AFIT team wins national case study competition Published May 19, 2006 WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) -- A select panel of distinguished senior U.S. Department of State diplomats and executives yesterday chose four students from the Air Force Institute of Technology as the winners of its national case study competition. The team, consisting of Majs. Timothy Kirk, Ita Udoaka and Carolyn Wood -- intermediate developmental education students -- and recently graduated Capt. Rodney McCraine, developed a detailed case study analyzing three major issues faced by the State Department in posting foreign service officers to Nigeria. Under the tutelage of the team’s advisor, Col. Patricia Coomber, the four Air Force officers prepared a case study and presentation providing strategic business management solutions to the real-world challenges facing the U.S. embassy in Abuja and consulate in Lagos, Nigeria. Earlier this month, the team’s written case and presentation were selected by a panel of judges as one of the winning entries to be briefed in Washington, D.C. Competition included Ohio State University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Georgetown University, Emory, Rice and the University of California-Berkeley. After three rounds of challenging presentations and hard-hitting, in-depth questions by the State Department judges, the AFIT team was selected as the winning school. The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ohio State University placed second and third respectively. Upon graduation from AFIT, Major Udoaka will be posted to the Office of Defense Cooperation in Nigeria, and Major Kirk will be attending the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. Major Wood will be assigned as the operations officer of the new 16th Space Control Squadron at Peterson AFB, Colo. Captain McCraine moved to Headquarters Air Mobility Command Logistics at Scott AFB, Ill., after his earlier AFIT graduation.