USAWC: Not to promote war, but to preserve peace: Congrats Class of 2024; A New State-of-the-Art Root Hall - Hooah!

Congratulations! to the Class of 2024 of The United States Army War College as they graduate June 7th at Carlisle’s Barracks, US Army , and receiving their Master of Strategic Studies degree.

The keynote speaker for this year’s graduation is the Hon. Kathleen H. Hicks, Deputy Secretary of Defense, United States Department of Defense , Pentagon, US Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy

20 years ago, I was honored to be invited to attend the USAWC as a U.S. Department of State senior official, to study, reflect, and think at a higher command leadership level (while also earning a Master of Strategic Studies degree).

In addition to the lifelong friendships that I made with my military classmates, the two-year DEP USAWC experience also provided me with an incredible education into strategic leadership and innovative thinking related to current and future warfare, military strategy, national security-DoD policy formulations, warfighting theater planning and campaigning, gray zones, and peace and stability operations at a higher echelon of geosecurity power.

Upon graduating, I was thereafter able to apply, and employ, my USAWC knowledge and critical thinking competencies to help solve complex national security challenges and lead change including the development of numerous forward-looking national security strategies at State, National Security Council (NSC), IC, and across the US inter-agency planning and international policy architecture communities.

Equally important, I became fascinated with peace and security issues pertaining to hybrid (irregular) warfare involving non-state actors as proxies and enablers to adversarial conventional great powers, and developing an appreciation for anticipatory response frameworks and strategic foresight in countering illicit threat networks, malign influence operations, and threat convergence forces and vectors.

I continue to use my USAWC knowledge at the International Coalition Against Illicit Economies (ICAIE) / ICAIE Labs vis-a-vis public-private partnerships to counter cross-border threat security challenges, and I am proud to announce that ICAIE will soon launch a Peace & Security Sustainability (PASS) Foundation.

Many good wishes to the USAWC Class of 2024 - proud of you all; and also a heartfelt welcome to the Class of 2025, especially those studing at the magnificent, new state-of-the-art Root Hall Building at Carlisle Barracks, which also reflects the U.S. Army's continued commitment to military education and readiness.

Hooah!

Not to promote war, but to preserve peace by intelligent and adequate preparation to repel aggression. Secretary of War Elihu Root, 1903

Learn more about

USAWC at: https://lnkd.in/e4ujiGaQ

(photo: my USAWC seminar mates, Class of 2005)

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