West Point cadets get leadership training in Hawaii

West Point cadets get government leadership training in Hawaii

By Mary Vorsino ~ The Associated Press

HONOLULU -- With his crisp blue West Point uniform and shoes so shiny they reflect their laces, Samarith Srey seems out of place next to the aloha shirt and khakis his boss wears.

But the clothing difference is only symbolic for Srey. He is in Hawaii with eight classmates from the U.S. Military Academy for an internship program in civilian government, the first in West Point's 200-year history.

Organizers say the internship program -- aimed at familiarizing military-minded cadets with the structure of civilian government -- is all too relevant as the U.S. military attempts to set up a functioning governing body in Iraq.

"It gives me an appreciation of the challenges Army leaders face," Lynn Jackson, a 21-year-old cadet from Cullman, Ala., said of the military's work in postwar Iraq. "I want to see how to build a team and lead and inspire people."

The program is modeled after the White House Fellows program, which has produced leaders such as Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

Because of its isolation and multicultural population, Hawaii is an ideal setting for a program designed to teach future military leaders how to operate within an unfamiliar civilian government, organizers said.

Where else, asked Jackson, interning with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, would a state department's responsibilities include such diverse issues as being concerned about proper native burials for ancient Hawaiian remains?

All West Point students are required to serve as interns during the summer before their senior year. They typically work on military installations in areas related to their study interests, and sometimes they go into the civilian sector, following field doctors or civil engineers for a month.

But cadets have never before worked within state government. The three-week internship, which started July 2, places them in the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor and six government departments.

One of the program's coordinators, Raymond Jefferson, deputy director of the state's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said the cadets hope to learn "how leadership is practiced in the civilian world."

Jefferson, a West Point graduate, said that even though Srey wears his academy uniform, he is learning what it means to work in a place where there are no symbols of rank on sleeves or collars to denote status.

In the civilian workplace "there's no road map on you that legitimizes you," which means respect must be earned, Jefferson said.

Srey, from Harrington Park, N.J., said the internship has "allowed me to see an unexpected side of civilian leadership: It takes a little bit of time to develop that trust."

Srey also is getting a hands-on education -- writing agendas, helping to write Jefferson's speeches, preparing and presenting leadership seminars, and following Jefferson through days filled with appointments.

The cadets, who expect to graduate in 2004 and soon after take up leadership positions in the Army as part of their five-year commitment, say the program has given them an inside look at the differences between military and civilian power structures and how the latter is organized and maintained.

Charlsey Meyer, a cadet from Kingsport, Tenn., was placed with the director of the Department of Human Services. She said that in just one week she learned to appreciate the intricate web that makes up state government.

"They have it down," she said. But "setting up in another country is another story."

The interns were the top students in a cadet leadership training exercise at the Army's Schofield Barracks in early June.

Schofield Barracks spokeswoman Kathy Turner, who also helped organize the program, said the interns are learning from "civilian leadership at its best."

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On the Net:

Hawaii government: http://www.hawaii.gov/

U.S. Military Academy: http://www.usma.edu/