Rebeccah L. Heinrichs

Senior Fellow and Director, Keystone Defense Initiative

National Security and Defense Arms Control and Nonproliferation Missile Defense Foreign Policy
heinrichs

At A Glance:

Rebeccah L. Heinrichs is a senior fellow and director of the Keystone Defense Initiative. She specializes in US national defense policy with a focus on strategic deterrence.

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Biography

Rebeccah L. Heinrichs is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and the director of its Keystone Defense Initiative. She specializes in US national defense policy with a focus on strategic deterrence.

Dr. Heinrichs served as a commissioner on the bipartisan Strategic Posture Commission, which was created in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. She also serves on the US Strategic Command Advisory Group and the National Independent Panel on Military Service and Readiness.

She is an adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics, where she teaches nuclear deterrence theory, and is also a contributing editor of Providence: A Journal of Christianity and American Foreign Policy.

Dr. Heinrichs earned her doctorate in defense and strategic studies from Missouri State University, where she graduated with distinction. She received her MA in national security and strategic studies from the US Naval War College and graduated with highest distinction from its College of Naval Command and Staff, receiving the Director’s Award for academic excellence. She earned her BA in history and political science from Ashland University in Ohio, was an Ashbrook Scholar, and currently serves as a member of the University's Board of Trustees.

She lives in Virginia with her husband and their five children.

Events
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26
September 2024
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Defense Innovation and the New Cold War
Featured Speakers:
Senator Tom Cotton
Joe Londsdale
Shyam Sankar
Nadia Schadlow
Mackenzie Eaglen
Richard Berger
Moderators:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Morgan D. Ortagus
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Shawn Bailey, a Small Unmanned Aerial System master trainer with the 1st Battalion of the 4th Infantry Regiment, sets up a TS-M800 II drone during Saber Junction 23 at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center near Hohenfels, Germany, Sept. 11, 2023. (DVIDS)
26
September 2024
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Defense Innovation and the New Cold War

This threat environment is teaching American defense planners and policymakers hard lessons about the need to adapt and change the way the United States budgets, tests, acquires, and deploys new and existing weapon systems. Join Hudson for two panels that will discuss these lessons and why Washington urgently needs to apply them. 

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Shawn Bailey, a Small Unmanned Aerial System master trainer with the 1st Battalion of the 4th Infantry Regiment, sets up a TS-M800 II drone during Saber Junction 23 at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center near Hohenfels, Germany, Sept. 11, 2023. (DVIDS)
Featured Speakers:
Senator Tom Cotton
Joe Londsdale
Shyam Sankar
Nadia Schadlow
Mackenzie Eaglen
Richard Berger
Moderators:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Morgan D. Ortagus
Learn More
20
September 2024
Virtual Event | In-Person Attendance by Invitation Only
The Future of US and Allied Hypersonic Missile Programs
Featured Speakers:
Major General Heather Pringle, USAF (Ret.), PhD
Congressman Doug Lamborn
Admiral James A. Winnefeld Jr., USN (Ret.)
Mike White
John Plumb
Congressman Don Bacon
Congressman Donald Norcross
Congressman Vince Fong
Moderators:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
William Chou
Daniel McKivergan
A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, at approximately 10:30 p.m. local time, March 19, 2020, during a Department of Defense flight experiment. (DVIDS)
20
September 2024
Virtual Event | In-Person Attendance by Invitation Only
The Future of US and Allied Hypersonic Missile Programs

Join Hudson for a workshop with congressional, government, and industry officials to discuss the future of the American hypersonic missile program. The Space Foundation’s Major General Heather Pringle, United States Air Force (ret.), will introduce a keynote address from Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO). Then expert panels will discuss the future of hypersonic missile offense and defense and how members of Congress can build a bipartisan consensus about the vital US hypersonic missile program.

A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, at approximately 10:30 p.m. local time, March 19, 2020, during a Department of Defense flight experiment. (DVIDS)
Featured Speakers:
Major General Heather Pringle, USAF (Ret.), PhD
Congressman Doug Lamborn
Admiral James A. Winnefeld Jr., USN (Ret.)
Mike White
John Plumb
Congressman Don Bacon
Congressman Donald Norcross
Congressman Vince Fong
Moderators:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
William Chou
Daniel McKivergan
Learn More
19
September 2024
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
A Conversation with Eric Edelman and Mariah Sixkiller of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy
Featured Speakers:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Eric Edelman
Mariah Sixkiller
(Getty Images)
19
September 2024
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
A Conversation with Eric Edelman and Mariah Sixkiller of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy

For a discussion of the report and how the US can respond to these threats, join Commissioners Eric Edelman and Mariah Sixkiller and Hudson’s Rebeccah Heinrichs for this live event.

(Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Eric Edelman
Mariah Sixkiller
Learn More
08
July 2024
Past Event
Speaker Mike Johnson on the Threats to the US-Led World Order
Featured Speakers:
Mike Johnson
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Mike Johnson speaks during a news conference on June 4, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
08
July 2024
Past Event
Speaker Mike Johnson on the Threats to the US-Led World Order

Join Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senior Fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs for a discussion about the speaker’s agenda to bolster the credibility of US deterrence, strengthen alliances, and preserve the peace for the sake of maintaining the freedom, security, and prosperity of the American people.

Mike Johnson speaks during a news conference on June 4, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Mike Johnson
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Learn More
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