NEWPORT, R.I. – Lt. Alex “Roadtrip” Buschor is the V-5 division officer on USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), and a student enrolled in the U.S. Naval War College’s (NWC) College of Distance Education (CDE).
Buschor wrote his final exam strategy and war (S&W) essay on WWII Pacific during the week that Roosevelt was part of a three-aircraft carrier exercise off the coast of the Korean Peninsula. Students like Buschor are typical of the thousands of NWC distance education students who are burning the midnight oil to complete their Joint Professional Military Education.
As a professor of strategy and war for the past seven years, what impresses me most about CDE students is the high quality of work they consistently deliver. The essays, and the thoughtful discussions in the web enabled S&W course, would easily compete with the best examples from the resident course.
In the case of a student like the lieutenant, he is working with only a box of books, a DVD, and a little bit of mentoring, via email, from his assigned professor. Yet, this seeming handicap is somehow reduced to a minor obstacle.
How is it possible to achieve near parity in resident and CDE student performance?
Here are two variables that seem to matter the most.
First, if CDE students are taken as a random sample of mid-grade officers, the degree of performance for CDE students is a positive indication of both the quality of individuals and the learning medium. The students are bright, motivated to take on the challenges of the curriculum, they think critically, and are able to grasp and communicate complex thoughts. This non-scientific opinion is an indication that the fleet is doing its job in selecting and grooming quality officers.
Second, the results also indicate that the NWC’s CDE model and method of distance education is effective. The old adage, “the proof is in the pudding” seems fitting.
As one of the CDE educational professionals working now from my home office in Maine, the experience has been deeply rewarding. My current roster of S&W students includes students afloat, deployed to Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, Singapore, Italy, and countless places in between.
With my students’ best interest in mind, I keep the course challenging and the critiques direct and honest. For students like Buschor, who are learning about history and strategy while they are making it, I hope to impart a few seeds of wisdom that will help them now and continue to grow as they steam ahead in their professional careers.