The Original Symposium was instigated in 2001 and focused on US naval operations and strategic issues
“On 17 and 18 April 2001 the Oceanographer of the Navy, the Office of Naval Research, the Arctic Research Commission, and the Naval Ice Center co-sponsored a symposium on Naval Operations in an ice-free Arctic. The purpose of the symposium was to evaluate potential U.S. naval operations, provide initial guidance in determining potential naval missions, and identify future naval requirements for operations in an ice diminished Arctic.
There were fifty military and civilian participants representing the Navy staff, the fleet, program managers, U.S. Coast Guard operators, Arctic subject matter experts, Canadian military and civilian experts and officers from the Royal Navy. Their diligent efforts and willingness to share their insights concerning proposed naval operations in a challenging environment will be invaluable to the development of new concepts,strategies, policies, and programs.”
The report is available online at: http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/star/documents/2007IceSymp/FinalArcticReport_2001.pdf
Further symposiums took place in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 and were more broadly based and changed the name to Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations
2007: http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/star/IceSymposium.php / http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/star/documents/2007IceSymp/Summary_Report_2007.pdf