Military

One evening in early 2008, David Sng ’13 sat conversing with his date and some senior officers at a black-tie ball held by the Singaporean military to celebrate his class’s graduation from Officer Cadet School. Suddenly, he received a text message from his combat unit calling him back to camp.

The former highest-ranking official in the American Armed Forces, Admiral Mike Mullen, will join the Wilson School faculty next semester. Mullen, who served 43 years in the United States Navy and rose to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will teach WWS 318: U.S. Military and National and International Diplomacy, an undergraduate seminar which will be offered next fall.

Upon his retirement last September, Mullen was presented with many potential jobs, Stephen Kotkin, vice dean of the Wilson School, said in an email. But Kotkin said the Wilson School recruited Mullen “vigorously” and secured him as the Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor.

The military had never been in the long-term goals of Brig. Gen. Mark Milley ’80. But 31 years later, Milley is the University’s highest ranked alumnus in the armed forces.

The University does not anticipate making any significant changes to its formal relationship with the ROTC program in light of the end of the U.S. military’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy.

On Dec. 22, President Barack Obama signed a bill that ended the military’s ban on openly gay men and women serving in the armed forces. The 17-year-old policy, which applied to ROTC programs, prevented the military from asking about a soldier’s sexual orientation.

Members of the University’s Korean community said that they hoped North Korea’s recent attack on a South Korean island will not escalate into a greater conflict.   

On Nov. 23, North Korea fired artillery shells at Yeonpyeong Island, prompting South Korea to return fire. During the hour-long exchange, two South Korean soldiers and two civilians were killed and 18 more people were injured. The island is located two miles from the Northern Limit Line, a maritime boundary that North Korea does not recognize.