Update From U.S. Army War College -- It's About Thinking, Not War

I wanted to focus my latest update about my work at the U.S. Army War College on the mission of the College itself, which continues to impress me. When the institution was established in 1901, the College's founders committed an incredible misnomer. The curriculum taught at the War College is hardly about waging war. Quite the opposite: it's about thinking of ways to apply elements of national power (diplomacy, information, military, econonics) without having to resort to war; or, when war becomes inevitable, acheiving the nation's political objectives through the most ethical and effective application of military power.

The U.S. Army War College's name was bestowed by the U.S. War Department, which is now known as the U.S. Department of Defense. Wisely, military institutions of higher learning established by the Department of Defense have been given more appropriate names. Take for example the National Defense University, founded in 1976, whose mission is "prepare military and civilian leaders from the United States and other countries to evaluate national and international security challenges through multi-disciplinary educational and research programs, professional exchanges, and outreach" (see http://www.ndu.edu/info/mission.cfm).

Elihu Root, U.S. Secretary of War, 1899–1904

Still, in spite of its inauspicious name, the U.S. Army War College performs a valuable service for our nation. In 1903, at the ceremony that marked the laying of the War College's cornerstone, Secretary of War Elihu Root proclaimed, "Not to promote war, but to preserve peace by intelligent and adequate preparation to repel aggression, this institution is founded" (see http://bit.ly/pzmxag).

Contemporary military leaders, like current War College Commandant Major General Gregg Martin, U.S. Army, have explained that the War College experience is "about thinking how to think." General Martin Dempsey, U.S. Army Chief of Staff and the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, remarked recently that the frantic pace and bias for action associated with most military jobs allow little time for officers to read, think, and reflect.  Gen. Dempsey offered the following advice to students at the War College: "Take the opportunity here to do some serious thinking ... about how to think."

Everywhere I go on Carlisle Barracks, home of the U.S. Army War College, I witness this advice being enacted by students, faculty, and staff. Just yesterday, sitting in class with 16 students (senior military officers from the United States, Italy, and Columbia), I found myself amazed (and grateful) for the opportunity to listen to the War College's chair of national intelligence, a Central Intelligence Agency officer, lead a discussion of current political-military strategy in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other regions of instability. Seamlessly, the class actively dissected current national security strategy, compared it to lessons from historical events like the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), and constructed ideas for improvements to strategy using critical thinking processes taught here at the College.

Students here prepare for such discussions by reading the work of some of the world's greatest military historians and strategists: Thucydides, Sun Tzu, Clausewitz -- along with current works by contemporary authors like Roger Fisher, Thomas Ricks, Bob Woodward, Thomas Schelling, and Joseph Nye.

In closing, I will provide the reading list of books (this list does not include shorter readings) assigned to students during the year at the War College. Looking at this list, I no longer feel bad about the "heavy" reading list I assign to undergraduate and graduate students in my courses at Marist College. In fact, I have copies of these books on my office bookshelf, and aspire to read through them before my year here is complete.

• Art of War (Sun Tzu/Griffith)
• Clausewitz (Howard)
• Conflict after the Cold War, 2nd ed. (Betts)
• Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, 2nd ed. (Allison & Zelikow)
• Fiasco: the American Military Adventure in Iraq (Ricks)
• Fifth Discipline, rev. and updated (Senge)
• FM 6-22, Army Leadership (Oct 06)
• Future of the Army Profession, rev and expanded, 2nd ed. (Snider)
• Getting to Yes (Fisher)
• Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders (Baldoni)
• Inevitable Surprises: Thinking Ahead…Turbulence (Schwartz)
• Landmark Thucydides: Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War (Strassler)
• Leading Change (Kotter)
• Making of Strategy
• Masks of War (Builder)
• Obama's Wars (Woodward)
• On War (Clausewitz)
• Price of Liberty (Hormats)
• Rise to Globalism, 8th rev ed. (Ambrose)
• Soldiers, Statecraft, and History (Nathan)
• Strategic Leadership Primer (3rd ed.)
• Strategy (Liddell-Hart)
• Thinking in Time (Neustadt & May)
• Type Talk at Work, rev. (Kroeger)
• Understanding Global Conflict and Cooperation (Nye & Welch)
• US Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, 4th ed. (Bartholomees), V. 1 and 2
• War & Politics (Brodie)
• War Within (Woodward)
• When Cultures Collide, 3rd ed. (Lewis)
• Who Says Elephants Can't Dance (Gerst)

Happy reading to all!

