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Deans Weekly Significant Activities Report
14 October 2015 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
Community Outreach. On 7 OCT 2015, Cub Scouts from Pack
6 in Cornwall paid a visit to the Department of Geography and
Environmental Engineering.
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Upcoming Events
26 Oct Hon MS Shyu, ASA-ALT, Engagement with Cadet Scholars. 0800-1300. (COL Graham) 27-28 October, representatives from Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia National Labs will visit USMA to recruit cadets from all majors to go on AIADs to the labs. (Dr. Dan Schultz/5009) 3 Nov Heterotopic Ossification research talk from a recent WP
Grad and Vandy Medical School Student, 2LT Christopher Wallace
in room 514 of the Library (JH514) from 1600-1700 (Dr. Ken
Wickiser)
18 Nov CLS Annual Bio/Micro Seminar (LTC Alvarez)
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Department of Chemistry and Life Science
National Judge at the iGEM Giant Jamboree
From 24-28 September in Boston, Dr. J. Kenneth Wickiser served as a judge for the
International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Giant Jamboree, a synthetic
biology competition among high school, undergraduate, and graduate
students to engineer living cells to make novel sensors, materials, and
tools. The multidisciplinary teams from North America, South
America, Europe, and Asia defended their work in oral presentations
and poster sessions. Representatives from the other branches of the
military and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency met with Dr. Wickiser to discuss an
effort to support iGEM teams, IADs, and synthetic biology efforts at the Service
Academies. The Department of Chemistry and Life Science will field bioengineering
teams this year with cadets taking on the roles of bioethics, web design, simulation,
genetic engineering, and device engineering. We look forward to competing at the
international Jamboree in October 2017 and Beating Navy!
Veterans at Yale
On 6 October Dr. J. Kenneth Wickiser addressed graduate students in Yale University’s
Biology and Biological Sciences (BBS) program on career paths in government
research and teaching at undergraduate colleges. He discussed the benefits of
accepting West Point cadets into their lab during the summer as a
means to improve their chance for DOD research funding.
Additionally, he spent the afternoon with the leadership of the BBS
program and the Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
Department discussing ways to improve the recruiting of military
veterans into the engineering and science graduate programs at
Yale. They agreed to alter their matriculation documents to adhere
to the Advanced Civil Schooling administrative requirements thus
allowing officers en route to West Point as first time rotating faculty
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to apply to these programs for the first time. We look forward to having more Yalies
serving as faculty at West Point in the near future – Beat Harvard and Navy!
Collaborations with scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory and the
University of Chicago.
During September, Dr. J. Kenneth Wickiser resided at the Marine Biological Laboratory
(MBL) at Woods Hole, MA on an MBL Library Fellowship.
There he met with longtime collaborator and animal
camouflage expert, Dr. Roger Hanlon and computational
neuroscience colleagues from the University of Chicago, which
just established itself as the parent organization of the MBL.
Commitments were made to hold
additional IADs at the MBL and in
collaboration with UC faculty.
Additional faculty from the Behavioral
Sciences and Leadership and Chemistry and Life Science
Departments at West Point will travel to Woods Hole later in
October to tour the facilities and discuss research projects of
interest to the Army.
Center for Leadership and Diversity in STEM
Dr. Edray Goins gave the first talk for the Minorities in Mathematics Speaker Series
On Tuesday October 6, 2015, Dr. Edray H. Goins visited the Department of
Mathematical Sciences. He presented the inaugural talk of Minorities in Mathematics
Speaker Series. Over sixty cadets attended his talk on ‘Fuchsian Differential Equations
with Prescribed Monodromy: An Introduction to Solving a Quintic Without Using
Radicals’.
Dr. Goins grew up in South Los Angeles, California. The product of the Los
Angeles Unified (LAUSD) public school system, he attended the California Institute of
Technology, where he majored in mathematics and physics, and earned his doctorate in
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mathematics from Stanford University. He is currently an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Purdue
University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He works in the field of number theory, as it pertains to the
intersection of representation theory and algebraic geometry.
