Greetings from SOSH
Summer 2015
Dear Friends,
On behalf of Colonel Cindy Jebb, who is currently serving in Baghdad in support of the
Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, greetings from West Point! As you will see in this
newsletter, last year was another great one in Sosh. Special highlights include a productive
Senior Conference orchestrated by the Combating Terrorism Center and the maturation
of the Rupert H. Johnson Grand Strategy Program. The arrival of our incoming faculty
cohort fills us with renewed excitement about the year to come.
We hope you will be able to join us for the Fall Reunion on September 19, 2015. At the
registration website provided by the Department XO, Major Brian Forester, you will have
the option to sign up for the Department Open House, cadet review, and our tailgate,
which will run before the game at the Caufield Boat House.
To all our alums, serving in and out of the Army and around the world, we greatly
appreciate your continued support. We hope that you will be able to return to West Point
for the Fall Reunion and meet the great faculty who are in the Department today.
Sincerely,
This past April the Combating Terrorism Center
(CTC) organized Senior Conference 51, which
brought together senior military leaders,
representatives of international organizations,
private sector executives, and leading
counterterrorism experts to discuss unconventional
approaches to combating terrorism. Made possible
by the West Point Association of Graduates and
CTC donors, this event was a highlight of the year
as it invigorated discussion about a relevant and
complex problem facing the nation.
General Joseph Votel
Senior Conference 51 participants
A special edition of the CTC Sentinel
Our annual graduation awards
ceremony enabled us to recognize the
outstanding accomplishments of Sosh
cadets, provided current faculty the
opportunity to meet cadet families, and
introduced cadets to Sosh alums.
Awards ready for presentation.
Colonel (Ret.) Margaret Belknap presents
an award for excellence in finance to Cadet
Richard Henderson.
Cadets attending a reception with the
Superintendent and Dean hosted by
Senator Jack Reed on Capitol Hill.
New faculty hike up Anthony’s
Nose south of West Point.
Brigadier General (Ret.) Amos Jordan presents Cadet
Michah Clark an award for excellence for his leadership
of SCUSA 66.
VA Secretary, the Honorable
Robert McDonald, with Cadet
Iddhikorn Hutachinda.
LTC Kent Solheim and his son,
Cadet Brook Solheim, graduate
together from Air Assault School.
Majors Kevin Krupski and Shawn
Lonergan with their Cadet Leader
Development Training (CLDT) platoon.
Summer is an exciting time for
SOSH. We sent 184 cadets and
faculty on domestic and
international AIADs spanning 16
different countries. Other faculty
helped to lead Cadet Summer
Training, and we welcomed 19
new faculty into the Department.
The Rupert H. Johnson Grand Strategy Program had a fantastic year. In the spring,
18 cadets in the academic minor engaged with academics and policymakers in the
Grand Strategy seminar. Then, this past summer, Program Executive Director Dr.
Erica Borghard and Major Shawn Lonergan traveled to China, Hong Kong, and
Taiwan with seven Grand Strategy cadets to meet with scholars and practitioners while
studying U.S. and Chinese approaches to core national security issues.
Mr. James H. Baker, Principal Deputy Director,
Strategic Plans and Policy, J5, and Strategist to the
Chairman, JCS, visits the Grand Strategy Seminar to
discuss critical strategic issues.
Dr. Borghard, Major Lonergan, and Grand Strategy
program cadets meet with Chinese academics at Tongji
University.
As always in Sosh, teaching is our first priority.
Mr. Bill Murdy presents the teaching excellence award
to Majors Cole Pinheiro, Brian Mitchell, Corbett
Baxter, and Nate Strickland in May.
Dr. Scott Silverstone, recently named a Carnegie Fellow
with the New American Foundation, leads a joint seminar
with cadets and students from Bard College as part of a
teaching partnership between the two schools.
Dr. Ruth Beitler
receives the Dean’s
Award for Career
Excellence in Teaching
in this award’s
inaugural year.