dean s weekly significant activities report - west point weekly activities reports 201617/dea… ·...

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Dean’s Weekly Significant Activities Report

1 February 2017 The Dean’s Weekly Significant Activities Report is an internal report on all activities conducted within the

Departments, Centers & Staff. The Report is provided to the Dean for situation awareness, throughout the

organization for shared situation awareness, and to select external organizations for outreach and

communication. Portions of the Dean’s Weekly Significant Activities Report are further staffed in a report to the

Superintendent. POC for the report is MS Lesley Beckstrom at 938-5105.

Picture of the Week

BSL: CDTs Jordan Cassalia, Jonathan Dial, and Kelsey Burnette-Turner (Class of 2017), accompanied by CPT Yoonie Dunham, attended the United States Naval Academy Leadership Conference from 22-25 January.

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Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership

United States Naval Academy Leadership Conference

CDTs Jordan Cassalia, Jonathan Dial, and Kelsey Burnette-Turner (Class of 2017), accompanied by CPT Yoonie Dunham, attended the United States Naval Academy Leadership Conference from 22-25 January. The USNA Leadership Conference brings together participants from over 45 military and civilian colleges. The participants had the opportunity to interact with thought leaders, such as Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Boklen Jr. (USMC Ret.), the 12th administrator of NASA, on the conference topic of developing a common vision and action within organizations. POC: Dr Marjorie Carroll, Marjorie.Carroll@usma,edu

Class of ’83 Distinguished Leader Series

On 24 January 2017, Cadets and Faculty from across the Academy attended an intimate discussion on leadership held in the BS&L Conference Room. As part of the

mailto:Marjorie.Carroll@usma,edu


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Class of ’83 Distinguished Leader Series, BG Andrew Rohling discussed his leadership philosophy through first hand examples that spanned his career. BG Rohling is currently serving as the Deputy Commanding General for Support, 10th Mountain Division. This leadership series strives to advance the study of leadership at the academy by exposing members to leaders from across multiple facets. Following this discussion, the audience walked away better leaders of character with the authentic and frank discussion focused on mentorship, talent management, leader development and key focus areas for young leaders. The next Distinguished Leader Series event is on 01 February with Mr Bill McDermott (CEO of SAP) as the speaker. POC: Andrew Farina, [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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Department of History

During the weekend of 28-29 January, 65 cadets from HI105: History of the United States and HI155: Advanced History of the United States travelled with the History Department to our nation's birthplace in Philadelphia. Guided by CPT Mark Bergman, MAJ Rory McGovern, CPT Nick Browning, CPT Mike Kiser, and Dr. Robert McDonald, the group visited the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, the Second Bank of the United States, Franklin Court, and Christ Church. The day was capped with a reception hosted by the West Point Society of Philadelphia. On Sunday, the cadets and faculty toured Valley Forge, examining the fateful winter of 1777-78 which served as a crucible for the American army.


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COL Gail Yoshitani served as the discussant on a panel at the Clement s Center for National Security’s conference on Ronald Reagan and Global Politics. The panel focused on the development of Reagan’s national security policy, with papers that discussed the National Security Council, legal frameworks for fighting terrorism, nuclear weapons, and countering Vietnam Syndrome.

On Wednesday 18 January 2017, LTC Rick Black served as the guest speaker at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School (USMAPS) for their annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance. LTC Black discussed the historical significance of Dr. King and his work, while drawing parallels between our military values, and the themes in Dr. King’s speeches and sermons. The observance was attended by USMAPS cadet candidates, staff and faculty, as well as leadership from USMA.


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CPT Benjamin Griffin presented a paper entitled “War Stories: Ronald Reagan, Tom Clancy, and Viewing the Future,” at a conference on Ronald Reagan and the Transformation of Global Politics, hosted by the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas. The paper looked at how President Reagan used fictional narratives as creative spaces to think about the future of war.

