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Deans Weekly Significant Activities Report
24 February 2016
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
Department of Physics and Nuclear Science: Triathlon
Team: During 20-21 February, CPT John Davis traveled to
Boston, MA with the WP Triathlon Team.
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Upcoming Event
Bosnia: History, Genocide, Survival and Justice
Monday, 7 March
Dean’s Hour 1250-1345 WH5300 POC: Dr. David Frey 938-7643
Sponsored by the Department of History and Military Instruction
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Department of Mathematical Sciences
On January 28th – February 1st, 29 cadets represented the United States Military
Academy in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) and Interdisciplinary Contest
in Modeling (ICM), an international competition in which teams of two or three students
were tasked to model complex situations. Every year the Consortium for Mathematics
and Applications (COMAP) sponsors these two international contests for
undergraduates. In the contests, teams are given 96 hours to develop mathematical
models to solve a real world problem, evaluate their solution, and write a research
paper describing their results. Over 3500 teams participated last year from around the
world.
A total of ten teams competed for West point, comprised of cadets in a wide variety of
majors from Mathematics to International History, American Politics, Economics and
Chinese. The ten teams spent 96 hours working on one they selected from six very
challenging problems: 1) "A Hot Bath" – best strategy for heating a bathtub, 2) “Space
Junk” – cleaning up debris orbiting the Earth, 3) “The Goodgrant Challenge” – optimal
strategy to invest in schools, 4) “Measuring the Evolution and Influence in Society’s
Information Networks”, 5) “Are we heading towards a thirsty planet?”, or 6) “Modeling
Refugee Immigration Policies”. The questions can be found at
http://www.comap.com/undergraduate/contests/mcm/contests/2016/problems/
Cadets had positive feedback after the competition was complete. Cadet Simone
Askew, Company C4 and class of 2018, remarked that "It was a wonderful opportunity
to research and model relevant and global conflicts. Throughout the competition, I
gained immense familiarity with the struggles of the UN and how simple models can be
applied to multi-faceted events in history and present day."
West Point has been competing in this competition for over 35 years, and this year like
in past years, we had an outstanding group of cadets who worked very hard and
enjoyed the challenge. The results of the competition will be released later in the
spring.
Poster for this year’s MCM-ICM competition
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Department of Chemistry and Life Science
C&LS Researchers Visit Johns Hopkins Medical Center
Pictured: Dr. Thomas Brushart examining a nerve sample under a dissection microscope.
On 12 February 2016, researchers Dr. Joseph Loverde and Dr. Alex Mitropoulos in the
Department of Chemistry and Life Science visited with collaborator Dr. Thomas Brushart,
Chief of Hand Surgery at John Hopkins Medical Hospital. The collaboration is to assist
with animal studies using new fiber based biomaterial scaffolds for nerve repair under the
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program. The collaboration with Johns
Hopkins Medical Center on interdisciplinary chemical and biological projects has led to
established versatile research opportunities for over 25 cadets.
Dr. Loverde and Dr. Mitropoulos are working on two funded projects to aid in repair and
activity of biological tissues in the Regenerative Biology Group under LTC Luis Alvarez.
Providing direction and instruction to over 20 cadets in the current term, Dr. Loverde and
Dr. Mitropoulos have driven research in two DARPA-funded projects including the
“SENSA” project for Engineered Neuro-Sensory Interfaces-Giving Prosthetics the Sense
of Touch and “BioStasis” project to preserve tissue using isochoric cooling.
For more information on this work please visit www.regenbiogroup.org.
CLS Volunteer Work at Project Hospitality
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On 11 February, MAJ Vanessa Melanson and 5 cadet volunteers from the West Point
Pre-Medical Society conducted community outreach at Project Hospitality located in
Staten Island, NY. The mission of Project Hospitality is to reach out to community
members who are hungry, homeless or otherwise in need in order to work with them to
achieve their self-sufficiency — thereby enhancing the quality of life for the surrounding
community. Volunteers participated in stocking the food pantry, assisting community
members, serving lunch and cleaning the pantry. This volunteer effort positively
impacted over 50 families.
