Page 7 - Cormorant Issue 18

An Interview with
the Commandant
On 17 Mar 15, Comdt JSCSC gave the following interview to Wg Cdrs Liz Brassington and Matt Tandy of the Editorial Team.
Liz: Sir, what value does the Cormorant magazine have to the current College staff and students?
Commandant: First and foremost because it is a record of what you have done and the people you have done it with. That’s really important because it is about the network you gain by coming to the College and that sits with you for life; it’s something you can explore and utilise all the way through so it’s really very important from that point of view. I think the Cormorant also allows you to showcase the work you have all done and hopefully giving you the full impact of the education you have received.
Liz: So is Cormorant effectively part of the College’s branding?
Commandant: Yes absolutely. You can tuck the College away behind a fence and no one knows about it and people can just
quietly come and go. This is really interesting when you consider how other people see us here. For example at the recent Headmasters’ Conference the most common question was “so what exactly do you do here?” When
I told them we focus on postgraduate education (MSc, MA, MPhil and
PhD programmes all on campus) with
some undergraduate education too, it
was apparent no one was aware of it. So importantly for me, from an education point of view, I was able to say to the headmasters that encouraging their students to join the UK Armed Forces does not represent the end of their education; quite the opposite. They actually have an excellent pathway
to follow throughout their career, much of which passes through the Defence Academy; it’s part of the offer.
“
They actually have an
excellent pathway to follo” throughout their career...
5
If we want that
to continue to be
the case, we have
to demonstrate
that our people
can con dently
compete against
their peers. They
can have a full
military career and
leave with the same or similar quali cations as their civilian counterparts, but with a host of command and leadership skills
that give them a de nite edge. Through having the necessary quali cations to survive a computerised sift, of both civilian and military people, enabling a move onto the interview stage where candidates with
a military background generally do very well. As much as it focuses on what it’s doing now, the Defence Academy also prepares our people for future, including reintegration into civilian life, which is
w