The National Security Affairs (NSA) department of U.S. Naval War College (NWC) in Newport provided its students with an inside look at how national policies are implemented during two practitioner panels held recently at the school.

The sessions featured specialists in theater security decision making and were integrated into the curriculum to give students a real-world perspective, according to David Cooper, chair of the department and James V. Forrestal, professor of NSA.

The first session focused on policy making in Congress from different viewpoints.

"This was an opportunity for the students to integrate everything they had learned so far," said Cooper. "It is designed to build on their classroom educational experience. And these two individuals have served on different national security committees."

The first practitioner session was Sept. 15 with guests Stephanie Sanok Kostro and Larry Hanauer, along with moderator Sue Eckert.

Kostro is acting director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Program and served from 2005 to 2008 on the professional staff of the House Armed Services Committee.

She warned students not to put too much faith in public perceptions and instead focus on working in the policy environment.

"The dominate view on Congress is that it is irreparably broken and they can't get anything done," said Kostro. "My hope is that even though the media may be portraying a lack of activity on key issues, and that is absolutely happening, I would like the students to understand that the process and relationships are continuing even though it may not appear that there is much agreement publicly."

Hanauer is a senior policy analyst at a major Washington, D.C., think tank and served on the professional staff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from 2005 to 2010. He believes these sessions are valuable to the students and teach the right method to accomplish objectives in Washington.

"[We are showing the students] how to influence [decision makers], and not just influence but how to share your messages," said Hanauer. "We want to show how to make your argument to Congress in a way that helps advance whatever goals you have. That requires knowing where people on Capitol Hill come from."

Eckert is from Brown University's Watson Institute and served from 1982 to 1989 on the professional staff of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was an assistant secretary at the Commerce Department in the Clinton administration.

Another practitioner session held at NWC Sept. 25 welcomed retired Adm. James Stavridis and focused on combatant commanders. Stavridis currently serves as dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts.

According to Stavridis, students must understand that there are many moving parts to the policy implementing process.

"The thing I wanted to impress upon the students was the complexity of strategy," he said. "I think often students tend to think of it as a cookbook. That you can add a little bit of this, and little bit of that, and a little bit of this, and add what they did last year.

"I hope what came across [in my presentation] was that the process is big and it is complicated. You have to understand culture, and language, and history as well as the military, economic and political. And you've got to look for the hooks--international, interagency, private-public and strategic communications."

The Theater Security Decision Making course is aimed at training government officials and staff officers around the fleet and world to fulfill a critical role in the process of taking policies made in Washington, and implementing them at the theater or joint command level.

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