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Department of English and Philosophy
Visit by Dr. Sarah Cole
Dr. Sarah Cole, Professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at
Columbia University, visited Patrick Query's EN390 course “Violence in Irish Literature,”
to discuss her work. Students in the class have been reading Cole's book At the Violet
Hour: Modernism and Violence in England and Ireland. Dr. Cole discussed Irish poet
William Butler Yeats and his literary approaches to violence in different parts of his
career, particularly in his famous poem "Easter 1916." This year marks the centenary of
the Easter Rising which is serving as a special context for the class's investigations.
POC is Dr. Pat Query, Professor, DEP (patrick.query@usma.edu), x4363.
Dr. Cole addresses students in Dr.
Query's Violence in Irish Literature
class.
CDT David Lane `16 converses
with Dr. Cole
Winter Formal
On February 5, 2016, the Department of English and Philosophy held their Winter
Formal at the Bear Mountain Inn. This annual event offered faculty and staff the
opportunity to don their formal attire, dust off their tuxedos and ball gowns, and dance
into the night. The evening was also a fantastic way for new civilian faculty members to
learn about Army traditions while having fun. The POC for this event is CPT Aaron
Mann, DEP, aaron.mann@usma.edu, x4165.
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Faculty, Staff, and their guests crush it on the
dance floor.
Faculty and Staff of the Department of
English and Philosophy at the Bear
Mountain Inn for the Department Winter
Formal
Presentations at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics
Conference.
On 19 February, LTC Michael Saxon, LTC Todd Burkhardt, and LTC Christopher
Korpela (EECS) presented papers at the 25th Annual Association for Practical and
Professional Ethics (APPE) in Reston, Virginia. APPE is an interdisciplinary conference
that promotes and discusses ethics in business, medicine, law, politics, society,
education, and the military. LTCs Saxon and Korpela were part of a panel discussion
on remotely piloted and autonomous weapon systems. The panel was comprised of
LTC Saxon’s work entitled “Drones, Contemporary Conflict, and Just War Theory,” LTC
Korpela’s work entitled “Moral Responsibilities in the Design of Killer Machines,” and Dr
Mark Wilson’s (Villanova University) work entitled “Moral Psychology, Drones, and
Contemporary Conflict.” Dr. Wilson is also the co-creator of the annual USMA /
Villanova University Ethics of War conference, so his participation signals ongoing
collaboration with West Point on ethics and war. Additionally, LTC Burkhardt presented
a paper entitled “Intentionally Targeting Noncombatants with Non-Lethal Weapons”
which argues for the implementation of these non-lethal weapons as well as an updated
Fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV) that reflects this. POC is LTC Todd Burkhardt, DEP,
todd.burkhardt@usma.edu.
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Speed Skating
On Saturday, 13 February, Dr. Patrick Query finished first at the Memphremagog Ice
Skating Marathon in Newport, Vermont. Despite stiff competition and a temperature that
dipped to 25 below zero, Dr. Query battled bravely for the gold medal. POC is Dr. Pat
Query, Professor, DEP (patrick.query@usma.edu), x4363.
Dr. Query proudly displaying his first
place gold medal.
Dr. Query preparing to take to the ice in
Newport, Vermont.
DEP UPCOMING EVENTS:
21 FEB 2016: Ethics Bowl Nationals in Virginia
Combating Terrorism Center
In early February, Combating Terrorism Center Director LTC Bryan Price and Director
of Strategic Initiatives Don Rassler traveled to Florida for the 2016 Army Annual
Worldwide Antiterrorism Conference, where they both presented recent research.
LTC Price delivered his remarks on “CT Counter-narrative Lessons from the Truth Anti-
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Smoking Campaign” while Mr. Rassler’s presented his findings on “Terrorists and
Remotely Piloted Aircraft: A Study of Narratives, Countermeasures, Acquisition and
Use.”
