Quote Originally Posted by wm View Post
I think the level of advanced degree is less important than the place of study and the subject matter. Graduate studies in the humanities and social sciences tend to open one's mind to new possibilities, especially when one is a conservative military member attending school at a hot bed of liberalism like a Princeton, a Duke, or a UC Berkely in the early 80s. I remember having a great time trying to justify our invasion of Grenada to my fellow grad students and the Philosophy faculty at the University of Kansas.
While not directly on topic your comment brought back to me two items that have intrigued me concerning cultural understanding in an expeditionary environment. A SF officer told me that his group sent members to an Indian reservation to do humanitarian / construction missions - several Australian officers told me of a similar program where they sent Army officers and enlisted to Aborigine reservations to do the same. The thought process here was they would never be able to train for all the possible cultures they might encounter in the future – but they were firm in their belief that it was the “mindset” that was important – once you live in and learn one other culture it is easier to adapt and operate in additional cultures down the road. Basically - one was more open-minded concerning cultural understanding. They also commented that certain personalities amongst the service-members were more conducive to accepting other cultures… Wish I knew more about this but both instances were relayed to me in passing…