Dr. Goins speaks to Cadets about research in finding roots to polynomial functions of degree 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Department of Law
US District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff visited with cadets in the Constitutional and
Military Law course taught by Department of Law Asst. Professor and Constitutional
Law Chair, Tony DiSarro.
Judge Rakoff was appointed to the federal bench by President Clinton in 2000 and is a
leading authority on white collar criminal law and corporate sentencing. Prior to his
appointment, he practiced criminal law as both a federal prosecutor and a defense
attorney. He also teaches criminal law topics at Columbia Law School. Judge Rakoff
discussed the Self-incrimination Clause and the 5th Amendment.
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Cadets in the Constitutional and Military Law Course with federal district judge Jed S. Rakoff.
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
1. DARPA Support. LTC Joshua Keena (D/CME) traveled to Arlington, VA on 9OCT2015 in
support of Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) program support and
collaborative efforts. LTC Keena is serving as a Source Selection Board (SSB) member and
Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for the DARPA Ground Experimental Vehicle-
Technology (GXV-T) Program (http://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2014-08-18). During this visit,
he met with Mr. Mark Gustafson, Program Manager (PM) for the Hypersonic Air-breathing
Weapon Concept (HAWC). He also met with Mr. Jerome Dunn, PM for the Multi-Azimuth
Defense Fast Intercept Round Engagement System (MAD-FIRES). Discussions during the
meetings focused on collaborative efforts and ongoing research in Advanced Studies in
Mechanical Engineering (ME489) that LTC Keena is advising. POC is LTC Joshua Keena at
[email protected] or 845.938.8898.
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Department of History
LTC (Ret.) Ray Hrinko from the Department of History participated in the inaugural
Africa Military Education Program workshop from 6-7 October in Washington, D.C.,
hosted by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. The workshop focused on supporting
the development of African Professional Military Education (PME) institutions. Nineteen
African states attended the workshop, which concentrated on faculty and curriculum
development at PME institutions. The workshop enabled the Department of History to
gather lessons learned in preparation for a future initiative in support of the Kenyan
Military Academy.
LTC (Ret.) Ray Hrinko—second from the right in the second row—participated in the Africa
Military Education Program workshop from 6-7 October in Washington, D.C.
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On Wednesday, 07 OCT, the History Department hosted a screening of the French movie
Capitaine Conan for interested cadets, faculty, and guests. Based on the eponymous book by
World War I veteran Roger Vercel, the movie examines the struggles French soldiers faced
following the end of the Great War, as they transition to a garrison environment while waiting to
be demobilized following an extended campaign on the Salonikan Front, located in northern
Greece. Capitaine Conan is particularly valuable as a case study in leadership, presenting a wide
spectrum of command styles, from the weary dedication to duty and earnest morality of the main
protagonist, Lieutenant Norbert, to the ruthless ferocity and uncompromising loyalty of his best
friend—the title character, Conan.
Following the screening, the audience had the opportunity to ask questions of a diverse panel of
faculty and cadets. MAJ (P) Andrew Visser and CDT Joshua Johnstone (Class of 2016),
from the Department of History’s International History Division, provided context for this little-
known theater of operations in World War I. LTC Andrew Hagemaster, head of the Center for
Professional Development, examined the French soldiers’ adaptation to a peacetime
environment, focusing particularly on combat stress and PTSD. CPT Ky Fehlbaum and CDT
Kevin Fidler ‘16, from the Department of Foreign Languages, analyzed the discrepancies
between the English subtitles and the French script to shed additional light on key plot points.
CDT Emily Speziale ’16, from the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership,
illuminated the difficulty of identifying ideal leadership characteristics, pointing out that
different situations emphasized the need for radically different attributes. CDT Alex Duffy ’16,
from the Department of Strategic Studies, studied the challenges posed by special operations, as
evidenced by the violent and even criminal behavior of Conan and his “free corps” of battle-
hardened veterans following the armistice. Finally, CDT Bryan-Matthew McKeen ‘15, of the
Department of English and Philosophy, addressed the conflict between loyalty, morality and
professional ethics, admitting that Conan’s commitment to his troops resonated with him before
acknowledging the slippery slope of covering for one’s subordinates no matter the infractions
they committed.