West Point cadets in Combating Terrorism Center Director LTC Bryan Price’s
“Combating Terrorism” course finished second in the State Department’s “P2P:
Challenging Extremism” competition. P2P is an international contest in which
university students are challenged to develop and execute online campaigns to combat
extremism. The cadets, who worked on their campaign throughout the fall semester,
were selected as finalists from 45 teams from around the world. In early February, the
class traveled to Washington D.C., where five cadets presented the work on behalf of
their class. The cadets’ efforts have been featured by numerous news outlets, to include
PBS, NPR, and VICE News.
(Left to right) Cadets Jordan Isham (2018), Austin Montgomery (2018), Brittany Scofield
(2018), C.J. Drew (2016), and David Weinmann (2018) presented their class’ online
campaign during the State Department’s counter-extremism competition, held in
Washington, D.C.
On February 10, the Union League Club and the West Point Society of New York
hosted Combating Terrorism Center Director LTC Bryan Price for a discussion on
current threats at its Manhattan headquarters. West Point Society of New York is one of
the Nation’s oldest and most active societies. It serves to connect former cadets and
graduates to each other and provide opportunities for insight on matters of national
importance.
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On February 16, the Combating Terrorism Center hosted journalist and former
Islamic State hostage Nicolas Henin. Following a briefing by CTC leadership and an
interview with CTC Sentinel’s managing editor, Henin delivered a lecture to over 150
cadets about his 10 months in captivity with the Islamic State and his views on the
current campaign to defeat the group.
French journalist Nicolas Henin’s lecture drew a standing-room-only audience of cadets.
Following the publication of the CTC Sentinel’s February article “Depictions of Children
and Youth in the Islamic State’s Martyrdom Propaganda, 2015-2016” by Mia Bloom,
John Horgan, and Charlie Winter, numerous national and international media outlets
covered the study’s findings, to include Washington Post, CNN, BBC, and The Daily
Beast.
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On February 17, CTC Director of Terrorism Studies Dr. Arie Perliger spoke at the
University of Arizona, School of Government and Public Policy. His lecture, entitled
“Explaining the Life Cycle of Foreign Fighters,” highlighted socioeconomic, social, and
operational information and trends from the CTC’s dataset of more than 1,300 foreign
fighters. Dr. Perliger discussed how this data provides insight into the factors that shape
the life cycle of foreign fighters.
Department of Systems Engineering
Lean Six Sigma Capstone Team visits Tobyhanna Army Depot. On 18 February
2016, Cadets Ryan Utter, Brandon Hardman, Christian Mapes, Molly Wharton and LTC
Jose Ramirez (advisor) visited Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) to work on their Lean
Six Sigma (LSS) capstone project of the Support Operations Division (SOD). The
team’s goal is to use the LSS Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC)
process to develop ways of reducing the time associated with managing and reporting
labor of the SOD by 25%. This reduction in labor reporting correlates to an annual
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savings of over $228K. Together with TYAD analysts and line supervisors, the team
worked on the Improve Phase which entailed brainstorming solutions, prioritizing
solutions, and developing an implementation/pilot plan. Once this phase is complete
and solutions recommendations are implemented, the team will transition to the Control
Phase of the DMAIC process. Additionally, the capstone team had a pleasant lunch with
the TYAD Commander, COL Gregory Paterson. POC is Cadet Molly Wharton at
molly.wharton@usma.edu.
Top Left) LSS Capstone Team- Cadets Christian Mapes, Brandon Hardman, Ryan Utter, and Molly
Wharton. (Top Right) Cadet Wharton revises the Process Map. (Bottom Left) Cadet Mapes leads the
brainstorming session. (Bottom Right) Mr. Eli Londo (TYAD Analyst) briefs the team on the purpose
of the Benefit Effort Chart to evaluate potential solutions.
