General Odiermo, HKS Forum, Cyber...

I had the privilege of getting one of the very limited tickets to see General Ray Odiermo speak tonight.

Gen O is the current commander of the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, VA. He's an impressive guy to hear speak, but more fun for me was that he speaks very passionately about Cyber!

I am a cyber guy, and work by day at the DoD Cyber Crime Center, and being the only cyber pro in my class at the Kennedy School, found this to be incredibly good stuff.

So this guy has got to be 6'5" and as broad as a bull dozer, with a rack of ribbons that pushed his combat infantry badge WAY up on his shoulder, but he speaks of Cyber like it's the next front. He's informed, smart, well spoken, and his last word on the subject --after speaking for almost thirty minutes --was that cyber is the thing. My classmates all looked at me, knowing I was the only cyber guy int he class, and knowing that I also am not afraid to speak, and they knew --we're working hard in this area. I don't talk much about what I do in class, but many know of DCISE and read our products. It's an amazing thing. Many of my classmates have even commented about how much is going on in the area. My roommate -a former P3 pilot and now Navy civilian commented that every high ranking official that comes through speaks of CYBER!

It's a good time to be a geek, and Harvard is creating in me a self-aware, bigger thinker.

I hope to be in this game for a long, LONG, time!

Jeff

Tuesday

Wow. Long day. Two case studies in Negotiations just took it out of me. We started in our "Extended SEF' groups at 8AM with classes on building teams and negotiations all day, ending with Joe Nye. Joe spoke about his book "Soft Power", hitting on global implications of the media, policy issues (i.e.: China's sensorship of the media), India, and finally, cyber.

While interesting (actually great talks) by the end of the day, after two fairly heavy interactive case studies in negotiation, and then Joe, my head is full. Thankfully we have a light reading assignment for tomorrow. I need the sleep.

That's it for now. I'm taking advantage of the light assignment and heading down!
Jeff

Saturday class! Wuhoo!

I'm a little late in posting, but wanted to get my pictures transferred over from yesterday.

So yes, we had class on Saturday. The day started with the remaining discussions of the Federalist Papers (it was kinda dry to have them read to us, but a great topic none the less). The discussions were all surrounding our founding fathers thoughts when they framed, and then tried to ratify the Constitution. The papers were actually a marketing piece put together to try and get New York to ratify the Constitution. It worked! Before heading out for a field trip, we had another class teaching politics in the federal government. The class flew by. As you might imagine, everyone had thoughts on politics. The resulting conversations made the class just fly by!

Noon brought lunch, and then we caught the "Yankee" buses for guided tours of Lexington (remember the shot heard around the world?). The minute men hadn't aged well, but were VERY good.

We got a great history lesson by these *ahem* young minute men, and then jumped back in the Yankee bus for a guided trip to Concord where we were met by the local historian, and our professor, Steve Keller. Steve had the best stories, and took us to Minuteman State Park and Walden Pond. We got a in a bit of hot water at Walden Pond because the snow limited the parkability of those big busses. It was actually kinda funny. When accosted by the short rotund woman in brown, who needed to know who to write the ticket to, he gave another professor's name (Pete Zimmerman). She was happy. We were allowed to leave. Concord was great. Below are two pictures of the monument. The park was covered in heavy melting snow making walking on the trails wet and muddy. Many of my classmates were wearing sneakers, so we didn't go far.

Dinner was at the Colonial Inn.. This is actually the original home of Ralph Waldo Emerson, but obviously dated before him. The Colonial Inn has been operational for over 300 years, and was one of the prime meeting places in Concord, MA. I think the waiter lived through the entire thing, but in the end, it turned out he'd only been with the Inn for 20 years. Regardless, he had the history lesson down pat and kept the wine flowing freely. After dinner several of us retired to the front porch for cigars before getting back on the Yankee Bus for our trip back to Soldiers Field.

Tomorrow brings our first day of negotiation class. I'm here to tell you folks, if you ever get the opportunity to come to SEF, DON'T turn it down. These guys know how do it right. This is the best training I've ever had!

Jeff