Page 99 - The Light Dragoon 2024

The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
some academic rigour (underpinned by a KCL MA degree) to better understand national culture, self-interest and ‘values’. We do this with the help of lectures from some of the world’s leading authorities on issues ranging from finance (a crash course in Economics!) and health (eg. we had Dr Chris Witty talk about COVID) to entrepreneurs (eg. Founder of Kingfisher beer), industry CEOs, niche technologies, religious leaders, CDS, a former Prime Ministers, academia from every continent, and country experts in-person or on Zoom from Beijing to Brazil.
In September, alongside the funeral of HM The Queen (talk about an introduction to culture!), we started the course looking at UK business and military industrial providers and a week spent with local government from East Anglia to Northern Ireland covering a spectrum of domestic issues and difficult choices. By the turn of the year, we moved to Europe: NATO and EU architecture, regional relationships alongside Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And later, the UN in Geneva and other global organisations and institutions
with resurfacing issues such as the rise of China, ‘populism’ and energy prices. Studies culminated in a three-week tour to one of six regions around the world; I was fortunate enough to visit India, Vietnam and South Korea. Other groups went to South America, South Asia, Europe or the Caucasus to listen to schoolchildren, foreign ministers, business leaders, ‘influ- encers’ and, for the Middle East group, a welcome audience with our Colonel in Chief !
It is always easy to make throwaway comments about the investment and insight that one has received as the end of a military course nears. We have many enforced periods of career-learning whilst on the greasy pole, but I can say unequivo- cally this is the first time I have genuinely had the time and space to study, think, challenge my views and others, and reflect on what I’ve experienced in my career to date and how I might use it in the future. I hope it has done what it set out to do and build my capacity for strategic thought and analysis and certainly I feel prepared for the next step overseas, armed with a Whatsapp
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group from every country I might ever operate alongside or deploy to. For that and so many more reasons besides, it’s been a brilliant year. If you get the chance, do it!
Kokata T20 Cricket
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