Military

Meet the �鶹��Ƶ Nation: Rachel Spence

Lauren Reuscher — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 14:05:20 +0000

Meet the �鶹��Ƶ Nation: Rachel Spence Lauren Reuscher Wed, 10/15/2025 - 10:05

Rachel Spence

Job: Academic Manager, International Enrollment Partnerships, Global Education Office, and Chair of the Staff Senate

As the academic manager in �鶹��Ƶ’s Global Education Office, Rachel Spence helps international students from partner universities worldwide with the transfer of classes, registration, and advising.

In addition to helping students navigate their experiences in the United States and complete their George �鶹��Ƶ degrees, Spence is also the chair of the Staff Senate, which represents the interests of all classified and non-student wage employees to the administration and Board of Visitors.

Rachel Spence, Global Education Office, and chair of the Staff Senate. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

Learning at home and abroad: A career in education felt inevitable for Spence. “My dad taught elementary special education, and my mom taught freshman composition classes at colleges and universities,” said Spence. “Education is in my blood—but I always knew I didn’t want to teach.”

As an undergrad, Spence studied abroad for a semester in Denmark. “It was my first time leaving the United States and was truly transformative,” said Spence. “Especially for developing my sense of independence and my quest to understand different cultures.”

Passport to possibilities: That experience led her to pursue a master’s degree in international and intercultural communication. After graduating, she landed her dream job as a study-abroad advisor at Old Dominion University. “I loved helping students plan their own international experiences and working with them to make it happen,” said Spence.

Global pathways: Since arriving at George �鶹��Ƶ in 2017, she has shifted from helping domestic students plan their time abroad to also helping international students during their time in the United States. She assists students in the China 1+2+1 program, in which undergraduate students earn degrees from both their Chinese and American universities.

“I help students adapt to academic life in the U.S. and build pathways for students from other countries to earn a George �鶹��Ƶ degree,” said Spence.

Even though she does not travel as much and she would like, she said her job lets her have an international experience every day.

Serving all staff: In addition to her job in the Global Education Office, Spence serves as the chair of the Staff Senate, representing the interests of staff across the university.

A time of uncertainty inspired Spence to join the senate. Spence is a military spouse—her husband is in the Navy. When he received a new assignment across the country, Spence received approval from the university to work remotely from California.

“However, just six months after we moved 2,600 miles away from campus, there was a state-level change in policy for remote work,” Spence said. “I thought that my approval might be revoked, and I’d be forced to leave my job.”

Navigating changes: When remote and hybrid work policy for state employees changed in 2022, Spence saw the Staff Senate as an important resource for employees navigating the quickly changing requirements.

“I appreciated how the Staff Senate was advocating and positioning itself as the voice of all classified staff on this issue,” said Spence. “I was so thankful for the special sessions they held that spring, I decided to give back and serve as a senator.”

Spence’s remote work agreement was ultimately approved, and she continued working in California for the duration of her husband’s military assignment. She has since returned to the Northern Virginia area and works on the Fairfax Campus.

Leading the way: Spence was nominated and accepted the role of Staff Senate Chair in spring 2025, after the previous chair left their role at George �鶹��Ƶ. She agreed to cover the remainder of the term, and this summer, she was elected to serve as chair for another two years.

“I’m thankful to my colleagues on the senate for the vote of confidence and their encouragement to keep leading the group,” said Spence.

A seat at the table: Spence also serves as the Staff Liaison to the university’s Board of Visitors (BOV). The Staff Senate advocated for the addition of a staff representative as a nonvoting member in 2020. At the time, nonvoting faculty and student representatives were already part of the board’s membership. The Board of Visitors unanimously approved the change.

“I don’t take for granted that I am often the only staff voice in the room, or that staff only recently earned that seat at the table,” said Spence. “I hope that I can make sure that staff voices are not only heard but are valued and recognized as important members of the team.”

Connecting the dots: To Spence, one of the biggest challenges at a university as large as George �鶹��Ƶ is keeping staff informed of the many changes and updates affecting their work.

“I’m hoping to build a larger network and connect the Staff Senate with other groups on campus,” said Spence. “We already collaborate with Faculty Senate and Student Government, but I’ve also started reaching out to staff councils in the colleges. I think we’ll be even stronger together and can really expand our advocacy and communication efforts.”