USA Today College Features Marist PRSSA and President Alexis Murphy

Congratulations to the Marist College PRSSA Red Foxes Chapter and, in particular, PRSSA President Alexis Murphy and Faculty Adviser Jennie Donohue, for recognition of their work by USA Today College. USA Today College featured the community service work performed by the Red Foxes PRSSA members in support of a local Girl Scout chapter this past spring. Specifically, the chapter conducted a workshop on public speaking for the Girl Scouts.


Following the workshop, Alexis authored a blog post with advice for other PRSSA chapters, which USA Today College featured online on August 26, 2011. Among other bits of advice, Alexis suggested:

• Take a look at your club’s objectives and missions.
• Research your local community.
• Reach out to the organization that is of interest to you and your team.  
• Dress appropriately based on the event.
• Bring a camera to document your event to share with other organizations and your college. 
• Make sure that all the supplies you need are all set

Read the entire post at http://usat.ly/qYaJRE. Again, congratulations to Alexis, Jennie and the Red Foxes chapter for earning Marist more national recognition. Follow the Red Foxes PRSSA Chapter on its website or blog.

Online Education -- Not So Fast (or Cheap, or Easy)

Mike Terry photo, for The New York Times

The New York Times' front-page story, "Online Enterprises Gain Foothold as Path to College Degree" (by Tamar Lewin, Aug. 25, p. 1) caught my eye ... and raised some concerns.

First, Lewin pointed out that a number of enterprises are making a lot of money by creating online degree programs that are "cheaper, faster and flexible enough to take work experience into account" (para. 1).  Second, Lewin claimed, "For those who have the time and money, the four-year residential campus still offers what is widely considered the best educational experience" (para. 5).

I have nothing against efforts to make the cost of higher education more affordable and accessible. However, I take exception to the impression left by the article that online education programs are inherently cheaper, faster, easier and better than traditional face-to-face degree programs.

I teach several graduate courses in Marist College's School of Communication and the Arts' master's program in communication. I know from student feedback that our courses, while they may be affordable and flexible, are not fast or easy. The following comment, posted by a graduate student in one of my online discussion forums, belies the notion that online courses are by nature faster and easier:

"Being on a virtual team at Marist has made communication more difficult because of the delayed response that often occurs when communicating via email. Being a distance learner means that I cannot simply walk into my professor's office and ask a question. Instead, I need to email my professors when I have a question and then wait until they check their email accounts if I want to have a question answered. I've also noticed that operating in a virtual classroom has required more time in the process of getting to know my professors and classmates than face-to-face relationships tend to require. Perhaps that is the most significant challenge I've noticed in virtual communication versus face-to-face communication – time. Everything seems to take more time. Coordinating meetings online can take almost as long as attending a meeting face-to-face. Plus, virtual communication often requires learning new technologies, which takes time as well.

"The benefit of virtual communication I've noticed most is the education it enables me to acquire in spite of a very busy schedule. Without the ability to meet virtually, I would never have time to commute to and attend face-to-face classes. Another aspect of virtual communication that I greatly appreciate is the ability to compose my thoughts before posting them online. In face-to-face interactions, communication is impromptu and harder to prepare for. With virtual communication like discussion forums, I am afforded all the time I need to consider the discussion occurring around me and compose my thoughts about a given topic before chiming in."