Department of Systems Engineering

Engineer Research and Development Center Capstone Visit. LTC John Richards and Cadets Cosner, Matos, Merrick, Moody, and Provine (all class of 2017) traveled to Vicksburg, MS on 24-25 January 2017 to meet with their Capstone client, Mr. James Richards, an analyst from the Institute for Systems Engineering Research (ISER) out of the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Both capstone projects support ISER research into incorporating life cycle cost analysis into the acquisition of Engineered Resilient Systems (ERS). The teams presented their work completed to date in their specifics areas of research and participated in sessions with industry and government partners who are researching methods to incorporate the life cycle cost framework into an online trade-space analysis tool called TradeBuilder. The sessions were very collaborative and helpful for the teams as they move forward with their research and analysis to produce deliverables that will be incorporated into the larger body of work. The POC for this event is LTC John P. Richards at [email protected].

Cadets Hardin Cosner, Andrew

Matos, and Christian Merrick present their work.

Cadets Travis Moody and

Bobby Provine present their

work.



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The Sport-Related Concussion: A New Era of Scientific Collaboration. CPT (P)

Thomas Ryan participated in a panel of Coach/Players for “The Sport-Related

Concussion: A New Era of Scientific Collaboration” on Friday, Jan. 27 on campus at

UCLA.The purpose of this conference was to have key stakeholders with respects to

sport-related concussions gather, share ideas, report findings, challenge assumptions,

and network for future work. The term sport-related concussion is primarily focused on

NCAA sports, and their athletes, for the basis of the studies presented; however, some

data were displayed on DoD Service Members to include Cadets and Midshipman.

As a former NCAA athlete (played 4 years of college football for USMA) and a current tactical athlete (Infantry Officer with Platoon and Company leadership experience in both Iraq and Afghanistan) CPT Ryan was asked to join a panel of Coaches to discuss the culture of Concussions from a player view-point. Uniquely, he was also able to provide a perspective as a player-coach; because, as an officer he was ultimately responsible for the preparedness of our formation and found himself executing as a player alongside his team – and not just from a sideline coaching position. The panel consisted of Oregon’s Kat Mertz - head coach women’s soccer, team U.S.A’s Adam Krikorian - head coach women’s water polo and two time Olympic Gold Medal as a head coach in 2012 and 2016, and myself.

The ERS Life Cycle Cost

Research Team.


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Department Of Social Sciences

Director of the CSA’s Strategic Studies Group Visits SS483: National Security Seminar On 25 April, the Director of the CSA's Strategic Studies Group, Colonel Charlie Miller, talked to SS483 National Security Seminar about the role of the military officer in advising national security policymakers. His visit also included a seminar with faculty in the Department of Social Sciences on 24 April.

CPT(P) Thomas Ryan participated in a panel of Coach/Players for

“The Sport-Related Concussion: A New Era of Scientific

Collaboration” on Friday, Jan. 27 on campus at UCLA.


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COL Charlie Miller discusses U.S. national security with SS483 cadets

West Point Debate Competes in the Crowe Warken Debates at the U.S. Naval

Academy

In their first tournament of the spring semester, Army Debate took home a speaker award and a semi-finalist trophy in the Junior Varsity division. CDTs Jared Cochrane and Henry Smith advanced to the semifinal round in the Junior Varsity Division of the tournament, and Cadet T.J. Kilcullen won the Ninth Place Speaker Award in the Novice Division.


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Cadet T.J. Kilcullen poses with his speaker award

Cadets Jared Cochrane and Henry Smith pose with their semifinalist trophy


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West Point Debate Competes in the JMU Debate Tournament Last weekend, members of the Debate team also participated in the James Madison University Debate Tournament in Harrisonburg, VA. The team had one of its best performances of the year and dominated Navy in two matches! CDTs T.J. Kilcullen and Denton Knight advanced to the semifinals of the Novice Division, and Coach Joe Patrice was named “Best Judge” of the tournament.