Campus outreach: The senate is also bringing its meetings to the regional campuses. The November Staff Senate meeting will take place at the new Life Sciences and Engineering Building at the Science and Technology Campus, and the senate is hoping to host a meeting at �鶹��Ƶ Square in spring 2026. “This will give our constituents on those campuses an opportunity to attend in person and connect with the senate on a more personal level,” said Spence.

Statewide explorer: Outside work and her senate activities, Spence enjoys spending time outdoors. “I completed the Virginia State Parks Trail Quest by visiting all the Virginia State Parks,” she said. That is no small quest—40 different parks participate in the program.

No place like home: Spence’s husband is an engineer, and many of their weekends are spent working on house projects. “For the first time ever, we are starting to realize our current house might be ours for more than a couple of years,” said Spence. “We are working on improving it and making it our own.”

More about the Staff Senate

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Military

M-VETS advocates for George �鶹��Ƶ alum at Board of Veterans’ hearing

Colleen Rich — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 16:02:56 +0000

M-VETS advocates for George �鶹��Ƶ alum at Board of Veterans’ hearing Colleen Rich Mon, 10/13/2025 - 12:02

In September, Antonin Scalia Law School’s �鶹��Ƶ Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic (M-VETS) advocated for a �鶹��Ƶ alumnus and U.S. Air Force veteran before the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA).

Anthony Mancini. Photo provided

The hearing involved a 2019 claim for secondary service-connection for a nerve injury, or radiculopathy, in the client’s right leg, which an administrative law judge heard after five years of litigation with the DVA. Scalia Law student and student advisor Anthony (Tony) Mancini conducted the hearing under the supervision of M-VETS director Timothy M. MacArthur.

M-VETS originally filed the claim on behalf of the alum who had injured her lower back while loading a KC-135 aircraft during Operation Southern Watch in Saudi Arabia. After her discharge from service, the veteran was service-connected for degenerative disc disease of her spine, and with the assistance of M-VETS, the DVA granted service-connection for her left leg radiculopathy but denied it for the right leg. As a result, M-VETS filed a brief before the BVA and requested a personal appearance to argue the matter before the judge.

Due to the lengthy litigation of this issue, many M-VETS student advisors worked on the matter during their time in the clinic.

“This entire process has been an invaluable experience that goes far beyond anything I could have learned in a law school classroom,” said Mancini of the opportunity. “I am proud that I was a part of an organization that works for the people who have selflessly sacrificed in the service of their country.”

MacArthur said Mancini did a great job advocating for the client. He conducted a pre-hearing informal conference with the judge, presented an opening statement, performed a direct examination with our client, and delivered a closing argument.

“At certain points during the hearing, the judge posed questions to Tony regarding the case and evidence presented, and Tony was able to respond to those questions and further our client’s arguments,” said MacArthur. “At an informal post-hearing conference, the judge provided positive feedback to [Mancini] regarding his performance and preparation for the hearing, which was valuable to Tony’s development as a future attorney,”

Regarding the assistance she received from M-VETS, the client stated, “I am truly grateful to Mr. MacArthur and Mr. Mancini for their guidance and for taking my case. Their representation was not only exceptional, but it also reflected the most up-to-date practices of the learning-teaching environment, which gave me great confidence throughout the process. I could not have been more pleased, and I know Tony will go on to become an outstanding lawyer. This meant so much to me and my family.”

M-VETS continues to represent the George �鶹��Ƶ alum while awaiting a decision by the BVA judge on the contested issue.

M-VETS enables students to assist active-duty members of the armed forces, their families, and veterans in a wide variety of administrative, litigation, and nonlitigation matters. This includes appeals of denials of Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation and educational claims, representation before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals and Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, applications for discharge upgrades or military records correction before the Boards for Correction of Military Records and Discharge Review Boards.

“Being an M-VETS student advisor over the past two semesters has made me a better litigator for the future. For that, I am grateful,” said Mancini, who is working at the U.S. Court of Appeal for Veterans Claims as a judicial intern this fall.

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Students

Antonin Scalia Law School

George �鶹��Ƶ partners with DoD agency to bring closure to the families of lost U.S. service members

Shayla Brown — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 17:39:16 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ partners with DoD agency to bring closure to the families of lost U.S. service members  Shayla Brown Mon, 07/28/2025 - 13:39

There are currently more than 80,000 unaccounted-for service members from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, and other conflicts. �鶹��Ƶ’s ongoing collaboration with the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is exploring new ways of locating the missing remains of those American service members and bringing closure to their families. 

