Negotiation is an important component for military leaders at all levels. In fact, negotiations are done every day, whether deployed or at home, even within their own organizations. The West Point Negotiation Project was founded in 2009 under the direction of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership in response to feedback from West Point graduates who had taken Negotiation for Leaders (MG390) as cadets and then applied their learning as Army officers.
As part of the WPNP, 32 cadets and two FBI agents took a 40-hour course in crisis negotiation Aug. 6-10. The course was led by FBI Supervisory Special Agents Mike Yansick and Mark Flores from the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit-New York Office. The cadets learned the importance of negotiation in crisis situations, were introduced to a framework for active listening and techniques to calm a situation. The students analyzed real FBI footage of hostage situations and the Boston Marathon bombing and learned to apply the concepts into role-playing scenarios. Read More