My Assignment to U.S. Army War College, 2011-12

Well, it’s official. I am currently on a leave of absence from Marist College, serving as the 2011-2012 Visiting Professor of Strategic Communication at the U.S. Army’s Center for Strategic Leadership, located at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA.

I begin my new assignment on August 1. I am scheduled to return to Marist for the fall 2012 semester. Plans for my leave of absence and move to the War College have been in the works since last spring. However, the screening and selection process for this assignment took months to complete and the ink didn’t dry on the agreement to serve at the War College until a few days ago.

First, thanks to my colleagues at Marist who will be covering my responsibilities during my absence. Your support allows me to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Second, to my students and academic advisees, I regret not having the chance to work with you next year, but the opportunity to teach at the U.S. Army War College was too good to pass up.

Participants in International Strategic
Crisis Negotiation Exercise

Established in 1901, the U.S. Army War College is one our nation’s premier institutes of higher education. It awards master’s degrees to graduates and prepares hand-picked military and civilian officials from the United States and dozens of other countries for responsibilities of strategic leadership in a variety of agencies and political-military situations. The facilities there are absolutely amazing – truly state of the art. I will be teaching, researching, organizing and attending workshops, and establishing collaborative relationships with public relations and marketing executives in the private sector to explore new approaches to strategic – or integrated – communication.

Root Hall, U.S. Army War College

I am particularly excited about the chance to work with War College scholars, active duty military officers, and international fellows from around the world to develop new concepts and applications of strategic (e.g., integrated) communication. According to the Deputy Commandant of the U.S. Army War College, my duties will involve “preparing strategic leaders in their understanding of potential applications of information as an element of national power, both in peace and war, with focus on the cognitive dimension of the information environment.” If you have any interests or ideas that might be worth pursuing along these lines, please contact me.

I will continue to maintain my presence on social media and I will monitor e-mail to mark.vandyke@marist.edu. My new office address at the War College will be Center for Strategic Leadership, 650 Wright Avenue, Carlisle, PA 17013; (717) 245-3672, mark.vandyke2@us.army.mil. If you happen to be in the Harrisburg/Carlisle, PA, area look me up!