War college 13 years later
Unsolicited review
I had already partially written tomorrow’s column in my mind when I got news we won’t be home tomorrow, after all. The Boeing 737 max mess led to our late evening flight’s cancellation. I will confess to a bit of relief since I had more than once wondered about flying in the dark across the Pacific, in case someone forgot to check our particular aircraft. Another overnight in paradise is, as I told my dear friend of decades in New Mexico, ‘beyond a first world issue’. We are so lucky.
We already had scheduled a rare treat late this afternoon as Ambassador Dean Thompson suggested we sit down together upon completing his meetings. Accredited to Kathmandu, he has spent a year seeing China’s, India’s and U.S. efforts to sway Nepal’s thinking for the future, rather important for a nation sitting in a precarious neighborhood. Dean also graduated from the National War College in 2011.
Dean offered crucial feedback as to how his War College year looks in his career, among other things. He noted how many War College graduates populate the upper ranks of the State Department in the Indo-Asia Pacific, some I remembered while others I had forgotten. Much more importantly, he described how he explains the value of the program to prospective students.
In any political science 101 course, one hears how the political process works. Except that it doesn’t for many nuanced reasons. The complexity is infinitely greater than it seems because of equities—institutionally (branches of government), bureaucratically (agencies and departments, and levels within each of those), and personally. Dean voiced surprise at explaining that to uniformed personnel who might never have experienced a DC tour before arriving at Roosevelt Hall for the ten months. Additionally, he acknowledged learning greatly from military classmates and faculty about topics like camaraderie in battle, a rather important aspect to asking people to go to war for the nation’s policies.
We discussed the value our international visiting colleagues provide for our understanding of the world. The College experience empowers people to learn the specific context of each country sending us an officer (or more) but the value is so much deeper. These students dedicate a full twelve months, as opposed to the ten months for Americans, to their War College commitment. This is a serious investment by any nation with a smaller armed force. But the investment redounds greatly to us because the foreign officers and their families learn along with other potential allies who they likely would never meet, otherwise. Living here opens the door to grasping the deeper beliefs and motivations of Americans. The future international leaders also meet the probable future military leaders of so many countries around the globe. Those connections matter more in a world of alliances and partnerships than ever.
We discussed Nepalese students, in particular, as my husband and I both had advised Nepalese over the years. Dean now sees them where they often make tremendous long term contributions to a nation rebuilding after civil war that ended almost a quarter century ago.
It was so gratifying to hear someone I had not seen in 13 years affirm, in an unsolicited manner, that the program works as Eisenhower, Marshall, and many leaders since had hoped. We all understand the College changes annually in terms of its faculty composition but the mission still retains so much of its original intent: to educate the future leaders of the national security community here and in nations upon whim we increasingly rely for multi-faceted support.
Alas, the time raced by so Dean had to depart for a rather convoluted routing back to Nepal. It was a privilege to discuss so many topics with him, even briefly. We both wish him luck in an environment where we see pressures build from all directions. That is what our foreign policy professionals confront around the world, on our behalf, daily so we owe them a debt. It is easy to blame them for national policy but they execute what we give them to do, often thanklessly.
Thank you for reading Actions create Consequences. Any and all thoughts and questions welcomed.
Be well and be safe. FIN
Jim, An infinitely better assessment that I could ever write. Thank you for the detail and thoughtful reasons. Yes, some utterly brilliant people grace our seminars but each individual contributes to the national security thinking worldwide—by design.
Couldn't agree more! I graduated from NWC in 2009 and in looking back at how it impacted the latter part of my career I can tell you it made a tremendous, positive difference. Many in the Air Force will tell you that attending Air War College is more useful as it connects officer students / peers who will continue to work closely together as they progress in their Air Force careers. But NWC made lasting various "other government agencies" and international connections that were invaluable to me in my career path. Those connections opened doors to dialog and trust-relationships using the 10 - 12 month NWC experience as the bedrock regardless of which year individuals attended.
On a more personal note.... upon attending my first seminar session, surrounded by some of the smartest, most impressive classmates I could imagine... I quickly determined that: 1) I hadn't read enough in my career and 2) I'd read mostly the wrong stuff. I had focused my reading on military history and leadership but had neglected incredibly important topics like economics, international relations, critical thinking, strategic planning and similar topics. NWC opened my eyes to those topics and more and also honed my skills in listening before speaking (critical). I used me as an example as I emphasized that reality in my talks with hundreds of Air Force ROTC cadets as they started their careers.
It also emphasized to me the importance of considering others' viewpoints on history vs. how we Americans see it. That point was a front-and-center lesson for me as I got to know one of my classmates who was a fighter pilot in the Argentine Air Force. His perspective on the Falkland Islands war was vastly different from how the Brits and Americans saw it.
The staff and faculty the year I attended were amazing. It's where I met you (Dr. Watson) and benefited greatly from your mentorship w/ respect to my writing skills. Even in retirement, I'm still benefitting from that year and the relationships developed.