...international conference and exposition for military communications. The annual government/military/academia/industry forum will take place October 29-November 1 at the Gaylord Palms Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The theme for MILCOM 2012 is "Trusted Communications...Awareness to Action." The conference will feature more than 400 unclassified and classified technical presentations, tutorials, and panel discussions by leading experts in defense communications. Topics will include the spectrum of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) technologies and capabilities that address 21st Century communications challenges related to national defense, homeland security, disaster response and interoperability. Continuing education credits are available for all attendees.

Planned keynote speakers for the conference include U.S. Army Lieutenant General Susan Lawrence, U.S. Army chief information officer; Chris Inglis, deputy director of the National Security Agency; Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida; Mark Kelly, astronaut and retired U.S. Navy Captain; and Bill Brown, Harris Corporation's president and chief executive officer. The conference also will feature a small business workshop to encourage and facilitate collaboration with large aerospace and defense companies.

MILCOM is co-sponsored by the Armed Forces and Communications Electronics Association (AFCEA) International and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Communications Society. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is the official academic advisor for this year's conference. All proceeds from the conference will benefit AFCEA and IEEE educational programs, as well as "The Mission Continues", a nonprofit organization that reaches out to post-9/11 veterans, empowering them to transform their lives by serving others and directly impacting their communities.