We are not after strategists or strategic planners, per se, but officers with strategic understanding. In short, this type of event has merit because, upon graduation and subsequent entrance into the profession of arms, each one of these cadets must be able to relate their tactical actions to American national policy. Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno has recently written that, “ demands leaders with the ability to think broadly and critically, aware of the cultural lenses through which their actions will be viewed and cognizant of the potential strategic ramifications of their decisions.”

” Unfortunately, this is not a new argument on the Hudson River Superintendent Major General Samuel Koster advanced the idea in 1970, that at West Point, “We’re more interested in the ‘doer’ than the ‘thinker’.” Fortunately, the leadership in today’s Army thinks differently. One officer/faculty member who exemplifies this attitude said this past April, “we don’t want second lieutenant strategic thinkers. Some have questioned such a panel for cadets. Each view is important, particularly to cadets personally grappling with these real world issues for the first time. The panelists each commented on Iran within their area of expertise, and what follows is the set of edited, written remarks from the event (provided by each panelist). In this context, the Defense & Strategic Studies Program at West Point organized a multi-disciplinary, academic and professional forum on 4 October 2013, to discuss the many perspectives on potential American military intervention in Iran. Many of these teachers, in turn, are talking about the issue.

At West Point, in class, instructors find cadets asking pointed questions about what American military intervention might look like. The new Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, has raised the possibility of diplomacy with the United States, providing hope for a deal on the nuclear front. Comment on West Point Defense & Strategic Studies “War Council” Series

Betson west