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Some of the approximately 50 cadets who turned out for the History Department’s “Night at the
Movies” event on 7 October 2015 pose for a picture before viewing Capitaine Conan, a film
about the realities and psychological effects of combat on the Salonikan Front during WWI.
MAJ (P) Visser fields a question from the audience during a panel discussion following the
screening of Capitaine Conan at the History Department’s most recent “Night at the Movies”
event. Other members of the panel, including (from left to right) CDT Bryan-Matthew McKeen
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’15 (DEP), CDT Joshua Johnstone ’16 (HIST), CDT Alex Duffy ’16 (DSS), CDT Emily Speziale
’16 (BS&L), CDT Kevin Fidler ’16 (DFL), LTC Andrew Hagemaster (CPD), and CPT Ky
Fehlbaum (DFL), provided excellent commentary on key aspects of the film.
_________________________________________
On Friday and Saturday, 9-10 October 2015, the Department of History conducted a faculty
alumni reunion. The current faculty welcomed alumni returning to West Point from as far back
as the creation of the current Department of History in 1969 to as recent as faculty member who
departed in 2012. Events included opportunities to teach or visit a class, a “State of the
Department” briefing by the department’s senior leaders, tours of newer West Point facilities,
and a banquet on Friday evening featuring remarks from department alum LTG H.R.
McMaster. Saturday’s events included a tailgate at the Department Head’s quarters and the
football game against Duke. The event drew over 55 alumni and family back to West Point.
History Department alumni returning for the department reunion had the opportunity to sit in or
teach classes on 9 October 2015.
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Department of History alumnus LTG H.R. McMaster was the guest speaker for the department’s
reunion banquet on Friday evening, 9 October 2015.
COL Ty Seidule briefed Department of History alumni on the state of the department on the first
day of the department reunion. The next day, he opened his home for a tailgate prior to the
Duke game.
_________________________________________
On 13 October, 2015, approximately 60 cadets turned out for October’s installation of “Trivia
Night at the Firstie.” As always, questions came from four categories: general history, history
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of sports, history of arts and entertainment, and history of science and technology. Competition
was fierce, but team “Dregs of Society” prevailed in the end, winning $100 of gift certificates
provided by DCA.
The latest edition of the History Department’s “Trivia Night at the Firstie” drew approximately
60 cadets on 13 October 2015.
Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Completed Events
Follow BS&L on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Point-
NY/Department-of-Behavioral-Sciences-Leadership/44253274507
LTC Remi Hajjar facilitated a forum in support of the Dean's Organizational
Culture seminar series for faculty and staff. LTC Hajjar provided a talk
titled, "Cross-Cultural Competence: What is it, and How is it Applicable to
the Army and USMA?" His presentation sparked a robust conversation about a
variety of relevant topics such as competing moral world views and ethical dilemmas
when individual values conflict with host nation values.
Department of English and Philosophy
Department of English and Philosophy: BG (r) Scott Krawczyk’s Advancement and
Retirement Ceremony
On the 29th of September, The Department of English and Philosophy and the leadership of
USMA celebrated the career of former Department Head, BG (r) Scott Krawczyk. The
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retirement ceremony and advancement to BG (r) honored a career that spanned more than thirty
years from graduation with the USMA Class of 1985. Presiding over the ceremony, the
Superintendent, Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, Jr. noted that BG (r) Krawczyk’s service as an
Academy Professor and later as Professor, USMA and Head of the Department, directly
influenced the intellectual and professional growth of an entire generation of cadets. BG (r)
Krawczyk was lauded for his leadership, scholarship, and tireless advocacy of the humanities at
West Point. Madonna Krawczyk was also honored for her contributions to the Department and
the Army. The ceremony was made particularly memorable by accomplished pianist Eun Ha
Chung’s performance of Chopin, Étude Op. 10 Nr. 3, and the department gift to the Krawczyks,
a print of Robert Walter Weir’s “View of the Hudson River.” POC is MAJ Adam Karr, DEP
([email protected]), x2186.
