Integrating army doctrine and engineering design: Preparing millennial to become future officers

Abstract

The United States Military Academy (USMA) mission is to "educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character." Anecdotally, some cadets believe the "educate" aspect occurs within the academic setting and the "train" aspect occurs within the military program. However, the interconnectedness of these two seemingly disparate goals within the mission are able to be achieved simultaneously and can enhance the future officer's development. We have designed a senior capstone engineering design course that purposefully blends the "body of knowledge" from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) and Army doctrine. The interaction of these two professional aspects, and how they are integrated into the engineering design project, will be presented. The deliberate blending of these critical components from each perspective to meet both the needs of the engineering profession and the needs of active duty military service will be discussed. Although meaningful assessment of the impact of this educational approach is not borne out until students have graduated, the faculty at our institution have assessment data that demonstrate the value of this approach for future personal and professional growth.