Department of Law: For the fifth and final year, West Point cadets traveled to Liberia for an AIAD to study the rule of law in a post conflict country. Law Majors CDT Colton Giordano ’14 and CDT Betsy McCracken ’14, spent three weeks interviewing Liberians, U.S. State Department officials, U.S. Aid officials, and the Senior Defense Officer, COL Timothy Mitchell ’87, to get an understanding of the challenges the rule of law faces after Liberia’s gruesome 1989-2003 civil war.
CDTs Giordano and McCracken quickly learned how complex and intertwined Liberia’s problems are, all affecting the rule of law in the world’s third poorest country. While Liberia’s constitution, court system, and one law school are modeled on the United States’, Liberia’s formal legal system is not able to provide justice for most its 4 million citizens. For example, the cadets heard how for the 3 million Liberians who live outside Monrovia, the capital, calling the police to report a crime does little good. This is because what few police there are either don’t have vehicles to come to a crime scene, or don’t have fuel for their vehicles.
Then when the cadets visited Monrovia Central Prison, the prison deputy superintendent told them how the vast majority of the prison’s 1,300 occupants were pre-trial detainees, as the country only has 30 public defense attorneys. So pre-trial detention can last for months or years.
The cadets heard more about how traditional leaders try to settle disputes from the Chairman of the National Traditional Council, the chief of all the chiefs. He described how elected chiefs try to reconcile the problem by talking to villagers, but how some chiefs also use customary, less unscientific methods, to determine who is telling the truth in a dispute.
Since the end of the Liberian civil war, the U.S. military has been mentoring the newly formed Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), a force that has adopted the Uniform Code of Military Justice as its legal code. Yet the AFL does not have any lawyers. The AFL enlisted soldier who is currently acting as both a defense and prosecuting attorney met with the cadets to describe the challenges the rule of law faces in keeping good order and discipline in the AFL.
Cadets Complete AIAD at Pentagon, One Presentation Sent to Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Upon His Request: Cadets Ashley Mohr '15 and Carissa Pekny '16, both Environmental Science majors worked their AIAD at the Pentagon from 14-25 Jul 14 within the organization of the Hon. Katherine Hammack, Assistant Secretary of the Army, Installation, Energy and Environment (ASA IE&E). Cadet Mohr’s project was to evaluate the pilot Net Zero Energy modeling framework used by IE&E and compare that framework to the pilot Net Zero models used by installations in the US and Europe. She was then to recommend a final model for IE&E that better specifies the Net Zero approach. Cadet Carissa Pekny applied the systems engineering decision making process as developed by the United States Military Academy, West Point to compare seven different huts: B-hut, Concrete B-hut, SIP hut reinforced, rigid wall shelter, concrete masonry unit, and two energy efficient shelters. She then used this analysis to determine which of these huts had the highest stakeholder value in comparison to its cost. The Structural Insulated Panel hut had the highest stakeholder value at the 2nd lowest cost per soldier. Cadet Pekny’s project was sent to the LTG John Campbell, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, upon his request. Point of contact is LTC Mark Smith, D/GENE, mark.smith@usma.edu
Center for the Study of Civil Military Affairs (CSCMO) AIAD to Honduras: (20 July – 08 August) Cadets visiting Joint Task Force Bravo (JTF-B) at Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras over the summer received briefs from several Honduran military schools to include the Commando School located just outside of Tegucigalpa. This school, dedicated to training special tactics, is quivalent to the US Army Airborne and Ranger Schools. Graduates of the prestigious school are known throughout the Honduran military as elite troops specialized in jungle warfare and night operations. Cadets also participated with JTF-B personnel in community service projects oriented toward improving conditions at orphanages in local Comayagua, and organizing special projects and trips for the children. POC is MAJ Gavin Schwan at gavin.schwan@usma.edu.
Yearlings Molly Prins, Jacob Moffatt, and Charlie Braman joined Network Science Center Senior Researcher, Dan Evans, on an AIAD trip to Dar es Salaam Tanzania for a data collection effort supporting the Network Science Center's research project entitled, “Developing Network Models of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems.” The project has previously collected data in Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, Liberia, and Ghana.
NSC AIAD Trip to Dar es Salaam: The team immersed themselves into the burgeoning tech scene in Dar es Salaam. They visited 4 tech incubators/tech hubs: the Dar Teknohama Business Incubator, the Buni collaboration hub, the KINU incubator, and the Mara Foundation. In addition to interviewing tech entrepreneurs and administering surveys, they shared their expertise by teaching a class on performance management and counseling to a packed house at the KINU collaborative space. The team also briefed members of the US Embassy Staff on the project and even participated in the military section's Hail and Farewell at the Defense Attache's home.