This partnership, which began December 2020, is finding success, and deeper meaning, as it extends beyond the classroom to the grieving families of prisoners of war (POWs) and missing soldiers, and it showcases George �鶹��Ƶ’s commitment to being a veteran-serving institution.   

John C. Winters, MA History ’13, is a DPAA postdoctoral research fellow at George �鶹��Ƶ’s Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM) in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) whose research includes war, diplomacy, and the 19th and 20th centuries. 

John C. Winters. Photo provided.

“I’ve previously worked on cemetery projects, and my responsibilities were to essentially help not only map the cemetery as it stood, but to identify places where people were not cataloged properly, or were forgotten over time,” said Winters, who has been a fellow at the center since January 2025.  

Winters is also working with the Henry Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine with the goal of supporting and expanding a wide range of DPAA operations, from initial case development to field mission planning. 

“The advantage of conducting research at the Center for History and New Media is that the people there are experts in using intricate digital mapping tools. It's really wonderful to see that faculty, as well as graduate students, are so comfortable using these tools to make their research accessible,” said Winters. 

Digital mapping is a critical tool for the agency’s mission as it helps researchers visualize where someone was lost and supports investigation and excavation proposals.   

George �鶹��Ƶ has access to ArcGIS Pro, the mapping program that Winters is currently using to track missing or unidentified soldiers.  

“ArcGIS is a really dynamic program. There are a lot of facets to it including a base-level digital cemetery mapping, and the ability to create informational and visually engaging maps. They're accurate and concise, and they deliver all the information at a glance,” said Winters, who earned his PhD in history from the City University of New York in 2020. 

Jesse Stephen, chief of innovation at Defense POW/MIA accounting agency, said their mission has two goals: to search for, locate, recover, and identify missing-in-action personnel, and to communicate. 

Jesse Stephen. Photo provided.

“These projects are multidimensional and address active casework. They also tell the story of a conflict and of our missing individuals,” said Stephen. “That involves going back into archives and looking for information about a particular case or campaign. It's organizing, reviewing, and analyzing that information we find, and then putting all these different pieces together to build a case.”  

Over the course of the partnership, DPAA has learned more about more than 3,000 unaccounted-for losses. George �鶹��Ƶ Fellows have reviewed more than 1,000 deceased personnel files of people who served alongside the unaccounted-for. 

Throughout the process, DPAA staff, Service Casualty Offices, and family members meet and review the specifics of a loss. Documentation, including maps, is shared with family members, who can see where the last-known sighting of their loved one happened. 

The partnership also employs George �鶹��Ƶ students as interns and to date has given nine interns real-world experience in managing data, giving presentations, and project management. Beyond service to students, research partner fellows are encouraged to give presentations at museums and other venues on the mission and how unaccounted-for are found.  

“These were people who gave their lives while fighting to protect democracy, so I see the important work I’m doing at George �鶹��Ƶ as a public service and it’s relevant to a very large body of veterans in the Northern Virginia area,” said Winters. 

Currently, more than 150 Virginian service members are unaccounted for. 

Topics

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

U.S. Department of Defense

�鶹��Ƶ recognized as a top Military Friendly University

Katarina Benson — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 21:27:58 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ recognized as a top Military Friendly University Katarina Benson Mon, 06/30/2025 - 17:27

�鶹��Ƶ has once again been recognized for its longstanding commitment to military-connected students and their families, earning a Silver ranking in the Military Friendly® School designation for the upcoming 2025-26 academic year.

The annual recognition honors colleges and universities that demonstrate excellence in serving military communities. The full list of designees will be featured in the October issue of G.I. Jobs Magazine and can also be found at militaryfriendly.com.

“At George �鶹��Ƶ, we are a mission-driven community,” said Jennifer Connors, director of the Office of Military Services. “I am proud of the work our team and our colleagues across campus do every day to ensure our military-affiliated students and families feel supported.”

More than 10% of George �鶹��Ƶ’s more than 40,000 students are current or former military members or military dependents. This past academic year, approximately 20% of incoming freshmen, transfer, and graduate students had military ties, reinforcing George �鶹��Ƶ’s reputation as a top destination for military-affiliated students.

