Learning beyond the classroom: SOSH's Domestic Affairs Forum

By Cadets Barbara Antis,
John Childress and Sukhdev Purewal
Domestic Arrairs Forum

Cadets from the Domestic Affairs Forum traveled to Washington, D.C., May 3-4 to learn firsthand about the executive branch, the legislature and the judicial branch as well as about the Defense Department and the role of lobbyists in influencing policy. The trip provided the cadets with a forum to enhance their understanding of national politics and offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the public figures who create the policy they study in their classes.

Sponsored by the Department of Social Sciences, DAF is a nonpartisan American politics club that provides cadets an opportunity to look at changes in government and better understand them through trips and other activities. DAF also cultivates active participation in government and politics by encouraging voting and by holding an election-night event.

DAF began the Washington trip by meeting with Sen. Jack Reed from Rhode Island. Reed, a USMA Class of 1971 graduate, discussed a host of issues, including bipartisanship, military service, the defense review and the National Missile Defense debate. The cadets then met Rep. Ed Bryant, who took them to the House floor and discussed the House’s history.

The cadets also visited the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the USS Cole incident and listened to the testimony of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Henry Shelton and the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Vernon Clarke.

After the hearing, the cadets discussed current policy, particularly on the country’s energy problems, with Rep. John Shimkus, USMA Class of 1980. Former Sen. Bob Dole lunched with the cadets and discussed his views on a range of current issues as well as his involvement in politics, his thoughts on leadership and his recent soft-drink commercial.

The group continued its day by moving to the Supreme Court and meeting with Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy discussed the role of the Constitution and its fundamental concepts as well as the Court’s relationship with society and the legislature. Following the meeting, retired Maj. Gen. William K. Suter, the clerk of the Court, discussed his role in the Court and leadership in the Army.

Following these insights into the judicial branch, the cadets moved back to the Capital and met with Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who became Senate majority leader in late May. Daschle discussed his role as his party’s leader and his relationship with the Bush administration.

The cadets then received another view of the Senate from Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. Arizona’s Sen. John McCain accompanied him and greeted the cadets with a "Go Navy!" The cadets concluded the day with a meeting with Cofer Black, the CIA’s chief of counterterrorism, and toured the West Wing of the White House with White House Fellows Maj. Mike Fenzel and Navy Cmdr. Stu Munsch.

DAF began May 4 with a Pentagon visit and listened to a briefing on the Unified Command Plan. The cadets then met with Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who spoke at graduation here Saturday. Wolfowitz discussed the administration’s defense priorities, his role in the Gulf War and his views on the most pressing current and future threats.

After that meeting, the cadets had lunch with Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., chairman of the Patton Boggs Executive Committee, and retired Maj. Gen. Michael Nardotti, USMA Class of 1969, who led the cadets in a conversation on the role and impact of lobbyists in today’s politics.

Following the meeting, the cadets traveled to the White House, beginning their afternoon on the Situation Room with a meeting with Richard Clarke of the National Security Council. He discussed crisis management and cyber terrorism. The cadets then met with White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, who told the cadets stories about his role as chief of staff and his life. Next, the cadets moved to the vice president’s Ceremonial Room and met with White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, who answered questions about his job, the role of media reporting and the perceived bias in it.

The cadets concluded their afternoon at the White House by visiting Vice President Richard Cheney, who discussed a variety of issues ranging from the priorities of the administration to the Gulf War.

The cadets closed out the trip with a stop at the D.C. Central Kitchen where Robert Egger, the executive director, spoke about how to ease hunger and create specific social solutions to integrate people back into society.