DALLAS (AP) — Two former Secretaries of Defense are scheduled to speak to a Dallas audience one day after a mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard.
Robert Gates and Leon Panetta will appear Tuesday night before an audience at Southern Methodist University. SMU says the two men will offer their thoughts and opinions on current events.
Their appearance comes in the middle of two huge military-related stories: Monday’s shooting at the Washington Navy Yard that left 13 people dead, including the gunman; and deliberations over a military strike on Syria for a chemical weapons attack.
Gates led the Defense Department under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He was followed by Panetta, who left the Pentagon earlier this year.
CNN political analyst David Gergen will moderate the event.