Many of these students receive education benefits to support their academic goals. More than 2,000 use Department of Veterans Affairs education benefits, approximately 1,000 benefit from the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program, and more than 100 receive Department of Defense Federal Tuition Assistance.

George �鶹��Ƶ’s commitment to military-connected students is also reflected in national rankings. U.S. News & World Report named George �鶹��Ƶ one of Virginia’s best colleges for veterans. Its master of business administration (MBA) program for veterans ranked first among public universities both in Virginia and nationwide, and the master’s in nursing for veterans placed first in Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metro region.

The university’s Military, Veterans, and Families Initiative (MVFI) focuses specifically on leveraging George �鶹��Ƶ’s strengths as the commonwealth’s largest and most diverse research university by empowering servicemembers, veterans, and their families through connections to a wide range of campus and regional resources.

“It speaks to our ability to not only serve those who have served us, but to create an environment where our service members, our veterans, and their families can thrive,” said Keith Renshaw, MVFI director, senior associate provost for undergraduate education, and a professor of psychology.

Additional information on the ranking’s methodology can be found here.

In This Story

Keith Renshaw, PhD

George �鶹��Ƶ Rankings

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Law student represents combat veteran at Board of Veterans’ appeals hearing

Katarina Benson — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 21:02:48 +0000

Law student represents combat veteran at Board of Veterans’ appeals hearing Katarina Benson Mon, 06/16/2025 - 17:02

In May, a �鶹��Ƶ law student, working with the �鶹��Ƶ Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic (M-VETS), advocated for a U.S. combat veteran before an administrative law judge at a hearing before the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA).

From left, M-VETS Client Richard Fahlman, Student Advisor Samantha Hargis, and M-VETS Director Timothy M. MacArthur. Photo provided

Founded in 2004, the M-VETS clinic enables Antonin Scalia Law School students to assist veterans, servicemembers, and their dependents with military/veteran/DVA administrative matters, including disability compensation and educational benefits appeals, discharge upgrades, and Boards for Correction of Military Records matters.

This case centered on a veteran’s 2016 claim for an increased rating for a service-connected disability resulting from an improvised explosive device attack in Afghanistan, which led to the veteran’s medical separation from the Army.

Originally, Army veteran Richard Fahlman received a 20% rating for his injury, but based on new medical evidence, M-VETS filed a request in 2019 to increase this rating to 40%. The DVA initially denied the request. Had the 40% rating been approved, Fahlman would have been medically retired and received all the benefits accompanying that status, including much-needed health care. In response to the DVA’s rejection, M-VETS filed a motion alleging a Clear and Unmistakable Error (CUE).

“I’m glad our client reached out to M-VETS, and we could advocate on his behalf at this hearing,” said M-VETS Director Timothy M. MacArthur. “Our position was that the decision review officer had made a CUE error, contradicting federal law and regulatory standards.”

Many Scalia Law students, called student advisors at M-VETS, worked diligently on behalf of the client during case preparations. Student advisor Samantha Hargis was chosen to conduct the hearing under MacArthur’s supervision.

“Working on this matter for our client was an incredible opportunity,” said Hargis, who graduated from George �鶹��Ƶ with a JD in May. “I am deeply grateful to the student advisors who came before me and laid a solid foundation for our argument at the hearing, our client for his commitment and collaboration throughout the process, and my supervising attorney for his invaluable guidance and support.”

“Ms. Hargis did a phenomenal job arguing the motion and presenting evidence during the hearing,” MacArthur said. “Sam conducted a pre-hearing conference with the judge, delivered an opening statement, conducted a direct examination of our client, and delivered an impactful closing, effectively arguing our position.”

MacArthur said the DVA benefits process allows M-VETS student advisors to gain practical experience in a nonadversarial setting, while providing valuable pro bono services to veterans.

“Mr. MacArthur and Ms. Hargis put their heart, time, and soul into developing my defense, and I couldn’t have asked for a better legal team. Without M-VETS, combat veterans like me wouldn’t have a voice,” Fahlman said.

M-VETS continues to work with the veteran while the hearing outcome is pending.

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Antonin Scalia Law School

Sit! Stay! Buzz?

Jennifer Pocock — Thu, 29 May 2025 14:56:51 +0000

Sit! Stay! Buzz? Jennifer Pocock Thu, 05/29/2025 - 10:56

These �鶹��Ƶ students are short-circuiting voice commands, dog whistles, and clickers.

