Shared Learning and Understanding

Photo By Sgt. Jesse Smith | Lt. Col. Kenneth C. Cole the commander of 3-2 General Support Aviation Battalion explains his perspective on the topics during a seminar at the Yonsei University.  

SEOUL, 11, SOUTH KOREA

02.05.2015

Story by Chung Il Kim 

2nd Combat Aviation Brigade

SEOUL, South Korea--Busy hands taking notes, attentive eyes, sharp questions and debate from eloquent silver tongues filled a large college classroom with profound insight and intelligence. The passionate audience in the classroom was made up of “Nightmare” Soldiers. On Feb. 5, instead of working at the Super hangar with CH-47 Chinooks and UH-60 Black Hawks, Soldiers from the 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion, 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division participated in John Delury’s Lips & Teeth in the Xi-Kim Era seminar on North Korea-China international relations at the Yonsei University in South Korea.

The seminar organized by Capt. Richard Pazdzierski, an intelligence officer with the 3-2 GSAB, presented historical gaze to the quickly changing dynamics of Northeast Asian politics and its significance on the U.S. Soldiers stationed in Korea.

John Delury, a professor from the East Asian studies at Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies gave an informative lecture about the extraordinary sociopolitical and historical background of China and North Korea.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Damon Hutton, a UH-60 standardization officer from the 3-2 GSAB said, “The seminar gave better understanding of the overall political aspect among China, North Korea, and South Korea.

” He added, “We get the military perspective of other countries and the media-biased point of view. Listening to the academic side of opinion makes Soldiers more rounded thinkers.”

Indeed, Delury’s lecture was enlightening. “We treat North Korea as an isolated country, but we need to understand the surrounding countries like China. China has significant economic leverage over North Korea,” said CPT. Pazdzierski. He also mentioned, “As an Army profession, it is good to meet the members of the academic world to have a better perspective and understanding of our everyday mission.”

At the end of the lecture, Delury shared his Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), a free online course at the website named ‘class-central.com’. According to the professor, the 6 week long course will teach in a bigger context of why they are stationed here in Korea so that daily duties and missions make more sense to individuals.

Delury concluded his lecture quoting the ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu’s words.

“知彼知己 百戰不殆. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles,” Delury said. “Hopefully there’s no fight, but it is important to understand our enemy.”

Surely, “Nightmare” Soldiers from the 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion need not fear any battle.

• Date Taken: 02.05.2015
• Date Posted: 02.06.2015 03:29
• Story ID: 153725
• Location: SEOUL, 11, KR