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NPS Delivers Graduate-Level Programs to Strike Groups

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS090411-08
Release Date: 4/11/2009 7:29:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kellie Arakawa

MONTEREY, Calif. (NNS) -- Naval Postgraduate School's (NPS) Regional Security Education Program (RSEP) allows U.S. carrier and expeditionary strike groups to understand the cultural and security challenges they may face overseas.

Teams of professors and regional experts deliver graduate-level briefings at sea.

The program is intended to enhance the operational mission of strike groups by providing cultural, historical and security contexts of the regions in which they deploy.

RSEP teams have visited every U.S. carrier strike group, and in just the last few years, they have reached more than 150,000 participants worldwide. Additionally, RSEP has seen a growing demand for the program's curriculum. Since 2005, the number of RSEP trips per year has more than doubled.

Most recently, an RSEP team accompanied Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group when it departed for a five-month deployment to the Middle East. Led by retired Rear Adm. Stephen Loeffler, RSEP program director and team members Dr. Robert Rook, a professor from Towson University; Dr. Michael Freeman, an assistant professor from NPS; and Dr. Ahmad Ghoreishi, a professor emeritus from NPS, delivered a series of lectures for 10 days at sea.

The team spoke to officers and senior enlisted personnel about U.S. security strategies in the Middle East, cultural awareness and diplomacy, Islam and Islamic fundamentalism, Middle East conflicts and regional insurgencies. To ensure every Sailor had the opportunity to view the briefings, they were also recorded and broadcast on Eisenhower's television system.

"Having the RSEP team aboard the ship is a fantastic asset," said Eisenhower's Executive Officer Capt. Ted Williams. "These professors bring a wealth of knowledge that you just couldn't get through a slide presentation...I'm amazed at their level of expertise and how our Sailors have been able to glean as much information as possible from them."

"I think it's critical that we understand the historical and cultural context of the countries in which we are operating to ensure the effectiveness of those operations," explained Lt. Cmdr. Robert Pedre, a surface warfare officer for the United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group who was training aboard the Eisenhower.

Pedre said the British Royal Navy also has a program similar to RSEP, but he plans to brief his commander about NPS' program when he returns.

"Feedback for the program is overwhelmingly positive," Loeffler commented. "In some of the first deployment briefs the strike groups have been given to Navy leadership at both the fleet level and in Washington, they've mentioned RSEP very positively and the impact that it had."

Loeffler also pointed out that while RSEP provides an important service to the fleet, it also provides unique learning experiences for the civilian professors and instructors who deploy with the strike groups.

Ghoreishi has been on more than 30 RSEP missions since the program's inception. He enjoys participating in RSEP because it gives him a better understanding of the Navy's culture.

"I think it's very educational for me...on every trip, I learn something new," Ghoreishi said.

For Freeman, a first-time RSEP lecturer, teaching aboard the carrier was a new and challenging experience. But despite the change in environment, Freeman said the students and curriculum were not all that different.

"In the classroom at NPS, we have to make the lectures practical and useful to people in combat. I think that's the same case here [aboard Eisenhower]. It's really an extension of what we do on campus," he explained.

Rook, the chair of Towson's History Department, has served on two previous RSEP teams and was introduced to the program by colleagues from the U.S. Naval Academy.

"I think this program is a really wonderful idea in terms of bringing expertise out into the fleet and helping enlisted and officers become a bit more comfortable about the areas and topics they're going to be encountering," he said. "I'm very pleased to be a part of it."

For more news from Naval Postgraduate School, visit www.navy.mil/local/nps/.