Cadet TJ Kilcullen and Coach Joe Patrice pose with their respective awards

Faculty Accomplishments:

Dr. Mike Kofoed’s paper, “To Apply or Not to Apply: FAFSA Completion and Financial Aid Gaps,” was published in the February edition of Research in Higher Education. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11162-016-9418-y

McGill University Model UN Competition (McMUN)

From 27-30 January, 12 cadets of the West Point Model United Nations team competed in the McGill Model United Nations conference (McMUN). Debate was intense and consisted of topics ranging from the U.N Environmental Assembly to simulations of the United States Congress during the first 500 days of FDR's New Deal. The cadets performed well and achieved recognition in a wide range of committees. The following Cadets earned individual distinctions in their committees:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11162-016-9418-y


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Jack Bagdadi '17: Outstanding Delegate (2nd Place)

Brittany Scofield '18: Book Award (3rd Place)

Carolyn Williams '18: Book Award (3rd Place)

Ian Berry '17: Honorable Mention (4th Place)

Jonathan Lowe '20: Honorable Mention (4th Place)

Combating Terrorism Center

On 30 January, Combating Terrorism Center associate and resident Africa expert Dr.

Jason Warner spoke to the United Nations’ Office of Peacekeeping Operations,

providing the office with strategic advice on how UN missions might think about the

prevalence of jihadist groups operating in the West and North African theaters.

On 31 January, the Combating Terrorism Center published its latest research on the

Islamic State. Written by the CTC’s Director of strategic Initiatives Don Rassler, CTC

research associate Muhammad al-`Ubaydi, and Belfer Center international security


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fellow Vera Mironova, the Perspectives piece entitled “The Islamic State’s Drone

Documents: Management, Acquisitions, and DIY Tradecraft” examined and provided

context for 21 internal Islamic State documents about the group’s drone program,

which were recovered in Mosul, Iraq, and provided to the CTC by Mironova.

The analysis also caught the attention of The New York Times. Pulitzer Prize-winning

Times journalist Eric Schmitt wrote an article based on the CTC’s findings. Links to the

New York Times’ article, the CTC’s analysis, and the documents themselves are

available on the CTC’s website at www.ctc.usma.edu.

http://www.ctc.usma.edu/


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Department of Foreign Languages

Current Week HIGHLIGHTS: Arabic: Three Cadets arrived in Jordan on 14 January and began their four-month Semester

Abroad Program in Amman, Jordan. The Cadets will be attending AMIDEAST in the nation’s

capital. In addition to

immersion in the

Arabic langauge, these

Cadets will take classes

in international

relations, social policy,

and women’s studies.

In addition to their

language studies while

abroad, the Cadets will

experience traditional

and modern Jordanian

culture and cuisine.

They will also visit

sites of significant

religious and historical

importance, including

the UNESCO World

Heritage Site of Petra and the Dead Sea.

When the Cadets return to West Point, they will bring back with them enhanced Arabic language

skills, greater understanding of the complex regional dynamics, and a greater sense of empathy,

all of which will be of benefit not only to them, but also their peers in the Corps of Cadets.

German: LTC Breuer and his spouse, Andrea Breuer, MAJ Emery and her spouse, Mr. Jonathan Emery, along with two members of the German Forum, Cadet Mitchell Parker ’18 and Cadet Paul Craven ’20 attended the annual Quadrille Ball in New York City on 28 January. The Ball is part of the Germanistic Society of America and supports scholarships for students desiring attendance in the Fulbright program, the Institute of International Education (IIE), and Columbia University. Our Cadets were given the opportunity to interact with some of the most influential individuals in New York City while positively representing West Point. They were able to practice some of their German language skills at the ball, as many of the attendees were native German

Photo: (L-R) Cadets Austin Montgomery ’18, Co. E-1, Eric Willis ’18 Co. A-2, and Robert Koontz ’18 Co. E-4, arrived to their Semester Abroad school in the second week of January.


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speakers. This was a wonderful opportunity for some of our young Cadets as well as German instructors to support our New York City engagement initiative.

MAJ and Mr. Emery, Cadets Craven and Parker and Mrs. Andrea Breuer take a moment for a photograph

while attending the Quadrille Ball 2017 in New York City.

Chinese: Ten Cadets from the Chinese Language Forum attended the Chinese New Year Concert presented by the New York Philharmonic at the Lincoln Center as part of the organization’s 175th anniversary series. The Cadets had the opportunity to share the celebration of the Chinese New Year with a very large crowd of residents from New York City, along with attendees from around the country. Several of the Cadets noted that this was their favorite multicultural experience as a Cadet thus far.


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Cadets Eric Tao and Zhaozhong (Bob) Zhu both from the class of 2017 organized the trip to participate in the concert.