Department of English and Philosophy: Philosophy Forum Event - The Status of Civilians in War: Two Views
On 28 September, The Department of English and Philosophy hosted its first Philosophy Forum of the academic year. Cadets, Faculty, and visiting Vassar philosophy students attended a conversation between two world renowned Just War theorists. Dr. Helen Frowe, the director of the Stockholm Center for Ethics of War and Peace, and Dr. Seth Lazar, Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National University, discussed their differing views on the status of civilians in war. The next Philosophy Forum event will be on 13 October when Nancy Sherman will discuss her new book, “Afterwar: Healing the Moral Wounds of Soldiers”. POC is CPT Scott Parsons, DEP ([email protected]), x2199.
BG (ret.) Scott Krawczyk is advanced by
his wife, Madonna, and LTG Caslen.
BG (ret.) Scott Krawczyk, the former DEP
Department head, with COL David Harper,
the current DEP Department Head. In the
background is the department’s gift, a print
of “View of the Hudson River,” painted by
Robert Walter Weir in 1864.
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Department of English and Philosophy: Seminar in Advanced Literary Study (EN433), "The Arts of Work," On 7 October, cadets in Patrick Query's Seminar in Advanced Literary Study (EN433),
"The Arts of Work," visited the Alamo Farmworkers Community Center, in Goshen, NY.
The class is studying representations of labor in literature, and the trip afforded them the
opportunity to learn firsthand about the lives and working experience of the people who
harvest and process the produce of the Black Dirt region. The Alamo offers a food
pantry, educational and tutoring supports, clothing assistance, a lending library, a New
York State Department of Labor office, and many other resources for farmworkers and
their families. It is now also a partner with HRHCare Community Health, which provides
discounted health services to the farmworker community. Alamo founder and Director
Stash Grajewski gave the cadets a tour and explained some of the fascinating history of
the center. Afterwards, cadets rode out to Minkus Farms, where they took a tour and
observed up close the harvesting and processing of onions. POC is Dr. Patrick Query
([email protected]), x4363.
Helen Frowe and Seth Lazar
presenting their points of view on the
status of civilians.
The guest lecturers answering questions
from cadets and visiting Vassar
philosophy students.
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Department of English and Philosophy: Works-in-Progress Colloquium
On 67 October, the Department of English and Philosophy hosted its second Works-in-Progress (WIP) Colloquium of the academic year. These events allow faculty, English and Philosophy majors, and other interested cadets to listen and respond to ongoing research in the discipline. One of the department’s Assistant Professors of Philosophy, Graham Parsons, presented his project, titled “Families, Armies, and Gender,” which explores the traditional roles that men and women fill in both the military and the family. He is preparing this paper for presentation at the International Society for Military Ethics (ISME) Conference this January. POC is MAJ Tim Leone, DEP ([email protected]), x2189.
Professor Parsons fields a question from
his colleague, Prof. Courtney Morris.
Alamo founder and Director, Stash
Grajweski, gives cadets a tour and
explains the history.
EN433 Cadets pose outside the
Alamo Farmworkers Community
Center.
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DEP UPCOMING EVENTS:
13 OCT: Philosophy Forum guest speaker Nancy Sherman
13 OCT: Legend of Sleepy Hollow Storyteller Jonathan Kruk
16 OCT: Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival Workshop
18 OCT: Storm King Arts Center Visit
Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering
Community Outreach. On 7 OCT 2015, Cub Scouts from Pack 6 in Cornwall paid a visit to the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering. CPT Josh Borrell coordinated and delivered 1.5 hours of engaging instruction on the topic of geology. By participating in this event, each of the Cub Scouts earned their Geology Activity badge, which moves them one step closer to the Arrow-of-Light (Cub Scout's highest honor). CPT Borrell did a great job of evaluating the requirements and planning out the instruction. All of the boys (and most of the parents) were very interested. POC for this is MAJ Colin Tansey at [email protected].