Covert Dog Comms Team Leader Paul J. Wyche displays their finished prototype at the Office of Student Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR) Celebration. Photo by John Boal

If you’ve had a puppy, you probably know the patience it takes to train them in basic commands, and it can be a noisy affair involving begging, pleading, and some yelling. Working dogs like those in police and military K9 units need to learn so much more.

Sometimes, they need to obey without hearing a word.

Rescue situations can be chaotic, with so much going on that a command gets lost in the noise. Sometimes, a team of dogs need to hear many different commands, and competing voices are confusing. Other times, operation teams need to go radio silent and any noise at all will give their positions away.

Enter Team Covert Dog Comms. This pack of cybersecurity seniors at George �鶹��Ƶ, all of whom graduated in May, sniffed out a way to direct dogs without barking commands.

Together, they became the dream team that was the envy of anyone who has ever worked on a bad group project—and proof that great leadership combined with a passionate team yields amazing results.

“Working with this team has been a very positive experience. One key factor that made it successful was the balance of specialized skill sets,” said team leader Paul J. Wyche, who also recently spoke at his College of Engineering and Computing graduation. “While some of our backgrounds overlapped, each team member had a distinct area of expertise, allowing us to overcome any obstacle and collaborate effectively.”

Those members were Maxime Bonnaud, who specialized in the vest’s wireless and cryptographic security; Jonathan Perry, who designed the hardware; and AJ Hoepfner, who set up testing standards and regulations, along with assisting Wyche with project management.

“Mostly, what made this team great was good execution on the fundamentals,” said Bonnaud. “Everyone showed up, communicated well, and looked for areas they could work on instead of having to be assigned work.”

The end result was a securely encrypted working prototype of a vest that can be programmed with three different vibrating pattern commands that a dog can be trained to obey. While they were unable to find a working dog to test on, the team tested the vest on themselves and found it to work as intended.

When asked whether the team planned to patent or commercialize the vest, Wyche said that they wouldn’t rule it out. “We haven’t formally discussed commercializing the project. However, if the opportunity arises and we receive the necessary support, we may explore those possibilities.”

Until then, they achieved their goal of making “a fully operational haptic vest that could be refined for real-world use in special operations.”

And that is something to howl about.

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Senior Capstone Project

Cybersecurity

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Graduate student uses the healing power of art to help other veterans

Katarina Benson — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 15:59:31 +0000

Graduate student uses the healing power of art to help other veterans Katarina Benson Mon, 04/28/2025 - 11:59

Death has been the constant companion in Steven Luu’s life—from war-torn Vietnam to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But through art, Luu, now a master of fine arts (MFA) student at �鶹��Ƶ’s School of Art, within the College of Visual and Performing Arts, has discovered peace, purpose, and a path to healing.

“All of my artwork is about revisiting,” said Luu. “Art is not to forget, but to express.”

Luu wasn’t yet born when his unlikely odyssey began 50 years ago this month, following the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975. Nearly a year later, he came into the world as his family’s life was upended by war and political upheaval. His father, a South Vietnamese government official, along with his grandfather and uncle, were lost in the war, and the family home was confiscated. When Luu was just a year old, he and his family were sent to a re-education camp, where they endured harsh poverty and uncertainty.

When he was 7, Luu and his family managed to escape Vietnam by sea, in search of freedom in a small boat packed with refugees. Their harrowing journey lasted more than two months; by the time of their rescue by the British Royal Navy, nearly half of the passengers perished from starvation. Luu was just shy of his 8th birthday when he was forced to help push lifeless bodies overboard—a memory that has haunted him since.

After years of adversity in trying conditions in refugee camps in Hong Kong, Luu and his family made their way to the United States in 1991. Following his high school graduation in 1995, he enlisted with the U.S. Air Force and became a medic, driven by a desire to save lives after witnessing so much suffering, and determined to do everything he could to prevent others from enduring the same fate. His 20-year career in the U.S. military included deployments to the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan, often alongside special operations units.

Luu with one of his works. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

“I have seen the worst part of humanity,” said Luu, who will turn 48 later this year. “And it stays with you.”

In 2012, while serving in Afghanistan, Luu was severely wounded. His lengthy convalescence at Walter Reed Medical Center, then located in Washington, D.C., marked a turning point. There, a hospital official introduced him to the healing power of art by providing him a canvas and drawing utensils.