Center for Language, Culture, and Regional Studies (CLCRS)

CLCRS and UVA discussed using Digital Storytelling and Virtual Avatars to assess and train Cross-Cultural Competence on 26 January, in support of CLCRS Project Number 2017-1A. Cadets and students from UVA are working closely on this multi-year project; a trip to UVA and possible presentation at a UVA conference by Cadets is under consideration. On 28 January, CLCRS submitted a draft proposal for including the Semester Abroad Program (SAP) in the USMA Redbook. Dr. Jeff Watson, with input from CLCRS and


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DFL, wrote this proposal at the request of I2D2 and the Dean’s Office to continue the institutionalization of SAP. Upcoming HIGHLIGHTS Next two weeks:

CLCRS On 7 February, Dr. Wolfel will participate in the “academic week” of D Co, 92nd Civil Affairs before their deployment to the Balkans/Caucasus. Dr. Wolfel will give a brief presentation and answer any questions presented by the team. CLCRS hopes these interactions will help the Army improve its Cross-Cultural Competence (CCC), especially in areas of high CCC use (e.g. CA, MISO, etc.)

Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering

Completed Events

Portable Planetarium: On 30 January, the Cadet Astronomy Club “inaugurated” its new

inflatable planetarium. Dr. Paula Fekete, OIC of the Astronomy Club, and Cadet AnnaMaria

Dear, a member of the Club, presented a space show to cadets in attendance. The planetarium

consists of a 16-foot diameter inflatable bubble and a state of the art projector. The show

consisted of two “shorts” and a narrated planetarium presentation about the fate of stars and

galaxies in the universe. Other than being very entertaining, the planetarium offers an

opportunity for cadets to learn about the solar system, stars, galaxies and the universe, even

when the weather does not cooperate. The planetarium will provide educational opportunities to

cadets and the local community. As the planetarium software is “freeware,” anybody who uses

it can create and narrate their own space shows. The Department of PaNE hopes to employ

this new resource in its new Space Science Major as well as in outreach efforts to the local

community.

This photo was taken inside the inflatable planetarium dome during the show


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Members of the Astronomy Club in attendance at the first space show ever presented in Bartlett

Hall

Trip Section: On 31 January, NE350 conducted a trip section to the STERIS Irradiation Facility

in Chester, NY. During their visit, the Cadets learned about the irradiation facility/process and

observed as a new Co-60 (~500,000 Ci) source was loaded into the facility.

Left: Cadets Morgan Landers ('18) and Matthew

Sanford ('18) stand above a 4 Million Curie Cobalt-

60 source shielded by 12 feet of water. Without

the water shield the Cadets would immediately

receive a lethal dose of gamma-radiation. The

blue light (Cherenkov radiation) is produced by

electrons travelling faster than the speed of light in

the water. These electrons are produced as the

high energy gamma-rays from the Co-60 interact

in the surrounding material.

Below: Cadets use radiation meters to measure

the dose equivalent rate on the outside of Cobalt-

60 shipping containers. The Cobalt-60 was

produced in Canada and shipped via a flatbed

trailer. Canada, Argentina, and Russia are the

primary suppliers of Cobalt-60.


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Cadets learn about the wide range of products that are sterilized using gamma radiation. The

white bags to the front left are laboratory animal feed while the boxes behind Cadet Brett Toth

('18) are standard plastic bottles for laboratory use. The tour included a discussion about

different sterilization techniques, such as ethylene oxide processing, steam sterilization, gamma

irradiation, and electron beam processing, and the different criteria manufacturers have to

evaluate when choosing a technique.


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Current Events LANL/HEL-JTO Trip: Deputy Head, COL John Hartke is traveling 30 January to 3 February. On 30 January, he visited Los Alamos National Lab to explore collaborative research efforts and strengthen the relationship between PaNE and the laboratory. From 31 January to 3 February he is participating in the BAA and S&A FY17-18 proposal evaluations for the High Energy Laser - Joint Technology Office (HEL-JTO) in Albuquerque, NM. COL Hartke is representing the Army's vote on the projects to be funded by the HEL-JTO in the advanced concepts technical area.

