of FastXchange, a Los Angeles-based business that is the leader in providing outsourced procurement services to major U.S. aerospace and defense contractors. Previously, he was a Senior Partner at Vici Partners where he continues as a Senior Advisor. He has over 30 years of consulting and operating experience, principally in the U.S., Japan and China. Clients span industries from cosmetics and consumer electronics to software, chemicals, insurance, airlines. Department of Defense and telecoms. Lance has been an investor, co-founder, CEO, COO and board member of several companies in the U.S. and Asia. He began his career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in New York then transferred to Tokyo.

Lance earned a B.S. in economics and marketing, with honors, from Boston College and an MBA from Harvard Business School (’78), where he was awarded two academic scholarships. He was raised in Tokyo and is an active volunteer in several non-profit organizations including the Harvard Business School Club of NY, the Harvard Business School Association of Orange County and as a Council Member on the U.S.-Japan Council.