“In that moment, I saw art as a way to let something inside me out, without having to say it,” said Luu, who while working on his degree also serves as documentarian for �鶹��Ƶ Exhibitions.

He found making art incredibly therapeutic. Sculpture, especially using raw and rigid materials like concrete and epoxy resin, has become a personal healing ritual.

Although he had no formal art background, Luu knew he had found his voice. After earning a BA in theology from Catholic Distance University in 2010, he applied to George �鶹��Ƶ’s School of Art, earning his BFA in sculpture in 2022. He recognized that art was more than a way to help himself, it also allowed him reach other veterans grappling with the same guilt and isolation he felt after leaving the military. He’s on track to complete his MFA in 2026.

All of his sculptures are made with recycled materials. “Like me, these materials have been given a second chance at life,” Luu said.

Artist Peter Winant was the director of George �鶹��Ƶ’s School of Art when he first saw Luu’s early drawings in 2017.

“There was something really deep in them,” Winant said. “Some form of truth that few of us could approach.”

That truth now fuels Luu’s mission to help other veterans navigate their own trauma—a mission he pursues with deep purpose and gratitude for the opportunity. He creates art with a focus on mental health and uses his story to encourage others to find their own form of expression.

In 2024, the U.S. Air Force invited Luu to work with Wounded Warriors, teaching recovering airmen about the healing power of art, and how to channel their experiences into creative expression. He’ll do the same this November, during a weeklong George �鶹��Ƶ conference for 400 recovering veterans spanning all military branches. The week will conclude with a public art exhibit featuring the veterans’ creations.

His solo exhibition Steven Luu: A Path to Healing & Transformation is on display through May at the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago. It is a powerful testament to one man’s journey through unimaginable pain and his unwavering pursuit of peace.

“Art is the one universal language—it’s always been the language of humanity,” said Luu. “I cannot physically fix what happened in the past, but at least I have closure. Like life as a whole, you adapt in art to survive.”

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Steven Luu

Science, Service, and Strategy: How One Soldier Is Shaping the Future of Biodefense

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:55:13 +0000

Science, Service, and Strategy: How One Soldier Is Shaping the Future of Biodefense Andrew J Schappert Wed, 04/23/2025 - 11:55

In This Story

Gregory Koblentz

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For Army Major Geoffrey Mattoon, the path to and through higher education wasn’t a straight line; it was a deliberate decision shaped by years of military service, a background in science, and a desire to meet the rising challenges of national security in a tense world.

Army Major Geoffry Mattoon: ‘I knew I wanted something focused on biodefense and policy—not just technical STEM training. The Schar School offered that balance.’ Photos provided.

“I’ve always had an interest in chemistry,” he said. “But once I realized that the math side wasn’t where I wanted to focus, I started looking at how science could be applied more practically. I eventually found that the military and higher education could give me that path.”

Mattoon started his career through a four-year Army scholarship and earned his undergraduate degree in biology from the Rochester Institute of Technology. His first 10 years of service saw him take on various roles, such as logistics, until he found his way to a field that was both intellectually challenging and urgently relevant: the Nuclear and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) functional area and its Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) defense and response efforts.

“CBRN really caught my attention because it requires a different level of critical thinking,” he said. “It’s science through the lens of national security, and that intersection has always fascinated me.”

After a decade of field experience, he was selected for Advanced Civil Schooling, an Army program that allows officers to pursue graduate education in specialized fields aligned with military needs. �鶹��Ƶ’s Schar School of Policy and Government stood out when choosing where to study.

“I knew I wanted something focused on biodefense and policy—not just technical STEM training,” Mattoon said. “The Schar School offered that balance.”

Mattoon received his diploma at the 2024 Schar School Degree Celebration.

Unlike other programs in the area he considered, the Schar School’s master of biodefense program provided a curriculum that combined the technical depth of biodefense with the broader strategy of international security. It wasn’t just about how biological threats work; it was about how governments respond, how policy is made, and what happens when things go wrong.

“The reality is, biological defense is one of the hardest CBRN domains to detect and respond to,” Mattoon said. “It’s ambiguous. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. And that makes it both incredibly challenging and incredibly important.”