Soldier Centric Systems Engineering
The Department of Systems Engineering continues to develop a strong research thread
involving Soldier centric systems engineering. On Friday, 19 February, four cadet
capstone groups briefed Project Manager (PM) Soldier Warrior (SWAR), one of the
main directorates of PEO Soldier. The cadet capstone projects addressed the following
topics: measuring the operational benefits of situational awareness in small units by
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Cadets Daniel Goodman, Shea Mullins, James Cho, and Josh McDonald – the faculty
adviser is LTC Greg Boylan; development of a tactical situational awareness test using
Nett Warrior in a virtual environment by Cadets Alexandra Baker, Adam Jimenez, Olivia
Nardone, and Steven Ocasio – the faculty adviser is MAJ Greg Bew; development of a
Nett Warrior training tool in a virtual environment by Cadets Jordan Lee, Eric Lopez,
Zhaina Myrzakhanova, and Michael Robinson – the faculty adviser is MAJ Greg Bew;
and development of a small unit power decision support tool by Cadets Nathan Penick,
Kyle French, Austin Canara, and Samir Abdelkhalek – the faculty adviser is LTC Paul
Evangelista. The point of contact is LTC Paul Evangelista at
paul.evangelista@usma.edu.
COL Korycinski addresses USMMA Regiment of Midshipmen
COL Donna Korycinski was an invited speaker addressing the United States Merchant Marine
Academy (USMMA) Regiment of Midshipmen on Friday, 19Feb16 on taking full advantage of
opportunities in life as exemplified by her long and eventful career.
She is pictured with Capt. David B. Sosa, USMMA Commandant, and the Midshipman Honor
Representative. POC: COL Korycinski
Habitat for Humanity Trip to Chappaqua, NY. On 20 FEB, MAJ Craig Brewer took 12
cadets from Company I3 to Chappaqua, NY to help transition an old church and Quaker
meeting location into affordable apartments in a very affluent community. As this site
was in the beginning stages of the teardown phase, Jim Killoran, CEO of H4H-
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Westchester County, wanted the cadets at this location since it required the most work
and knew they were the best people for the job. Once again led by CDT Brendan Ward
‘18, the cadets erected scaffolding, tore down siding, ripped up mature shrubbery,
demolished ceilings, cleared rubble from indoors, and enjoyed the service to the
community! Mr. Lange, the owner of Lange’s Deli down the street from the site, was
very supportive of our efforts and provided us lunch. Overall the community is very
thankful for the cadets’ service to the nation and their efforts in Chappaqua, NY. The
POC for this event is MAJ Craig Brewer at craig.brewer@usma.edu.
Company I3 at a Habitat for Humanity – Westchester County
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
1. ROTC Leadership Forum: On 19 February LTC Melnyk (D/CME) traveled to Seton Hall
University in New Jersey with LTC Wildy (3REG RTO) and several company TAC Officers and
NCOs to participate in a leadership forum hosted by Seton Hall. The event consisted of ROTC
cadets in their senior year from Princeton, Rutgers, and Seton Hall. The TAC officers and NCOs
spoke in small groups about their recent experiences as Company Commanders and Platoon
Sergeants and answered questions about the expectations of new Lieutenants. LTC Wildy and
LTC Melnyk addressed the entire group and offered their perspectives as former Battalion
Commanders and answered questions about what would be required of new Lieutenants. The
event was organized by LTC Trinidad Gonzalez, the PMS of Seton Hall University and a former
member of the Army Corps of Engineers stationed at West Point. POC is LTC Rich Melnyk at
richard.melnyk@usma.edu.
.
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1. ROTC Leadership Forum: On 19 February LTC Melnyk (D/CME) traveled to Seton Hall
University in New Jersey with LTC Wildy (3REG RTO) and several company TAC Officers and
NCOs to participate in a leadership forum hosted by Seton Hall. The event consisted of ROTC
cadets in their senior year from Princeton, Rutgers, and Seton Hall. The TAC officers and NCOs
spoke in small groups about their recent experiences as Company Commanders and Platoon
Sergeants and answered questions about the expectations of new Lieutenants. LTC Wildy and
LTC Melnyk addressed the entire group and offered their perspectives as former Battalion
Commanders and answered questions about what would be required of new Lieutenants. The
event was organized by LTC Trinidad Gonzalez, the PMS of Seton Hall University and a former
member of the Army Corps of Engineers stationed at West Point. POC is LTC Rich Melnyk at
richard.melnyk@usma.edu.
