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LEXINGTON, Va., Oct. 13, 2017鈥擳here鈥檚 an old saying that history sometimes repeats itself. For the VMI Department of History, that saying has come true this academic year as Col. Geoff Jensen is teaching at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Britian鈥檚 training ground for future Army officers, for the second time in his academic career.

Jensen, professor of history, first participated in a faculty exchange program with Sandhurst 17 years ago while teaching at the University of Southern Mississippi. During that first stay at Sandhurst, Jensen met Dr. Klaus Schmider, senior lecturer at Sandhurst, and the two have kept in touch ever since.

This fall, Schmider is teaching at VMI鈥攁nd for him, it鈥檚 a whole new world, as he had never been to the United States as an adult before this year.

鈥淚 wanted to do something marginally different,鈥� said Schmider of his decision to participate in the faculty exchange. 鈥淵ou go stale, sooner or later.鈥�

During the one-semester exchange, Schmider is teaching two courses at VMI, one on modern European land warfare from 1870 to 1945 and another on insurgency and counter-insurgency. 鈥淭he first impression has been very favorable,鈥� said Schmider of the cadets he鈥檚 teaching.

Schmider does see several differences between VMI cadets and their counterparts at Sandhurst鈥攃hief among them the age difference, as almost 90 percent of Sandhurst cadets already have a bachelor鈥檚 degree before they arrive.

Schmider also sees a subtle but crucial difference between the two institutions. 鈥淪andhurst is a military academy,鈥� he noted. 鈥淢ilitary priorities will always come first.鈥� At VMI, he said, 鈥淭here are intimations of a clash [between military and academic priorities] 鈥�. But when everything is said and done, academics take more of a center stage here.鈥�

Another difference that caught Schmider off guard, at least at first, was the fact that he was to design his own courses. Sandhurst鈥檚 Department of War Studies, where Schmider regularly teaches, offers a set curriculum with the same courses each year.

鈥淗ere you have almost anarchic freedom,鈥� Schmider commented. 鈥淚t鈥檚 intoxicating, and a little bit scary.鈥�

Across the Atlantic, Jensen is teaching courses on modern military history, which includes World War II, the Arab-Israeli wars, and the Falklands/Malvinas war, among many other topics. Because Sandhurst鈥檚 program of study only lasts one year, Jensen explained, the program is intense, and the Department of War Studies focuses its attention almost exclusively on 20^th and 21^st century military history.

  For Jensen, the brevity and intensity of Sandhurst鈥檚 program contrast sharply with VMI鈥檚 four-year cadetship.

In an email interview, Jensen wrote, 鈥淥ne thing that I like most about VMI is watching the cadets develop in and out of the classroom over the years; at Sandhurst the much shorter cadetship means that I don鈥檛 get to see the same kind of maturing process and long-term intellectual development among my students as I do at VMI.鈥�

Jensen also senses a cultural difference at Sandhurst, where the school鈥檚 website and letterhead include the royal cypher of Queen Elizabeth II, and hints of the British aristocracy reveal themselves in a school that has horses and polo fields.

鈥淭here is also an aristocratic feeling to life at Sandhurst not found at VMI,鈥� Jensen commented.  鈥淎lthough it is slowly changing, overall the British Army鈥檚 officer corps is still a long way from the VMI citizen-soldier ideal. Sandhurst in turn reflects this characteristic of British military culture.鈥�

Col. Mark Wilkinson, chair of the history department, noted that the exchange program allows an opportunity to 鈥渇reshen things up鈥� by giving both Schmider and Jensen the chance to teach in a different environment. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good for the cadets,鈥� he added.

All involved鈥擲chmider, Jensen, and Wilkinson鈥攅xpressed hope that this year鈥檚 pilot exchange program will carry on in the future. 鈥淲e want to press ahead with ironing out something of a more permanent nature,鈥� said Wilkinson.

- Mary Price

-VMI-