Volunteering with CCS — Not Just for Civilians
Volunteer: Ruth Beitler
Age: 43
From: Long Island, NY
Occupation: Professor of Comparative Politics and Director of Conflict and Human Security Studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point
CCS Program Site: Bagamoyo, Tanzania
Why do you think CCS is a good fit for West Point?
I kind of just happened upon CCS, and it seemed to have everything we wanted. We only have about three weeks in the summer to send our cadets, so if I was going to have to figure out all the logistics for every single place we wanted to be able to send them, it would be a very complicated process. So I think it was the best of both worlds — we get to partner with the NGOs we wanted to work with, and also get the cultural side of things, with all the logistics taken care of. So we took three groups in 2008 to India, Peru, and Tanzania and kind of took a chance. 2009 was our second year…we sent seven groups. All of those groups were a mix, about half and half West Point cadets and Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets.
Can you tell us about the Conflict and Human Security Studies (CHSS) program you established at West Point, and how the CCS experience helps you achieve the program’s goals?
The CHSS program’s first summer was 2007. We had put in a grant for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, because we noted that we had a gap in our education and training for our cadets. We were looking at all the conflicts happening all over the world, and we were seeing a lot of internal conflicts in countries that we were involved in. So, we knew that our cadets would have to be much more culturally aware and culturally sensitive — gaining cross-cultural competence and being able to live and work in another country/culture. We also noticed we were beginning to work with more non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which had different organizational cultures than the military, so in order to be as effective as we could be, we would need to learn more about that culture. This was all the idea behind the CHSS program.
As a Faculty-leader, tell us about your experience in connecting your curriculum with a CCS program.
When we get a cadet who has been oversees, they are such an asset to the classroom. Also, for cadets who would like to do their senior thesis on Africa, let’s say…this gives them the opportunity to do some research on the ground. For me as a faculty member, I am a much better teacher, because when I talk about some of the differences between American and other cultures, I have first-hand, deep, meaningful experiences to pull from. I met a Massai warrior on the way back on the plane, and I asked him if he would be willing to come and speak to West Point cadets, and he ended up coming! It was amazing, and it’s that type of networking that helps us to adapt our teaching to what will really work for the cadets when they operate in society. This experience will help them to be better global leaders. It’s that old adage of 'be, know, do.' And we can do the 'be' and 'know' pretty well at the academy, but the 'do,' that you can only learn from being in that particular place.
How important were the other volunteers to your experience overall?
I think they were critical to our experience. I think it’s critical for the cadets to be in situations, and have to answer questions in a well-thought out way to express themselves with people who may not share their views, or don’t agree with who they are, or what they are doing. And in the same sense, many people have never met military officers, so they also can come away feeling differently and learning from the experience. It’s mutual learning.
How do you think an international volunteering experience is related to leadership?
You cannot be a good leader, from my perspective, without being open and adaptable. International volunteering, and other cultural immersion-type of experiences, forces cadets to adapt to different cultures. It’s all about working with the local population, they will be walking around and talking to people — it’s all about understanding informal power, informal leadership…it’s about making them more comfortable in a place where they might not understand the language, etc. One military officer said 'I love these programs because I don’t want my junior officers to have culture shock and combat shock at the same time.' Recognizing that our way isn’t the only way is a critical part of their professional development.
What would you say to people who don’t immediately see the connection between West Point and international volunteering?
As I mentioned it’s completely a part of the cadets’ professional development, not to just be military officers but to be global leaders, and that’s the same for civilians. If you can understand another culture, at least see things from another viewpoint…you will be in a much better position to lead. Many of the cadets are not in the Military their whole lives but many will go on to a position in public service, and this is something that will help them to be better in any position they might have.
