USNA News Article
Midshipmen Conduct Research in Rwanda and Panama
September 13, 2012
By Midshipman 1st Class Eric Davids
Four midshipmen traveled to Panama and Rwanda this summer on research trips with civilian students and military cadets in conjunction with the Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services, better known as ALLIES.
ALLIES is an intercollegiate consortium designed to bring together student leaders from civilian and military universities to examine the nature of civil-military relations.
The institutions involved in the trips included Boston University, Tufts University, University of Miami, and West Point. These joint research projects are conducted annually by ALLIES members in order to provide participants the opportunity to investigate topics of shared interest in a civil-military setting.
During these trips, the midshipmen engaged in collaborative academic research and cultural immersion experiences through which they established professional relationships with individuals from the civilian sector as well as other military branches. One of the primary purposes of this distinct research methodology is to develop overlapping relationships across the civil-military spectrum that can be nurtured and strengthened over time as the students enter positions of leadership in the future.
The Naval Academy chapter has a rich history of participation in these research projects. Since 2008, midshipmen have participated in research trips to Jordan, Chile, Uganda and Ukraine.
Midshipmen 2nd Class Jordan Rettie and Eric Davids traveled to Rwanda, accompanied by two West Point cadets and three civilian students. The delegation was invited to the country by Rwanda’s Ministry of Defense to conduct research on the current state of the nation’s civil-military relations.
Over the course of 18 days in Rwanda, the group conducted more than 20 interviews with a variety of Rwandans including generals, permanent secretaries, students, cadets, villagers and artists. The students based their research out of Kigali, but travelled to a variety of significant locales throughout the country ranging from the Rwandan Military Academy to Akagara National Park.
Midshipman 1st Class Malik Harris and Midshipman 2nd Class Robert Detchon traveled to Panama City, Panama, in the beginning of June with four civilian students and a 2012 graduate from the University of Miami, who is currently in Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I. The purpose of this trip was to study the effectiveness of the demilitarization of the Panamanian Defense Forces after the fall of General Noriega in 1989.
The delegation met with scholars and prominent civilian leaders who played key roles during the period of demilitarization. The group traveled to Panama Viejo, Casco Viejo, the Amador Causeway, the Mira Flores Locks of the Panama Canal, and the San Blas Islands.
All of the midshipmen who traveled on the research trips felt strongly that their experiences had an incredible impact on their professional development. Both teams participated in high level academic research and are currently working to produce comprehensive documents on their findings.
The process of organizing and executing the two trips, however, was equally valuable. The students had the opportunity to coordinate logistics and study in foreign, dynamic locations with a diverse peer group. This style of research has clear parallels to the future careers of the participants.