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EV471 - Ecology Students Visit the Wolf Conservation Center. On Wednesday, 2
OCT 2015 Environmental Science majors from the Class of 2016 visited the Wolf
Conservation Center (WCC) in New Salem, NY as part of their EV471 Ecology field trip.
The WCC was established to promote wolf conservation by teaching about wolves, their
relationship to the environment, and the human role in protecting their future. The WCC
accomplishes their mission through onsite and offsite education programs emphasizing
wolf biology, the ecological benefits of wolves and other large predators, and the current
status of wolf recovery in the United States. Environmental Science majors were
exposed to wolf biology, habitat requirements, and issues for and against the
reintroduction of wolves. POC is LTC Mark Smith at [email protected].
Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Cadet Kendo Club Competes at Cornell On 2-4 October 2015, seven cadets in the Cadet Kendo Club and EECS Faculty Member, LTC Timothy Nix, traveled to Ithaca, NY to attend the 15th Annual Cornell Kendo Tournament. On Saturday, 03 Oct 2015, four cadets participated in the individual tournament (bracketed by rank) and competed in the first portion of the team tournament. On the conclusion of the competition on Saturday, all seven cadets participated in a 2-hour training seminar. On Sunday, 04 Oct 2015, the team competition continued. West Point defeated Harvard and RIT, but was beaten by Cornell and NYU. All cadets worked hard and performed admirably.
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MAJ Donald Sedivy Earns CCNA Certification
On 08 October 2015, MAJ Donald Sedivy earned his CCNA (Cico Certified Network
Association) Certification to support his education and development as a Cyber Warfare
officer.
Unmanned Systems Working Group Update
The Robotics Lab at West Point would like to make a general announcement of some upcoming initiatives of the Unmanned Systems Working Group (USWG). We currently have two pilots ongoing in DEP and Math. LTC Mike Saxon, the PY201 course director, is piloting a three-lesson robotics laboratory that explores the intersection of ethics, law of war, robotics, and AI. After completing the course's formal instruction on ethics in war, often described as the jus in bello, cadets will form into teams and be responsible for examining and improving the algorithms and performance of a small, camera-enabled robot on the "battlefield," given requirements for military utility, discrimination and non-combatant immunity, and proportionality. In D/Math, Dr. Frank Wattenberg is conducting a pilot project with one section of MA103. The purpose is to get some experience with Robotics and Artificial Intelligence as an interdisciplinary theme across the 47 month USMA experience. This is in addition to the normal content of MA103. Cadets were each given a "personal robotics laboratory" and are experimenting with building and programming a simple robot based on the Arduino Uno board and the Parallax BOE Robot kit. The section has already had one very stimulating discussion on autonomous weapons systems and the Law of Armed Conflict lead by Dr. Robert Goldstein from D/Law. The next discussion will be led by CPT Kyle Greenberg from SOSH on the economic and social impact of previous advances in automation. The culminating term end event will be the IROC -- Indoor Robot Obstacle Course. Over the summer, we saw quite a bit of media coverage on killer robots, the effectiveness of drone strikes against ISIS, self-driving cars, and hackers remotely killing a Jeep on the highway, among others. These are all great topics. If you have
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interest in one or more areas, let us know so we can form sub-groups for further study, writing white papers, or conference submissions. Lastly, if you know others who would be interested in receiving updates and participating in the working group, please send me their email address. If you would like to be removed from this distro, please let me know that as well. POC is LTC Christopher Korpela, [email protected].
PY201 “Killer Robot” with camera and spear mounted on a mobile chassis.
ARMIE (Autonomous Robotic Multipurpose Intelligent Explorer) that cadets are building, programming, and
working with in the MA103 pilot section.
