MILITARY LEADER TO DISCUSS RESTORING STABILITY IN AFTERMATH OF HAITI EARTHQUAKE

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. (three-star) Ken Keen, military deputy commander of U.S. Southern Command (Miami), will discuss "Haiti: Restoring Stability in the Aftermath of the Earthquake" at Florida State University on Tuesday, Sept. 28.

Keen served as the commander of the Joint Task Force Haiti (JTF-H) during Operation Unified Response (OUR). As commander of all U.S. forces in Haiti, he led the largest U.S. military operation in support of any foreign natural disaster following the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than an estimated 230,000 people and displaced 1.2 million. 

Keen is second in command of one of 10 unified commands under the Department of Defense. Southern Command conducts military operations and promotes security cooperation throughout the 16-million-square-mile area of Latin America and the Caribbean.

His experience in Latin America includes assignments as a Special Forces officer in the Republic of Panama (1977-1980); military group training officer in Honduras (1980); foreign area officer and student at the Brazilian Command and General Staff College in Brazil (1987-88); commander of U.S. Military Group in Colombia (2001-2003); and commander of U.S. Army South (2005-2007).

From 2007 to 2009, he served as the director of the U.S. European Command Plans and Operations Center and the EUCOM Chief of Staff.

A native of Hyden, Ky., Keen graduated as a distinguished military graduate from Eastern Kentucky University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He also earned a master's degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Florida and attended the Brazilian Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.

His awards and decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Pathfinder Badge, Combat SCUBA Diver, Combat Infantry Badge, Expert Infantry Badge and Master Parachutist Badge. (Current as of May 2010)

Keen's talk is part of the "Human Rights and National Security in the 21^st Century" lecture series sponsored by FSU's Center for the Advancement of Human Rights. This event is sponsored in collaboration with FSU College of Law and in cooperation with the Florida Association for Volunteer Action in the Caribbean and the Americas. (http://www.facaca.org/). It is free and open to the public. It will be held:

TUESDAY, SEPT. 28

12:30 P.M.

FSU COLLEGE OF LAW ROTUNDA

425 W. JEFFERSON ST., TALLAHASSEE

Public parking is available at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center. The lecture will be webcast live and archived at http://campus.fsu.edu/HaitiEarthquake.

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