Notes from the Field
2023 International Peace, Security & Prosperity Forum
Following Norwich University founder Captain Alden Partridge’s vision of providing experiential learning opportunities for our students, Peace & War Center Director, Dr. Travis Morris, recently took a group of three students to the 2023 International Peace, Security and Prosperity Forum in Piazza Armerina, Sicily.
In our first edition of Notes from the Field, we hear from these three students about their experiences and lessons learned.
Senior Leader, Juliana Paddock (Albany, NY)
CDT Paddock is a senior at Norwich University, Double-Majoring in Psychology with a concentration in Military Leadership and Criminal Justice with a concentration in Transnational Crime. An AROTC 4-year national scholarship winner, she is contracted and will be commissioned into the US Army as an Active Duty Air Defense Artillery Officer upon graduation this month. Fall of 2022, Juliana studied at the Norwich City Lab in Berlin, Germany. At Norwich, she is involved in the Honor’s Program, Buddy-Up, Corps of Cadets, and Vice-Chair of Operations for the Class ‘23 Ring Committee.
Photo 1: International CDTs pictured during tour of Operation Husky Sites. Photo 2: CDT Paddock with Mayor of Piazza Amarina, who helped host the IPSP forum. Photo 3: “Education Requires Action” Students share thoughts on exercises regarding spread of disinformation and climate change within muti-national teams.
Personal Statement: The IFPSP was an amazing opportunity that greatly expanded my understanding of the state of international relations. My experience from attending the forum has directly informed the training and tools of the NUCC’s International section, hopefully setting up the University to better achieve the concept of “American in character yet global in perspective”. The foremost thing I learned is that American Leadership is a reality, and that we must continue to earn it.
Day One Activities:
-March for Operation Husky- 7 km parade from Piazza Armerina to Agricasale to lay a wreath on the RCR Monument and return. The memorial was in memory of Canadian soldiers who served in Operation Huskey, for which the 80th anniversary was celebrated. During the march, cadets were able to find members from other nation’s military academies who were assigned to their teams.
-Resilience Exercise moderated by Dr. Lobna Cherif of RMC- Cadets learned about the 24-character strengths and how they were represented in their multinational teams.
-Sicily and the Pillars of Peace- An introduction to the Institute for Economics and Peace led by Mr. Serge Stroobants, Director for EMENA for IEP.
Lessons Learned - Day One: My biggest take away was learning about the 24-character strengths and how everyone has all 24, some are just stronger than others. In our teams we discussed what our strongest qualities were and how we can apply them to our group as a whole. It was a great way to start the week because we took the time to understand who we are as individuals, respect one another, and prepared us to both work efficiently and have fun together as a team- all crucial elements to building foreign relations.
Junior Leader, Logan Wineriter (Colorado Springs, CO)
CDT Wineriter is a Junior at Norwich University, Double-Majoring in International Studies, and History. An AROTC 3-year national scholarship winner, he is contracted and will be commissioned into the US Army in 2024. Spring of 2022, Logan studied at the Universitat of Marburg, Germany. At Norwich, he is involved with Men’s Varsity Swim Team, Peer Tutor of German and Economics, Norwich Film Club, Class ‘24 Ring Committee, Corps of Cadets, and Ranger Challenge.
Photo 1: Cadet Logan Wineriter presenting a Norwich University Compass to Major General Craig Aitchison, Commander of the Canadian Defense Academy. Photo 2: Cadet Wineriter and Cadet Darby standing with two of the Ukrainian Cadets in the Piazza Armenia. Photo 3: Climate Crisis Simulation at St. Peter’s Compound.
Personal Statement: The opportunity to go to the IPSP Forum was an amazing experience that left me wanting to travel and learn more. Meeting the cadets from different military colleges all around the world, gave me a greater appreciation for the Norwich Mission Statement, “to tolerate all opinions when reason is left free to combat them.” Throughout this experience I found that this is an essential factor for encouraging peace, security and prosperity. The other cadets that I befriended are some of the highest performers, and nicest people that I have ever met. This experience has left me with a new respect for the amazing cultures and people around the world, which we serve to protect.
Day Two Activities:
- Simulation game conducted by Scott Dejong of Concordia University supported by RMC cadets which was called “Lizards and Lies” which mimicked the spread of misinformation and the efforts to stop it.
-After a performance by military bands, the official opening of the forum began with Steve Gregory, founder of IFPSP. The forum began with a welcoming speech by the Mayor of Piazza Armeriana, Antonio Cammarata J.D. This was followed by a guest speaker, Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support at the United Nations Department of Political Affairs and Peacebuilding.
-Panel on Information Environment, which was led by Serge Stroobants, of IEP, and other members. Disinformation, propaganda, and misinformation were all defined and discussed.
-Op HUSKY was thoroughly explained and described by different cadets to discus the historical campaigns and strategies implemented during the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943.
-A visit to the Roman Villa del Casale by cadets and organizing staff. The 3rd Century Roman Villa was an eye-opening experience, surrounded by over 40 ancient mosaic floors.
Lessons Learned - Day Two: My biggest takeaway was certainly the valuable learning experience I received by having the opportunity to work through the simulations with the cadets in my group from Italy, England, and Sweden. We discussed why each of us had a different decision-making process when approaching some of the problems covered in the forums, but we found that we had far more in common than we had previously thought. This experience left me with an optimistic, and hopeful perspective of the prospect of working with these cadets in the future to build a more peaceful world.
Senior Leader, Patrick Darby (Annapolis, MD)
CDT Darby is a senior at Norwich University, Majoring in History with a concentration in Military Leadership. An AROTC 4-year national scholarship winner, he is contracted and will be commissioned into the US Army as an Active Duty Infantry Officer upon graduation this month. At Norwich, CDT Darby is the Officer in Charge of the International Section which seeks to actualize the concept of “American in Perspective yet global in character” from the NU Vision Statement at the cadet level.
Photo 1: Cadet Darby presents founder and chairmen Steve Gregory with a miniature Norwich Saber. Photo 2: Cadet Darby with British and Canadian Cadets Photo 3: NU Cadets at local pizzeria with British Cadets
Personal Statement: The IFPSP was an amazing opportunity that greatly expanded my understanding of the state of international relations. My experience from attending the forum has directly informed the training and tools of the NUCC’s International section, hopefully setting up the University to better achieve the concept of “American in character yet global in perspective”. The foremost thing I learned is that American Leadership is a reality, and that we must continue to earn it.
Day Three Activities:
-Battlefield tour including coffee in Valguarnera
-Holy Easter Preparatory Mass for invited VIP at the Church of St. Stephen in Valguarnera – Italian military tradition
-PANEL: Disinformation – Contemporary Case Studies, led by Professor Dario Mangano of the University of Palermo and his panel members.
-PANEL: PSP Conference Contest winning students’ presentations, moderated by Colonel Carlouberto Massimo of the Italian Army
-Closing remarks and acknowledgements
Lessons Learned - Day Three: This forum has made it very clear to me that the West’s greatest strength is its ability to collaborate. All of the panels in some way addressed how the most effective way to combat disinformation or other major foreign threats, was at least in part through collaboration between the Western Democracies.