Another student in the course offered this comment, supported by quotations from course readings:

"In this virtual environment ... class is always taking place, so there really is no 'cap' on participation. So we spend much more time 'in the classroom' than if we were attending a weekly, physical class. As Barrett (2010) wrote, 'With a virtual team, a high level of commitment is even more critical than with a traditional team' (p. 333). It also requires more effective internal communication from professors, including 'supportive management, effective media/forums, and ongoing assessment' (p. 349)."

Yet another student affirmed the value of flexibility in online education described by Lewin but dispelled the notion that flexibility equates to easier coursework:

"I chose the Marist program over in-person programs here where I live because of my harried schedule between work and my lacrosse club. I needed the flexibility of working within my limited free time.

"But I have [found] that the Marist program is more challenging and I do more work for this than I would have if I were actually attending classes here. When I share info with friends about what we do as part of our program, they are amazed."

"So, online learning has definitely come a long way."

I could go on and on, offering other comments from graduate and undergraduate students that echo the previous examples. However, my point is that quality of teaching and learning in degree programs is not determined by the platform (e.g., online or on the ground). Rather, the quality of outcomes in online education, just like on-the-ground education, is associated directly with the quality and commitment of the educational institution, teachers, and students.

I'm proud to teach at Marist ... and grateful for every opportunity to share a classroom with our superb students, whether that means undergraduate or graduate, on the ground or online. And, if you are considering a Marist education, come and join us. I can't say that your experience will be cheap, fast, or easy. However, I can offer assurances that your education, whether it takes place online or in a brick-and-mortar classroom, will be of the highest quality.

Update From U.S. Army War College

I just started the third week of my new visiting professor job at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA. It's been an enlightening and invigorating experience so far. The students that I work with in class are incredible. This is the largest class of its kind in U.S. Army War College history (368 students, including 67 international fellows from 66 countries). Students, all senior officers and civilian leaders being groomed for command positions, are are among roughly 2% of their peers selected to attend this program. Many of the Army and Marine officers have experienced multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some already have their master's degrees and a few even have doctorates. Here's a breakdown of this year's class: 

Military Service Representation: Officers typically have approximately 20 years of service and have reached the rank of lieutenant colonel, colonel, or the equivalent rank depending on the military branch.

• U.S. Army: 210 active, Reserve, and Guard officers
• U.S. Air Force: 32 Air Force active, Reserve, and Guard officers
• U.S. Navy: 15 active and Reserve officers
• U.S. Marines: 18 active and Reserve officers
• U.S. Coast Guard: 1 active officer

Senior Civilian Representation: 25 high-ranking civilians from 

• Defense Department
• Defense Intelligence Agency
• Department of the Army
• Department of State
• National Security Agency
• Department of Homeland Security
• Veterans’Administration

International Fellows Representation: 67 senior officers from Afghanistan, Algeria, Australia, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Germany, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan (2), the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Yemen and Zambia.

Students will graduate on June 9, 2012, with a master of strategic studies degree and a U.S. Army War College diploma.

I'm also thrilled to be supporting the mission of the U.S. Army War College with my work in strategic communication management. The name of the college is somewhat of a misnomer. No, the college isn't in the business of making war. In fact, Elihu Root, the U.S. Secretary of War under President Theodore Roosevelt who established the U.S. Army War College described its mission as:

"Not to promote war, but to preserve peace by intelligent and adequate preparation to repel aggression...to study and confer on the great problems of national defense, of military science, and of responsible command."

Here is today's U.S. Army War College mission:

"The Army War College develops, inspires and serves strategic leaders for the wise and effective application of national power in a joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational environment, emphasizing development and employment of land power. The USAWC is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools."


Seminar 14 students in action during Boat Yard Wars

I'll comment on my work in the Center for Strategic Leadership later. I'll close this post with a slide show depicting some of the fun had by students, faculty and staff during the first week of orientation for the new class. Some of the photos depict teams of students building boats out of cardboard and duct tape, and racing them against each other in the annual "Boat Yard Wars" picnic ice-breaker family picnic. Who says military officers don't know how to let their hair down (note the buzz cuts, though) and have fun!