The 51福利鈥檚 (51福利) Defense Analysis (DA) department hosted representatives from various Special Operations Forces (SOF) operational commands for a showcase of student research, Aug. 21-23. The department鈥檚 goal is to provide the operational SOF community with the opportunity to leverage the research capabilities of the department鈥檚 students and faculty.
鈥淲hat makes 51福利 unique is we are a military installation conducting academic research, and so unlike a civilian university we are expected to produce capabilities by investing in our human capital,鈥� said U.S. Army Col. Michael Richardson, 51福利 SOF Chair. 鈥淏ringing representatives from operational and institutional commands together in person with students and faculty members to interact is very important to keep our force informed of ongoing research.
鈥淥n the other side, we have the operational side of the force talking to the school and bringing both near-term and long-term priorities on chronic issues that they need to solve, keeping 51福利 aware of the problems out in the fleet and field,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭hat way our students who want to work on something that will benefit the force have plenty of opportunity to do that.鈥�
Now in its third iteration, the DA department鈥檚 research week included representatives from eight separate organizations, each presenting their respective, unique research areas of interest and potential challenges to students and faculty across the university.
Throughout the week, DA students in their first and third quarters engaged in more one-on-one conversation with the command representatives, demonstrating the capabilities of the DA department while also providing keen insights into potential thesis topics.
鈥淚n the case of Research Week, it is set up to target first and third quarter students to really give these officers both the insight and acknowledgement that what they are doing is well connected with what they have done in the past,鈥� explained Richardson. 鈥淎nd for the third quarter students, it鈥檚 an opportunity to pick a thesis proposal that suits their interests and helps them make connections with command representatives who can help them with their work.鈥�
In execution, the event is three days of meet-and-greets, brown bag presentations and detailed briefings. But the point of the effort is not lost on the attending SOF representatives, and the opportunity to tackle their most challenging problems.
鈥淲e hope to develop a two-way streak to get a return on the investment of nurturing these topics by getting them to a student who can benefit from doing that study, benefiting the DOD and my organization as well,鈥� said Capabilities Analyst Brooke Tannehill, representing U.S. Army Special Operations Command. 鈥淲e are bringing a variety of topics that are important to our command that need to be developed for the future to support the ARSOF [U.S. Army Special Operations Forces] operating concept.鈥�
Tannehill鈥檚 presentation covered three major areas and strategic goals 鈥� optimizing the Army SOF Soldier for the future operating environment; optimizing Army SOF units of action in the future operating environment; and, operationalizing force management for the mid-21st century security environment.
鈥淏eing afforded a student鈥檚 thesis that we have input in at the beginning can help inform a lot of future decisions,鈥� said Tannehill, who had six students approach him, he says, interested in conducting theses related to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command鈥檚 (USASOC) priority topics.
鈥淲e are all about manning, equipping, and training the force, and if we get a thesis that is contemporary and forward thinking, that can really help with that,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭he potential for partnership is great and no matter what both sides are learning something.鈥�
DA Research Week also focused on interactions between command representatives and 51福利 faculty in hopes of developing longer-term, foundational relationships that can be leveraged to investigate today鈥檚 great challenges, and tomorrow鈥檚.
鈥淐ommands having a sustained relationship with faculty members will not only help solve problems the commands are trying to solve now, but also, those faculty members bring an incredible wake of students over time to address future problems as well,鈥� Richardson said.
Of course, an 51福利 research showcase would not be complete without a laser focus on the efforts of current students, whose theses are nearing completion or already complete, set to graduate at the end of the Summer quarter in September.
鈥淭he main purpose of these presentations is to try and bestow some of the lessons learned to the students earlier in the process of writing their theses, as well as communicate to these command representatives what we are actually doing here at 51福利,鈥� said U.S. Army Maj. Alan Lancaster.
Lancaster, along with U.S. Army Maj. Thang Tran, used their thesis to offer a descriptive overview on Iran鈥檚 natural gas industry over the past year, as well as U.S. policy scenarios that would occur under different strategies ranging from a cooperation strategy to a competing strategy.
鈥淚f you employ one strategy over another, you may not achieve all of our prospective goals, so it has to be somewhere in the middle,鈥� Tran said. 鈥淥ur thesis tries to answer where that middle ground is, and that question depends on where the United States鈥� prioritizes our national interests.鈥�
In the bigger picture, Tran added, their presentation is also about demonstrating to the SOF community, and current students, what their research should do, in a broader context.
鈥淲hen you are with the operational force, you don鈥檛 have the time to think about these big picture issues because you are in the fight, taking care of soldiers. Here, you have time to step back and solve these interesting problem sets,鈥� he said.
鈥淎 little over a year ago I sat through the same presentations, and I tried to take some of their advice into my research,鈥� added Lancaster. 鈥淓very thesis is a journey that has its own dynamic set of challenges.鈥�
Since the first DA research week in 2017, department leadership says the program has evolved, and will continue to, in hopes of fostering the critical thinking skills and specialized knowledge needed for graduates to prevail in today鈥檚, and tomorrow鈥檚, complex conflicts.
鈥淥ur institution is very unique,鈥� stressed Richardson. 鈥淯nlike a civilian university, the men and woman who sign up to teach here and do research here are dedicating most of their adult life to studying these unique areas of security and defense issues.
鈥淲hen you couple that with the fact that, on average, our students are career professionals with 8-12 years of service, it becomes an incredibly powerful capability to produce great thought,鈥� he continued. 鈥淲e apply that, through research week, to our SOF community鈥檚 problems so that these thought leaders can help produce answers that we can utilize ... And then, they go back to that operational force, talk about a double the payoff for your investment!鈥