News

Three-Star General Meets with Students at UVA National Security Institute

October 31, 2026

 

Earlier this month, UVA students had the opportunity to meet with a three-star U.S. Air Force general on grounds. On October 9th, Lieutenant General David Iverson, Deputy Commander, Pacific Air Forces, and the Deputy Theater Air Component Commander to the Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, met with the group at UVA’s National Security Institute. A mix of ROTC students and UVA National Security Scholars, the group spent the morning presenting their research to Lt. Gen. Iverson and discussing larger national security issues impacting the Indo-Pacific region.  

Leading the student presentations were Santana King and Peter Sullivan, MPP candidates at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Sullivan shared a presentation on his work for UVA NSI as part of the UVA National Security Policy Center’s 2026 internship. He examined China’s ongoing development of Extra Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (XLUUVs) as part of its broader Transparent Ocean Strategy, assessing that the effort threatens the United States’ undersea superiority in the Pacific. King followed with findings from his internship with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Joining the organization’s Australia Chair as a summer 2026 intern, his work involved high-level policy discussions on Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific on issues impacting both congressional thinking and the private sector.  

After the student presentations, Lt. Gen. Iverson gave students insight into what he sees as some of the most challenging problems facing the United States in the Indo-Pacific region. He discussed China’s risk-tolerant approach to technology development, explaining that their willingness to take risk enables China to test and innovate quickly. This approach has brought them very close to parity with the United States in some arenas. However, Lt. Gen. Iverson highlighted that U.S. research and development practices have been ramping up for a number of years, and the impact of this R&D is already being seen across the Joint force. Throughout the conversation, Lt. Gen. Iverson also addressed several questions about the potential for conflict in the Indo-Pacific region. The candid discussion was a unique opportunity for students to hear from a general officer about the real-world impacts of issues they’ve dedicated countless hours to in class. 

For students who have studied the dynamics of U.S.-China competition from afar, the remarks offered a rare glimpse from the perspective of a high-ranking leader inside the U.S. military system. “It was a great experience to put my research on Pacific security in front of someone like Lt. Gen. Iverson, who helps lead U.S. security efforts in the Pacific” said King. “As a student, it was a unique opportunity to stress-test my research with someone who works on these issues every day.”