The entire group of cadets and mentors in front of a statue of the Seton Hall mascot.
Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Guest Lecturer from NPS
On January 23-24, 2016 the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Department and the Army Cyber Institute hosted Mr. Chris Eagle, Senior Lecturer from
the Naval Post Graduate School. Mr. Eagle ran a two-day Reverse Engineering
Workshop for the Cadet Competitive Cyber Team (C3T). Mr. Eagle is a world renowned
computer security author and speaker, including The IDA Pro Book. Under his
leadership, Sk3wl 0f r00t, won the coveted
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DEFCON Capture the Flag (CTF) competition in 2004 and 2008. Mr. Eagle went on to
organize DEFCON's CTF from 2009-2012. Additionally, during his visit Mr. Eagle
presented a talk to the faculty and staff entitled "Using Capture the Flag Events for
Education
Cadet Competitive Cyber Team (C3T) Competes at CyberStakes
The Cadet Competitive Cyber Team (C3T) team competed in the annual
CyberStakes Live Capture the Flag (CTF) exercise from 4-7 February 2016 in Pittsburg,
PA. The team established dominance early in the competition, brought home the most
medals of any service academy, and won the culminating Live Attack-Defend CTF.
Competing as three teams of four cadets, West Point's C3T won 3 Golds, 2 Silvers, and
1 Bronze medal in the 5 team events while earning a Silver and Bronze medal in the
two individual events. The OSD and DARPA funded event placed teams from the
Military, Naval, Air Force, and Coast Guard Academies in numerous competition based
live training events testing a variety of highly technical computer security skills. New for
this year, the Army's Cyber Protection Brigade also sent a team to compete alongside
the academy teams.
The team would like to extend special thanks to Chris Eagle, Jeremy Blackthorne
and Evan Jenson for training with the team and sharing their extensive knowledge.
EECS Department Hosts Systers Luncheon
On Wednesday, February 17th, 16 female cadets and 10 faculty met for lunch for
the department’s sixth EECS Systers Luncheon. The event, organized by Dr. Suzanne
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J. Matthews and CPT Marisol Torres, was designed to bring female students and faculty
in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology together in a
casual, relaxing environment. Cadets and faculty alike enjoyed the opportunity to catch
up with each other, and make new friends. EECS plans to hold a similar luncheon later
this semester. EECS Systers is USMA’s chapter of the Association of Computing
Machinery’s Council on Women in Computing. POC is Dr. Suzanne J. Matthews and
CPT Marisol Torres.
Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
Completed Events
Wake and Funeral: During 17-18 February, the Department of Physics and Nuclear
Engineering, celebrated the life of COL(R) Thomas Lainis, Jr., Professor of Physics,
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beside his loving family. Obituary can be found at the following link:
http://wfhoganfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/273/Thomas-Lainis/obituary.html
NSERC Colloquium Series: On 18 February, COL Michael Anderson, Chief of
USANCA’s newly created Nuclear Proponency Division, discussed his new Division,
changes to the Theatre Nuclear Operations Course (TNOC), and the proposed FA52
Core Competencies.
Triathlon Team: During 20-21 February, CPT John Davis traveled to Boston, MA with
the WP Triathlon Team. The team went to Bentley University where 18 cadets raced in
the Northeast Collegiate Triathlon Conference (NECTC) swim meet. Four schools in
the conference sent athletes to the competition for a total of over 40 triathletes. Overall,
both our men and women took first place over Bentley University, Boston College, and
the University of Connecticut. Madison Jones ‘18 took first place in each of her
individual events, the 500 yard freestyle and 200 yard IM. She was also a contributing
member to each of the winning relays. New team members Megan Jarrell ’19 and
Taylor Rodenhuis showcased their talents in the pool by placing in the top 3 for each of
their events. Highlights included Megan’s winning of the female 100 yard freestyle and
Taylor’s victory in the male 100 yard freestyle. Anna DeVries ’19 took the 50 yard
freestyle with a comfortable margin of victory. Team Captain Dylan Morgan ’16 led from
the front and contributed greatly to the team’s success as he competed in all but one of
the day’s events. The cadets also took the top three places in the 200 yard medley
relay and the top two places in each of the non-standard kicking and “Tarzan” style
relay events.