Department of Foreign Languages
jCurrent Week HIGHLIGHTS:
German: USMA cadets studying abroad (SAP) in Hamburg, Germany met with Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, USMA graduate ’80 and the current Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR). LTG Hodges provided a briefing at the Helmut Schmidt University (German Armed Forces University in Hamburg) on NATO security in Europe, the threat of Russian aggression, and the current immigration situation for the European Union. Following the briefing, USMA cadets had the opportunity to meet with LTG Hodges in the university’s Officer's Club to discuss European issues in depth.
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Cadets (L-R) Tyler Brians, Christian Sitarz, and Bryce Wilberding with LTG Ben Hodges, Commander of U.S. Army Europe.
French: a. On Thursday evening 7 October, about 70 cadets gathered in
TH144 to watch "Capitaine Conan," an award-winning French film covering the French Army's involvement in the Macedonian Front of WWI. Being a French-language film, the History Department sought DFL's participation to help the spectators better understand the nuance and significance of the French language that would otherwise go unnoticed in the subtitles. CDT Kevin Fidler and CPT Ky Fehlbaum explored the more significant thematic elements of the film through French language and culture and were able to share their insight to a very receptive and interested audience of cadets and faculty members.
b. Cadets attending the French Military Academy at St Cyr participated in a trip section to Paris, where they were able to experience some of the traditions of St-Cyr. They attended a promotion ceremony for the first year cadets and participated in a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe. They were also given a tour of L’Hotel des Invalides and participated in a formal dinner with other international cadets. Earlier in the week, the cadets participated in a weapons qualification course at St Cyr in order to familiarize themselves with the French FAMAS rifle.
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Cadets Labenne, Divito, Cantu, Heck and Burke in front of Les Invalides, Paris, France
Cadets Labenne, Divito, Cantu, Heck and Burke after participating in FAMAS weapons familiarization
Arabic: In the first week of October, Arabic major Nicole Carter and Political science major Andrew Park traveled to the Zawiyat Ahansal region of Morocco, to speak with Cloe Erickson, the founder of the Atlas Cultural Foundation. This American non-governmental organization is working to develop the region by collaborating with local Moroccans in the realms of public health, cultural preservation, and education. As a part the excursion, Cadets Park and Carter taught English to local to local school children. Cadets Carter and Park are Semester Abroad students at the American-Middle East Educational and Training Services' (AMIDEAST) intensive Arabic program. Atlas Cultural Foundation: http://atlasculturalfoundation.org/mission/ AMIDEAST: http://amideast.org/
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Cadet Nicole Carter with with students she taught English in Morocco
Upcoming HIGHLIGHTS Next two weeks:
French: The French Forum will be traveling to Montreal, Canada for a cultural and language immersion trip section from 30 OCT-01NOV.
Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
Completed Events
Science and Policy (PH456) Teleconference: On 5 October, the PaNE Science and Policy Course (PH456) conducted a Secure Video Teleconference (SVTC) with LTC Jeff Spear in Brussels, Belgium. LTC Spear is an FA52 (Nuclear and Counter-proliferation) Officer assigned as the Nuclear Policy Advisor for the US Ambassador to NATO. He led a discussion that looked at the complexities of the worsening relations with Russia. The discussion included many current political/technical topics to include NATO's nuclear sharing policy, the B61 Life Extension Program (LEP), and the House Armed Services Committee hearing on Nuclear Deterrence in the 21st Century (June 2015). They were discussed in the context of the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
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Advancement Ceremony: On 9 October, COL John Hartke was appointed as Professor, United States Military Academy at an Advancement Ceremony conducted by BG Timothy Trainor.
BG Trainor & COL Hartke
2LT Matt, Dax, & Alex Hartke affixing the USMA Insignia
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BG Trainor administering the Oath of Office
COL Hartke’s remarks (wife, Lisa & family in front row)
Future Events
Visitors: During 27-28 October, representatives from Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia National Labs will visit USMA to recruit cadets from all majors to go