Graduate program offers advanced tools for terror war

  • Published
  • By Donna Miles
  • American Forces Press Service
MONTEREY, Calif. (AFPN) --  A one-of-a-kind curriculum offered here at the Naval Postgraduate School is helping shape future leaders for the challenges they will confront in the war on terrorism.

Unlike some academic programs with seemingly little real-life application, the Defense Analysis program focuses on issues commanders in all four services deal with daily as they work to counter the terrorist threat.

"It's allowed us, in very measurable ways, to contribute to national security," said Gordon McCormick, chair of the Defense Analysis Department, who helped create the master's-degree-level program.

Program graduates are actively applying the lessons learned supporting the war on terrorism, he said.

"Our graduates are all over the frontline. You can't go to Afghanistan or Iraq without running into them," Mr. McCormick said.

Mr. McCormick said former students, all special operations force officers, said the program is proving invaluable in the field.

"It gives them the conceptual tools they need to properly frame the operational problems they are facing," he said.

Program participants from the Army, Navy and Air Force study a core program of instruction designed to teach them to think in new ways about leadership, conflict and warfare, Mr. McCormick said.

They also select a specialty track focusing on an area of special operations, ranging from terrorist operations and financing to combat systems to national security affairs.

Before completing the program, each student researches, writes and presents a thesis that explores a specific military issue or problem.

Some, like the thesis Capt. Tom Meer collaborated with two other students on, have attracted a lot of attention from U.S. Special Operations Command and military leaders. It explores how to track down "high-value targets who don't want to be found," based on extensive research and interviews with government agencies, private investigators and even bounty hunters, he explained.

"We do certain things well," Captain Meer said about what his research showed, but rely too heavily on technology versus old-fashioned police work by humans on the ground. His thesis also recommends lower-cost, more effective ways to capture terrorists who remain at large.

Now that he has completed the Naval Postgraduate School program, Captain Meer is headed to the Joint Special Operations University at Hurlburt Field, Fla., where he will continue to build on these concepts.

Other theses topics being researched at the Naval Postgraduate School show equal promise in supporting current operational needs.

Maj. Marlee Rust, an intelligence officer slated to graduate from the Defense Analysis program in March, is researching interagency collaboration in the intelligence community.

Maj. Jim Klingmeyer, an intelligence officer who has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, is taking a hard look at how human intelligence is collected and how the system can be improved for the 21st century. He compares intelligence efforts in both countries, evaluating what worked and what didn't and coming up with recommendations about how organizations involved can interact more effectively.

Students and graduates praise the Defense Analysis program for helping them delve into big-picture issues in a joint environment.

"One of the interesting things about this program is the mix of individual ideas that run the gamut, from pre-combat operations to combat to stabilization missions," said Army Capt. Lawrence Basha, a Special Forces officer.

With a mix of all services and international students as well, students said they develop perspectives they never could have gained in a single-service school.

"You learn as much from the students as the professors," Major Rust said, noting that students bring a full range of recent operational experience to the program, making the curriculum "come alive."

And unlike classes at some military schools, the Defense Analysis program opens students' minds to issues and problems with no textbook solutions.

In fact, Mr. McCormick said, "the books on these subjects are still being written."

What the program offers students is a new, broader context for looking at military operations and creative, nontraditional ways of addressing challenges.

"There are no boundaries here and no limitations. You're not in a box," Captain Meer said. "Nobody is saying, 'You're a student. Stay in your lane.' They encourage you to broaden yourself and the way you think."

Army Maj. David Downing said he is confident he will apply the lessons he is learning when he returns to an operational unit.

"They give you the tools so when you encounter a problem, you can analyze it and know where to find solutions or how to craft solutions based on models," he said.

"It's taught me how to do critical thinking, and how to look at things from a different point of view," Major Klingmeyer said. "And that makes you a better officer and a better leader."

Retired Army Col. Peter Gustaitis, an instructor for the program, said students "won't even realize the tools they have developed" until they finish the program and return to the field.

"That's when they'll see what they've gained here," he said. "They'll be heads and shoulders above their contemporaries."