Team Photo
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Colloquium: On 22 February, MAJ Tony Clark, Assistant Professor, PaNE, presented
a classified Secret-Restricted Data colloquium entitled "Hydrodynamic Phenomena and
the Associated Experimentation of Thermonuclear Weaponry," to vetted staff and
faculty.
Colloquium: On 24 February, LTC Dave Morrow, Assistant Professor, PaNE,
discussed the Interagency perspective in respect to CWMD. Staff and faculty learned
more about how US agencies cooperate and collaborate to support the CWMD mission.
Future Events
Casino Night: On 26 February, the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
will participate in the Casino Night Fundraiser in support of the West Point Spouses
Club.
Habitat for Humanity: On 27 February, PaNE staff, faculty and cadets will travel to
NYC to participate in a Habitat for Humanity event. This Team Build will take place in
Queens, NY and it will be a full day, but a very rewarding experience. Check out the
following link https://www.habitatnyc.org/projects/current-projects to see where will be
working and how it will impact the NYC community.
Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering
US Army Public Health Center Guest Lecture: On Thursday, 18 February, Mr. Terry Meade
and Ms. Nikki Rodgers of the US Army Public Health Center presented a guest lecture to cadets
enrolled in EV397 (Air Pollution Engineering) on US Army Air Quality Monitoring. In addition
to recounting results from monitoring missions, they gave hands-on demonstrations of some of
the equipment used to monitor air quality and thus protect Soldier health in both home station
and deployed locations. POC is LTC Phil Dacunto, Philip.dacunto@usma.edu.
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Terry Meade of US Army Public Health Center
demonstrates sampling tools for volatile organic
compounds.
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Nikki Rodgers demonstrates the Deployable
Particulate Sampler, used to measure fine and
coarse particles in the air.
American Indian Science and Engineering Society’s 2016 Leadership Summit. LTC Jared
Ware, Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, has been selected to present at
the American Indian Science and Engineering Society’s 2016 Leadership Summit in Rochester,
Minnesota from April 14-16, 2016. The summit will host approximately 200 participants
including undergraduates, graduate students and professionals from across North America. The
topic of presentation is Outreach and Support to Youth Leadership and STEM Initiatives, which
are supported by USMA’s Native American Heritage Forum, Office of Diversity, Inclusion and
Equal Opportunity (ODIEO). The category, Organizing and Planning a Community Service
Project, was selected based on USMA and ODIEO’s successful implementation of Leadership,
Ethics and Diversity in STEM (LEADS) outreach workshops across the country and the annual
Pow Wow at Trophy Point. LTC Ware serves as the Assistant OIC for the Native American
Heritage Forum and is a member of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.
World Meteorological Organization’s Commission for Climatology. Dr. Adam Kalkstein
attended a United Nations climate workshop in Barbados as part of the World Meteorological
Organization’s Commission for Climatology. The goal of the workshop was to ensure that
various weather offices across the Caribbean are collecting and quality-controlling their climate
data in similar fashions; otherwise any climate change research across the region would be
impossible. Further, the workshop brought together local experts from various sectors (health,
agriculture, water, tourism, etc.) to access weather data. In many cases, the health officials had
never met their weather counterparts from their own country. In all, there were approximately
75 people in attendance representing over a dozen Caribbean countries. The UN experts in
attendance were from Australia, Japan, Canada, Spain, and Switzerland; Dr. Kalkstein was the
only American. Dr. Kalkstein gave three briefings on human health and worked closely with a
handful of countries examining climate and health data. POC is Dr. Adam Kalkstein at
Adam.Kalkstein@usma.edu.
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Experts from over a dozen Caribbean countries work to examine the impact of climate on human health,
agriculture, water, and tourism.
Dr. Adam Kalkstein presents research on climate and human health, as the BBC’s David Eades and
others look on.