Future Events

Colloquium: On 3 February, the NSERC will host the sixth event in its Colloquium Series for

AY16/17. The guest speaker will be LTC Jeffrey Kyburz from 20th CBRN Command. The

presentation will be FOUO, covering Enhanced Capability Demonstration (ECD) on future

equipment, Nuclear Disablement Team functions, and FA52 assignments within the 20th

CBRNE CMD.

Colloquium: On 9 February, Dr. Roman Gomez from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) will

present information on space plasma instruments to include, but not limited to, those on the

Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. MMS is a Solar-Terrestrial Probe mission

comprising four identically instrumented spacecraft that will use Earth's magnetosphere as a

laboratory to study the microphysics of magnetic reconnection.

Trip Section: On 9 February, MAJ Blake Huff will travel with cadets to Chestnut Ridge Middle

School in Chestnut Ridge, NY to conduct a STEM Outreach presentation.

Trip Section: During 14-16 February, Cadets Johnathon Kroc and Thomas Parker will travel to

with COL John Hartke and LTC Dave Morrow to present their independent research (NE489) on

Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS) to the Directed Energy Professionals Society

(DEPS) in Huntsville, AL. This is an opportunity to showcase the Cadets’ work and inform the

DEPS about a potential nuclear enrichment application of lasers.


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Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering

1. Exoskeleton Standards Technical Interchange Meeting: On 26-27 January 2017,

the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg Maryland hosted

a technical meeting regarding exoskeleton standards. Future standards are

expected to document standard vocabulary, and to identify test methods for safety

and performance of exoskeleton systems. Assistant Professor Greg Freisinger and

Associate Professor John Rogers, both in the Civil and Mechanical Engineering

Department at West Point, attended this meeting alongside collaborators from US

Army NSRDEC and the Army Research Lab. Attendees were from eight countries

and represented industry, academia, and government. Exoskeletons are most

commonly used in military, industrial, and medical settings; the meeting sessions

focused on the features that make these three applications unique. This preliminary

work will assist researchers, product developers, and end-users with the

development of standards to ensure uniformity of test methods and long-term

improvement in physical augmentation technology. POC is Dr. Greg Freisinger at

[email protected].

Drs. John Rogers (right) and Greg Freisinger (left), both West Point faculty in Civil and Mechanical

Engineering, at the Exoskeleton Standards Technical Interchange Meeting at the National Institute of

Standards and Technology headquarters.



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ASCE Student Chapter hosts luncheon with Structural Engineer Chris Carbone, P.E. On

27 January, the Civil Engineering Club hosted a luncheon with the head of engineering at

Bensonwood, Chris Carbone. The speaker provided an overview of Bensonwood's current state-

of-the-art timber projects underway at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Redstone

Arsenal. Mr. Carbone also explained current technology in wood design including cross-

laminated timber, which has shown a high resilience in blast testing. Approximately 45 cadets

and faculty attended this event. POC is CPT Todd Mainwaring at [email protected].

Chris Carbone (left) and CDT Matt Brown (right) stand in front of an image of Bensonwood’s blast test of

their cross-laminated timber structures.

2. CME Faculty Awarded Joint Service Commendation Medal. LTC Paul Moody recently

deployed to Afghanistan for six months and was responsible for assisting the US Army Corps

of Engineers Transatlantic District in managing over $500 Million in various construction

contracts throughout the country. For his hard work, he was award the Joint Service

Commendation Medal, which COL Daisie Boettner, Department Head for the Department of

Civil and Mechanical Engineering, was able to present to him on Tuesday, 31 January. POC

for this SIGACT is MAJ Celio Biering at [email protected].




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COL Daisie Boettner (left) presents LTC Paul Moody (right) with his Joint Service Commendation Medal for

his outstanding work completed while deployed in support of the US Army Corps of Engineer’s Transatlantic

Division in Afghanistan

Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering

Dirtman joined in with the G4 Guppies to help kick off Recycle Mania at the Elementary

School. Lots of fun and well received from the two different assemblies (pre-K through

1st AND 2nd through 4th). CDT Patrick Caughey was the mastermind behind the


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event and has enabled G4 to establish an enduring partnership with the Elementary

School.