Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the Olin Distinguished Professor of National Security Studies here, has developed Social Sciences 478, "The Gulf War -- Defending America in a Complex Post-Cold War World." The course is designed to teach cadets about the national security policy decision-making process.

SS478 serves as a capstone course for public policy/political science majors, McCaffrey said.

"The purpose is to examine the national-security process in its totality," he explained. "The Gulf War provides an opportunity to focus and shape our discussion."

Having some of his own colleagues and acquaintances serve as guest lecturers and talk about their own experiences with the process is an important part of the course.

The seminar teaches cadets "what the national security affairs process is all about," said retired Lt. Gen. Dick Chilcote, the featured guest lecturer Feb. 9. "Using the Gulf War as a backdrop to that learning experience, I think, is very wise because the process that was used to conduct the Gulf War was almost a textbook, classic approach to the formulation and execution of national security affairs policy."

Chilcote, who served as Gen. Colin Powell’s executive assistant during Desert Shield/Desert Storm, is one of a series of guest lecturers who, McCaffrey said, can apply personal experiences to their lectures.

"When you look at where they were during the war, you see they played a role that can provide useful insights," he said.

Plus, McCaffrey added, the Gulf War provides another advantage in looking at the process.

"Here we have a chance to watch it on an extremely short timeframe," he said.

Some of the people who helped form the policy are on the list of guest lecturers.

"The key people -- the architects of victory -- in the Gulf War have just enough distance to see what they did," McCaffrey said.

"It’s really learning from our experiences," Chilcote said. "There are always great lessons to be learned" from any conflict. "If we learn those lessons, we will always be prepared for the future and not, as some critics might say, preparing for the last war."

Chilcote’s and his fellow guest lecturers’ perspectives will help prepare tomorrow’s leaders for the challenges facing them.

"They’re getting ready to embark on a career that will engage them in national security affairs at the tactical, the operational and, ultimately, the strategic level," Chilcote said.

McCaffrey said some of his charges "will end up as lieutenant colonels or lieutenant generals crafting national security policy. Hopefully, they’ll come out of this with a much more sophisticated view of the challenges of national security decision making."

The lectures are free and open to the public, so many at West Point can have the advantage of this kind of insight.

"We want the widest possible audience," McCaffrey said. "Essentially, it is an open forum -- the lecture series in particular. It is open to people who would like to listen to it."

He did add, however, that priority during the question-and-answer period after each lecture would go to the cadets in the seminar.

Those interested in attending can check the Community Notes page of the next Pointer View for speakers’ names, topics, time and place for the Friday morning lectures.