The transition from full-time service to graduate school could have been jarring, but for Mattoon, it was energizing. He credits the Schar School with providing an environment where real-world experience wasn’t just welcomed but essential.

“I didn’t come in with a deep academic background in policy,” he said. “But I found a program that helped me bridge my experience in the armed services with deeper insight.”

That bridge started with foundational courses in nonproliferation and strategy, taught by faculty with both academic and operational experience. Professors including Master of Biodefense graduate program Director Gregory Koblentz helped frame current and future biological threats within a historical and geopolitical context, giving Mattoon tools he could immediately apply—not just in theory but in future roles that directly impact national readiness.

“I remember working on a literature review about postattack biodetection systems,” Mattoon said. “It was my first time looking at open-source analysis from a policy angle. That process helped me get back into academic writing, and more importantly, it grounded me in how programs work—or don’t work—at the federal level.”

The Schar School’s location in Northern Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., was another key advantage. Evening classes and hybrid course options allowed Mattoon to balance academic demands with ongoing professional development. Being close to federal agencies, think tanks, and laboratories gave him a clearer sense of how policy is made, debated, and implemented.

“You’re not just studying theory,” he said. “You’re meeting people who are doing the work.”

Mattoon received his master’s degree in May 2024. He is now serving as an Army CBRN plans officer for the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is in a position where everything he has studied will translate directly into the defense of the homeland through management of the CBRN Response Enterprise (CRE).

“We talk a lot in this field about preparedness—about saving lives, minimizing human suffering, and ensuring our forces are ready for what comes next,” he said.

He also pointed out that the journey isn’t only for those already in uniform. One of the things he hopes prospective students take away from his story is that there’s no wrong time—or background—to pursue occupations in CBRN defense or response or for the military.

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Master of Biodefense

Military

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Schar School Featured Stories

Alumni

Wargame Prepares Students for the Next International Security Crisis

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 20:07:18 +0000

Wargame Prepares Students for the Next International Security Crisis Andrew J Schappert Mon, 02/03/2025 - 15:07

In This Story

Ellen Laipson

Lee Roberts

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“When we decided to close the Suez Canal, everyone else in the room had to change their plans, especially the United States.”

George �鶹��Ƶ alum Jerad Harper (far left), an associate professor at the U.S. Army War College, leads students in the Middle East crisis simulation. Photo provided

So commented one Schar School of Policy and Government student who represented Egypt during a Middle East crisis simulation hosted by �鶹��Ƶ’s Center for Security Policy Studies (CSPS).

One year after the beginning of fighting in Gaza, CSPS trained students to anticipate the next crisis and how countries might respond. This simulation, which took the form of a daylong matrix board game, was part of an annual series held by the Schar School, including a defense and security research forum and a Gettysburg battlefield tour.

“We offer these ‘out of the classroom’ opportunities,” said Ellen Laipson, director of CSPS and the school’s Master of International Security program, "because they help students move from conceptual thinking and scholarly writing to actually imagining what it would be like to operate in a crisis decision-making environment.”

Ellen Laipson, director of the Schar School’s Center for Security Policy Studies

Reflecting on her extensive career, which includes time as vice chair of the National Intelligence Council and on the staff of the National Security Council, Laipson believes that these simulations can help participants better understand what careers suit them.

“Some people are more suited to being the analyst, with deep knowledge of different world regions, or of specific political and military issues,” she said. “Others enjoy the ‘gaming’ of weighing different policy options; those who think more in terms of ‘now what do we do?’”

George �鶹��Ƶ alumni Lee Roberts, PhD Political Science ‘22, an adjunct professor and U.S. Army strategic intelligence officer, and Jerad Harper, PhD Political Science ‘20, an associate professor at the U.S. Army War College, led the simulation in which three years had passed since the fighting in Gaza and Lebanon ended in a ceasefire. They painted a picture in which the new leadership of Fatah and Hamas had formed a united front against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and were demanding a full withdrawal to the 1967 “Green Line.” Students were then divided into eight teams representing the United States, the European Union, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, and given packets describing their countries’ respective goals and interests.

Meredith Hutchens, CSPS fellow and international security master’s student, helped facilitate the simulation.

"Designing and facilitating exercises like this gives us an opportunity to merge our experience as practitioners with the curriculum," said Roberts. "Seminar discussion is great, but it can't really recreate the pressure of prioritizing limited resources, options, and time against multiple urgent challenges. We compress that sensation as best we can into the game and the students report that it makes the concepts much more tangible to them."

