News & Insights

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Kyiv Missile Attack Meant to ‘Sow Confusion’ and ‘Cause Fear’

BENS President and CEO, General Joseph Votel, USA (Ret.) was interviewed on MSNBC’s Meet The Press to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict. General Votel shares perspectives on Ukraine’s most pressing military…

Ukraine Relief

Support for Ukraine Relief Efforts

BENS Members, Like me, I recognize many of you are paying very close attention to the evolving situation in Ukraine. What we are seeing is unprecedented in many ways –…

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General Joseph Votel on the State Secrets Podcast

In this episode Suzanne welcomes General Joseph L. Votel U.S. Army (Ret.) to the State Secrets podcast. Votel is now the President & CEO of the Business Executives for National…

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Deborah Lee James Takes Oath as Defense Business Board Chair

Deborah Lee James, former secretary of the U.S. Air Force and a previous Wash100 Award winner, took her oath of office as the new chair of the Defense Business Board…

CNN Amanpour And Co Votel On Afghan Withdrawal

Amanpour and Company: Gen. Joseph Votel (Ret.) on Afghanistan Withdrawal

To understand how the U.S. withdrawal could have been handled differently, and what needs to happen most urgently to improve the situation on the ground, Bianna speaks with retired General…

Morning Edition

Many Facets Contributed to the Taliban’s Takeover of Afghanistan

NPR’s A Martínez talks with former U.S. CENTCOM Commander Gen. Joseph Votel about the military failures that led to the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. The Taliban’s blitz offensive…

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The Painful Lessons of Afghanistan

The Cipher Brief: Did you ever envision that the U.S. would pull out so quickly or completely leaving the Afghan military on its own without U.S. air support?   General Votel:…

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Plans, Like for Disaster Response, are Great Only if You Can Carry Them Out

Winning coaches has a game plan, then work like the devil to make sure players can execute that plan. The federal government has a plan for disaster response but sort…

WarRoomPodcast National Emergency Response The BENS Report

The War Room Podcast: BENS Report on National Emergency Response

Emergency response in the United States typically relies on one saving tenet of operations — a safe haven to prepare and stage and launch from. Natural disasters tend to be…

Covid Relief

Executive Spotlight: Mark Gerencser, Gen. Joseph Votel of BENS Discuss National Security Crisis Resulting from COVID-19

Mark Gerencser, chairman of Business Executives for National Security (BENS) and 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, and Gen. Joseph Votel, president and chief executive officer of BENS, recently spoke with ExecutiveBiz…