Military leaders of more than 20 nations are scheduled to attend a conference at the Ihilani Resort & Spa hosted by Adm. Robert Willard, commander of U.S. Pacific Command.

The 12th annual Chiefs of Defense Conference is set to begin today and run through Thursday.

The purpose of the conference is to bring together military leaders to discuss mutual security challenges and to foster security cooperation.

The theme of this year's conference is "Common Defense Challenges in the Asia-Pacific Region."

Nations attending include Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, France, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Tonga and Vietnam.