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Home » About Norwich » SGS Today »
News Article
Maj. Anthony Walker at a security check point in Afghanistan with a local security guard [photo courtesy of Maj. Anthony Walker].
Diplomacy graduate thrives in NATO position
by Gary E. Frank, correspondent
© Nov. 6, 2009 Norwich University Office of Communications
A half century ago, the words "ugly American" became prevalent. Originally the name of a political novel, the term became an epithet in foreign lands for Americans perceived as arrogant, boorish and pretentious. The term does not apply to Army Maj. Anthony Walker, a 2006 SGS graduate.
"I've always loved talking to people and learning about their culture," said Walker, a force protection staff officer for NATO Allied Forces North who is based in the Netherlands. "It's always exciting, especially when I get to talk to regular people. I wanted to be able to be that representative of the [United States] in a foreign country and be able to make a difference in that country."
During his Army career, Walker was stationed overseas several times, including two deployments in Iraq. He traveled extensively throughout Asia, including a tour of duty in South Korea. Five years ago, Walker decided it was time to further his military career by pursuing a graduate degree. Given his duties, he felt Norwich University's Master of Arts in Diplomacy (MDY) program was the right fit, and a logical continuation of his undergraduate degree in international relations from Bowie State University.
Midway through his second semester, he received orders to deploy to Iraq for the first time, where he was assigned to a combined intelligence operations center in Baghdad. Needless to say, working on an advanced degree from a combat zone was a challenge.
"From about 7:30 in the morning until about 9 at night, I was completely focused on what was going on in Iraq," he said. "After 9, I had to take a deep breath and say, 'Now I need to be able to separate from that for X number of hours to get into international law and economics, but at the same time I'm wondering about projects at work."
Walker credits the MDY faculty and program administrators for their flexibility and patience.
"I really fell in love with Norwich and my professors because I always felt that family atmosphere," he said.
But he also feels studying during his deployment had immediate benefits for him. After online class discussions, he often found himself dealing with those same issues on duty.
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“I really fell in love with Norwich and my professors because I always felt that family atmosphere.”
— Maj. Anthony Walker |
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"It helped in my being able to understand the basis of the problems there," said Walker. "Not just what you see in the news, but understanding history. How did we get into this situation?"
In Iraq, that meant looking at the history of tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims, what the country was like before the reign of Saddam Hussein and how he took power.
Six months into a three-year assignment as a force protection officer, Walker is part of a multinational team that assesses threats to NATO forces in theater and determines how to mitigate them.
"My studies helped me to understand where we are today in Iraq or Afghanistan, how to do force protection projects, and understanding the threats and where they come from," he said. "It helps me to understand how to work with people of different nationalities, to help Iraqis or Afghans build a better tomorrow for themselves."
For Walker, building that better tomorrow means winning over the local population. Media coverage of the Iraqi conflict, for example, tends to ignore progress made in building new schools and training Iraqi security forces, he said. Acts of kindness can have a strategic benefit. In Baghdad, Walker was part of an effort that delivered backpacks filled with donated school supplies to middle schools.
"A lot of the time, that's where the rubber meets the road, because if we connect with people on a personal level; develop a relationship with them, get them to trust us, then they'll be more willing to share information with us," he said. "They will tell us where the bad guys are because they know we're there, that our purpose is legitimate and we're there to protect them and help them toward a better future."
One of his NATO colleagues, Lt. Col. Gert Koelstra of the Dutch Army, said Walker is effective because he's always prepared and his answers to force protection issues are "detailed and credible."
"Tony is able to make and defend a case. This becomes clear when he has to describe and staff new requirements for his field of expertise," said Koelstra. "Requirements have to be staffed through various organizations from a tactical level all the way up to the strategic level at NATO HQ in Brussels. Tony is a good team worker but also a good individual specialist who is not afraid to make his case in front of senior leadership."
Looking ahead, Walker's ambition is to become a military attaché at an American embassy, preferably in southeast Asia.
"I don't have to be the ambassador, just be there on behalf of America doing something great," he said. "Something where I can give back and share my experiences in life with somebody on the other side of the world."
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