Dean of CTC participated in Army War College's 58th Annual National Security Seminar

Karen Schmitt, Dean of UAA's Community and Technical College, recently participated as a new member of the Army War College's 58th Annual National Security Seminar in Carlisle, Pa., hosted by Maj. Gen. Gregg F. Martin, commandant of the U.S. Army War College (USAWC).

Schmitt was one of approximately 155 citizens drawn from across American life and various fields of endeavor. The seminar enables these representative citizens to get to know some of the prospective leaders of their armed forces and, in turn, allows the students to better understand the society they serve.

The seminar is the capstone event of the 10-month curriculum at the USAWC, the Army's senior educational institution. Each new member is assigned to one of 23 student seminar groups and becomes an active participant in seminar discussions, sharing from their own background, experience, beliefs and perspectives on these issues.

Featured speakers during the week included Lt. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander of Third Army/USCENTCOM's Army Central Command (ARCENT), who opened the seminar with a keynote presentation on the complex environment of the Middle East; American University Professor of International Relations Gordon Adams, who focused his seminar on current U.S. economic conditions; Norman J. Ornstein, resident scholar, long-time observer of Congress and politics and author of a weekly column for Roll Call called "Congress Inside Out," who addressed the domestic political landscape; and Paul Kan, USAWC associate professor of national security studies, who addressed the Mexican drug war in a presentation title "Understanding Cartel Violence."

The USAWC was established in 1901 "not to promote war, but to preserve peace," by developing, inspiring and serving strategic leaders for the wise and effective application of national power in a joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational environment, emphasizing development and employment of land power. USAWC educates more than 1,000 officers annually in its resident and distance programs and specialty courses for strategists and strategic leaders.

For more information about the USAWC, visit their website, YouTube or facebook.