Chad Vincton - SCUSA 58

About the Conference

The conference is designed to bring together the brightest college students and USMA cadets in a round table atmosphere to work together evaluating and making recommendations on U.S. foreign relations.  The topic of SCUSA 58 was Challenges to Security: Extremism, Resources, & Globalization.The conference consisted of several round table discussions on a particular issue or geographical concentration. At the end of the fourth day each group presents their findings in either a speech or more highly encouraged, a fun and interactive skit.  Each table is also headed by co-chairs, who quite often are usually senior government officials or respected academics. Besides the round table discussions there is also a panel discussion: our panel ranged from a soft-power internationalist, to a hard-power realist, to a neo-liberal economic cheerleader, to an economic advisor to Enron. To say the least it was a lively debate. Also the academy held a banquet with US Senator Jack Reed as the keynote speaker and a bar/dance night out for the delegate’s final night at the academy. The food alone was reason to come.

Personal Experience

I was fortunate enough to be on the challenges to insurgency round table headed by LTC Chris Gibson, who had served two tours in Iraq as a battalion commander of an infantry unit. LTC Gibson was able to give me an insider view on current counter-insurgency methods being used in the War on Terror and increased my knowledge of insurgency strength and weakness. As a cadet myself at Syracuse, I was able to see how my fellow cadets were living at the academy and quite shocked to find it a lot more relaxed than my past officers had made it out to be. Most important I was able to meet a lot of new friends from all around the world, allowing me to catch up on current events and political situations abroad. The most helpful person I met was an Iraqi war journalist, who let me see the war from a civilian point of view through his pictures and stories. Also nice was that he smiled as he helped me through my broken Arabic grammar. Upon returning to Syracuse, I was shocked to see that I already had eight friend requests waiting for me on Facebook.

I was a little worried about missing four days of classes, but by the end of the conference I realized that I had learned more in those four days than I could have in two weeks of study back in Syracuse.  I would highly recommend getting away from Syracuse for the four days, not only for the education and personal connections, but also to see the amazing gothic architecture of West Point overlooking an important strategic bend on the Hudson River.