During the simulation, each team took turns during which they could take any action incorporating one of the “instruments of national power” identified by the Defense Department’s DIME framework (i.e., diplomatic, informational, military, or economic). They then had to defend the viability of their preferred action. Every other team was given the option of either arguing in favor of or against that action's chances of success. The adjudicator—Roberts or Harper—then used dice to determine whether that team was successful. The relative strength of the arguments for and against the proposed action determined the threshold that the dice roll must reach for the action to be successful.

“It's really great to see how quickly people get into their roles,” said Meredith Hutchens, a CSPS fellow and international security master’s student. “Most people are not timid about stepping into the role, regardless of which country they’ve been assigned.”

As a CSPS fellow, Hutchens volunteered to help facilitate the simulation and was able to observe how her peers navigated the scenario. She was especially intrigued by the negotiations that took place as groups of teams sought to coordinate their actions to achieve common goals and outmaneuver other groups.

“Your decision and your actions can have a lot of consequences, and if you choose to leave someone out of your action plan, that really impacts the game,” she said.

The Schar School’s security studies graduate programs are ranked No. 4 by U.S. News & World Report and include degrees in biodefense and international security as well as a national security track in the master of public policy program and an emergency management and homeland security concentration in the master of public administration program.

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Military

Driving Innovation: DELTA-FORCE steers army vehicles into the digital future

Nathan Kahl — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 18:58:03 +0000

Driving Innovation: DELTA-FORCE steers army vehicles into the digital future Nathan Kahl Wed, 01/29/2025 - 13:58

The U.S. Army relies on numerous ground vehicles for successful operations, requiring vehicles that can navigate a variety of terrains and allow soldiers to be effective and safe. This creates a challenging set of requirements for new vehicle design, engineering, and operations that must be cost-effective.

Ali Raz. Photo by Creative Services

�鶹��Ƶ is now an important contributor for researching novel approaches and development of new vehicles, thanks to a $1.6 million grant from the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences under Digital Enterprise Technology for Maintenance and Sustainment Improvements—Phase II effort, sponsored through the Army’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center.

The George �鶹��Ƶ project, called DELTA-FORCE (Digital Environments for Life-Cycle Test and Evaluation For Off-Road Combat VEhicles), is a joint effort between the College of Engineering and Computing’s (CEC) Center for Excellence in Command, Control, Communications, Computing, Cyber, and Intelligence and the College of Science’s Center for Collision Safety and Analysis. Ali Raz of the Systems Engineering and Operations Research (SEOR) Department is the principal investigator (PI) and Steve Kan, a professor in �鶹��Ƶ Science, is the co-PI.

This project aims to develop a comprehensive digital engineering methodology for new vehicle concepts. “It's a very unique opportunity for George �鶹��Ƶ in that we're going to be building a complete digital environment for life cycle testing and analysis," Raz said. "Life cycle elements have their own domain-specific models, and analysis tools that are not linked. We are building a digital environment to connect them.”

Steve Kan. Photo by Creative Services

The different phases of the vehicle life cycle, from conceptual design, preliminary design, detailed design, manufacturing, and maintenance, each have their own models and analysis tools that do not “talk” to one another. A key aspect of this project is creating an ontology and model-based systems engineering (MBSE) foundation that will connect the different domain-models, providing a common language for integrating the models and building interfaces in a digital environment.

“In order to produce new advanced complex systems, we need to transition into digital environments; the Department of Defense has been laying the groundwork for that for five years or so,” said Raz. “So essentially we will build a digital twin for modeling the off-road vehicle and environments, that is connected to a physical twin via reverse engineering.”

Kan said that “This project will enable us to work in the digital engineering field in a holistic way by integrating different system-level requirements, design, and performance, to the physics level of materials and geometry using reverse engineering technologies. In this project, we build upon our expertise in automotive and aerospace safety engineering and collaborate with colleagues in both CEC and �鶹��Ƶ Science at George �鶹��Ƶ to develop this digital engineering platform.”

Raz added that DELTA-FORCE will provide an opportunity through new undergraduate courses for George �鶹��Ƶ students to get hands-on experience in building digital twins and conducting analysis.

Although this effort is sponsored by the Department of Defense, its content does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the government; no official endorsement should be inferred..