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USMA Cadets, USNA Midshipmen and General Sir David Richards gather following the successful
conclusion of the 30th EPIIC Conference at Tufts University 18-21FEB2016.
Civil-Military Operations (C3MO). The Cadet Community on Civil-Military Operations
(C3MO) traveled to Tufts University near Boston, MA to participate in the 30th Education for
Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) Conference and the 10th Anniversary of the
Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES) organization. The theme of
this year’s conference was “Turmoil in Europe”. The participants discussed European (and
global) challenges that are a part of today’s challenging operating environment in a unique forum
linking future government and military leaders. Cadets from USMA, Midshipmen from the
Naval Academy, students from Tufts University and 48 international schools listened to many
experts from across the globe and participated in educational panels and small room discussions
facilitated by experts in their field. Cadets were able to build relationships with the international
community in their effort to bridge the very real Civil-Military divide. Cadets also furthered
their knowledge of international relations, Civil-Military Operations, and their role as future
military leaders in our increasingly complex world. POC is CPT Josh Borrell at
Joshua.Borrell@usma.edu.
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Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Completed Events
Follow BS&L on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Point-NY/Departmentof-Behavioral-Sciences-Leadership/44253274507
BS&L MANAGEMENT CONDUCTS HOUR TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR TEN
USMAPS VANGUARD LEADERSHIP GROUP MEMBERS AND 5 USMA WPNP
MEMBERS
On Saturday 20 February 16, Cadets Rima Gasparini and Kenner Brouillire, from
BS&L's West Point Negotiation Project, ran a three-hour training workshop for ten
USMAPS Vanguard Leadership Group members and 5 USMA WPNP members. The
training taught Cadet Candidates how to successfully engage others in difficult
conversations, by letting an understanding of the roles of emotion and partisan
perceptions inform their approach providing feedback. Each participant learned the
"ladder of inference", "3 Skills", and the "SBI" framework. The Cadet Candidates are
members of the USMAPS Vanguard Leadership Forum who travel to various locations
in order to participate in leader development seminars. The Candidates described the
Difficult Conversation Workshop as one of the most impactful parts of their Vanguard
sessions. The cadet in charge of planning and execution of the workshop was CDT
Rima Gaspirinni. She was assisted by CDT Kenner Brouillire- both WPNP Fellows.
Cadets were supervised and advised by MAJ Mike Rybacki, BS&L, who serves as the
OIC for WPNP. The Negotiation Project is a USMA faculty effort to improve the ability
of military leaders to negotiate and is an activity within BS&L's West Point Leadership
Center.
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CDT Rima Gasparini facilitates an "influence exercise" with 6 USMAPS and USMA
Cadets.
USMAPS Vanguard Members pose with WPNP Fellows CDT Rima Gasparini and Kenner
Brouillire at the completion of the Difficult Conversation Workshop
Management Program Hosts Columbia Business School’s Student Leadership & Ethics
Board
On 19 February 2016, 6 cadets and 2 management instructors hosted Columbia Business
School’s (CBS) Student Leadership & Ethics Board as a part of an annual leadership exchange.
In Jefferson Hall, 32 MBA candidates and 2 admissions officers engaged with cadets in plenary
sessions and practical exercises in negotiations, transformational leadership, trust exercises, and
a Leader Challenge. This event aimed to reestablish a relationship with CBS and expose cadets
to graduate students in the hopes of stimulating curiosity in the study of leadership. This visit
represents one half of the leadership exchange with CBS; in the upcoming fall semester, cadets
will visit the CBS campus to engage in MBA classes and case studies as well as discuss the
Army profession with student veterans. POC: CPT Tim McDonald, BS&L, x3295.
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Reported by Dean’s Institute of Innovation and Development
www.westpoint.edu/innovation
MAJ Mike Rybacki, instructor for MG390 Negotiations for Army Leaders, facilitates a
conversation with MBA candidates from Columbia Business School on principled
negotiations with the assistance of West Point Negotiation Project Fellow CDT Alex
Clark (’16).
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