Interim dean enjoys 'amazing experience' at U.S. Army War College seminar
Published: Aug 24, 2022 9:00 AM
By Staff Report
Three Auburn University administrators, including Interim Dean of Engineering Steve Taylor, were recently among 60 civilian participants at the Commandant’s National Security Program (CNSP) — an executive seminar on national security at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
College of Veterinary Medicine Associate Dean for Research Skip Bartol and College of Veterinary Medicine Associate Professor Col. Jacob Johnson, a U.S. Army War College master’s student who graduated following the event, joined Taylor alongside nearly 400 senior military officers who are slated for significant national roles. There, participants joined the class for its final resident phase of the two-year master’s education in strategic studies, which included learning experiences designed to capitalize on the exchange of ideas.
“To help us better shape our programs, we need to better understand the needs of defense and national security sectors,” Taylor said. “This amazing experience helped shed some light on ways to improve our programs and ensure what’s being taught in these areas is applicable and solving the right problems for the Army and defense sectors.”
The seminar included social events to encourage informal discussions aimed at fostering new relationships, while also exposing participants to a wide range of expert speakers whose remarks triggered in-depth discussions in the small groups.
Bartol was reminded of one discussion about how organizations talk past each other.
“We can do a better job of explaining the good work of scientists beyond our own circle,” he said. “That’s why meetings like this one are so important and unique. We’re all sitting in rooms together, and the size of the circle is bigger than it used to be.”
The event was much more than a seminar packed with students, educators and military personnel. Time was taken to visit nearby Gettysburg National Military Park to examine the strategic leadership dilemmas Union and Confederate officers faced during the Civil War.
“Spending a full day on the Gettysburg battlefield with military historians and high-ranking Army officers was a lifetime highlight,” Taylor said. “They explained, with extraordinary detail, what happened, and they explained the strategy and leadership successes and failures. They also made sure to tell stories of great sacrifice. They even became emotional just telling those stories. There is nothing quite like ending the day on a cemetery hill standing among the graves with a U.S. Army colonel reading Lincoln’s Gettysburg address to our group.”
Media Contact: , jem0040@auburn.edu, 334.844.3447
Auburn Engineering Interim Dean Steve Taylor, right, was joined at the U.S. Army War College by Veterinary Medicine Associate Professor Col. Jacob Johnson, left, and Veterinary Medicine Associate Dean for Research Skip Bartol.
