Press Release
☷Army War College hosts competition to test participants policy skills
U.S. Army ( By Press Release office)
May 06,2022
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The National War College posing after their victory in the event . The wooden award being held will belong to NWC until the next Strategy Competition , where the next winner will then take possession of it . While student teams of five ‘war colleges’ competed in twelve sports to earn the Jim Thorpe Sports Games Commandants Cup , April 28 - 30 , a parallel competition tested students’ ability to apply their understanding of national security . In the Strategy Competition , each team spent a full day of analysis and strategizing and presented their recommendations , April 30 . U . S . Army War College Commandant Maj . Gen . David Hill announced the winning team in conceptual competition: National War College . The purpose of this competition goes much further than just the classroom , as real - world military leaders had an opportunity to practice how they would react to a highly volatile situation under a time constraint . The teams only discovered what the scenario for the competition would be when they arrived at the USAWC approximately two days before the event . Six - person teams represented five colleges for the competition: the USAWC , National War College , Naval War College , the Clements Center from the Lyndon B . Johnson school of Public Affairs at the University of Texas Austin , and the Ecole de Guerre , the French war college . The scenario used for the competition was the Russian invasion of Ukraine , an issue which the students considered being of the utmost global interest and importance . The college teams were tasked with formulating a concise and coherent policy plan about how the situation should be dealt with , which would then be presented and evaluated by judges whom were selected due to their national security knowledge . The Ecole de Guerre participants were in a unique position as the only fully foreign team in the competition . Their first - hand knowledge and their Eurocentric lens which they viewed the scenario gave them a unique perspective . Their proposed policy was focused on the importance of the transatlantic relationship and how the United States and Europe could cooperate to attempt to neutralize the Russian threat . This included an increased participation on NATO and the European Union . In addition to the six - member French teams , six of their colleagues participated on other teams . These students were invaluable to their American counterparts by bringing their perspective , and it should be noted that the first and second place teams each had a French member . The Ecole de Guerre team would end up placing third in the competition . The French instructor stated the importance of the importance of the French - American relationship “It’s always been important for officers to engage with their allies and , in this case , American counterparts , and I think it’s all the more important today because the uncertainty , ” said Emilie Cleret , Director of Debate for the Ecole de Guerre and fellow with the Royal United Service Institute . “If there isn’t that rapport that’s created , then I think when they do have to work together it will be far more difficult . The day they will have to engage together in operations or supervising operations , they will have a common ground to work from . ” The Ecole de Guerre was not the only team who had an outsider’s perspective , as the U - Texas team had virtually no military planning experience . Coming from a civilian academic perspective , these students did not have the same hands - on experience in decision making as the other teams had . “It was interesting to see how every team had central common goals , but with different directions on how to reach them , ” said Ilayda Dussetschleger , a U - Texas student in the final year of her master’s program . The U - Texas student team , along with their accompanying French student , primarily focused their policy on the different forms of soft power that they could use . This included an emphasis on a public diplomacy campaign that would use celebrities to speak against Russia’s actions and bring the issue to the attention of those who would normally not care . There was also an emphasis on cooperation between the US and the Europe , perhaps because of the team’s French member . The U - Texas team would end up taking home second place in the competition , proving that they could compete with the senior service schools regardless of their military background . “We have been studying crisis scenarios like this all year , so now we can attempt to apply the educational framework that we were taught into a real - life policy that could be viable long term . While we were only given a short amount of time to complete our policy , I believe that time - crunch could be beneficial to real world situations” , said USAF Lt . Col . John Conner , NWC student . National War College won the competition because of their focus on strategic planning and forethought , which the judges rewarded with a victory . The level of planning that the NWC team had was considered exceptional by their peers . They had considered the potential success and failure of all their actions and used visual aids to show how the different policy outcomes would affect each major actor . Focusing on economic and diplomatic strategies , they emphasized trade and negotiations to help ease the situation . Dr . Stephen Biddle , foreign policy expert and Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University , was one of the judges of the competition . Biddle emphasized the importance of coherency and cogency to the participants by saying “your decisions do not occur in a vacuum , you need to consider the implications of everything you do” . Biddle was assertive during the panel question portion of each team’s presentation , dissecting the flaws and logical gaps presented . The other judges on the panel were Dr . Risa Brooks , military policy expert and professor from Marquette University , and Dr . Sonya Finley , Professor of Strategy from National War College . They both honed in on the importance of using different types of strategy to accomplish an objective , and were quick to question whether certain policies were thought through completely . “You absolutely need to consider what impacts your choices have , not just on the group that you want it to affect but to the peripheral groups , ” said Brooks , during her final evaluation . Hosted by the USAWC , this is the first strategy competition among senior service colleges . It was developed in partnership with Cleret by USAWC Professor and Chair of Executive and Strategic Leadership , Celestino Perez . “The level of enthusiasm among the students – and faculty – was very high , and even after it had concluded , the faculty were strategizing for how to approach the competition next year , ” said Dr . Carrie Lee , chair of the sponsoring Department of National Security and Strategy .
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