|
Gentlemen,
It's a pleasure to be able to post on this site. Of course I'm concered about writing the wrong thing, because I respect you guys a great deal. Anyway, as my screen name says, I'm a nobody; I have no SOF ambitions myself, and I'm not going to pretend I have anything worthwhile to say. I'm here to listen.
And that's why I'm posting: I'm a mature student at Tufts University majoring in International Relations. My thesis will be on successful (unclassified) US UW and FID ops, particularly post-2001. Of interest to you: I'm not just doing this for myself. There's a recently retired SOF BG at Tufts' Fletcher School who still travels down to Florida quite frequently as an adviser. I was surprised he even tolerated my presence in his office, but he was actually quite interested in my research and offered financial support. All the stuff I find goes straight back to him.
I would be sincerely grateful if some of you gentlemen offered me advice about where and what to concentrate my research on -- what do you think are the success stories? Lessons learned? What shouldn't I look at? For example, I believe Basilan would be a recent success worth focusing on, but what the hell do I know? Only the professionals can tell what's really going on at the tactical level.
I'll be on sabbatical in the coming spring to attend USMC(R) boot camp, but I'm keen to learn as much research-related knowledge as possible before I leave for PI in late January. That way, I'll be able to hit the ground running when I get back in July.
Any PMs on the research subject would be much appreciated, and you'd have another source of free beers in the Boston area.
Merry Christmas,
Toby
|