Sisters man attends War College

Last October, Ren and Sue Broomhead of Tollgate received what turned out to be a once-in-lifetime invitation. Their son, Col. John Broomhead, stationed at the Pentagon, asked them if they would like to attend his graduation from the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

As it turned out attending the graduation was just a part of the Broomhead's war college experience. He was asked if he would like to take part in several other aspects of the experience - participating in seminar groups and contributing in classroom discussions.

The guests who are asked to attend come from academia, media, government, business, religion, and other fields. They represent a cross-section of experience, contemporary interests and views of American society. Also, as a nominee, they can be a representative of their organization and culture, someone deeply concerned with the well-being of the nation, and a person whose experience, knowledge and interests will enable him or her to contribute to seminar group discussions.

To begin with, there are only 66 nominees invited to attend as guests and participants at the graduation program. They could not have any links to the military; however, some were accepted if they have minimal military or national security job-related experience in their background. Broomhead is a retired Weyerhaeuser Company timber manager who served 34 years in the timberlands division as a logging engineer and superintendent.

He also has extensive experience with Boy Scouts of America. During his long and active time with BSA, strengthening the organization, he has been awarded the Silver Beaver and Wood Badge credentials. He has also accomplished international management and language skills through his missionary work with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, serving several years in Nagoya and Tokyo Japan, Samoan Islands, Niue and New Zealand.

Last March Broomhead was notified that the Army had accepted him as a guest to attend the Army War College's Commandant's National Security Program, Class of 2016, along with his son, John. They took part this past July.

This was a milestone experience for the Broomheads, as it was the first and only time a father and son have ever attended the war college together. There were 365 active-duty U.S. military officers taking part in this year's program, along with 327 other Army personnel, 47 in active service, 134 from the National Guard and 164 reserve personnel.

There were also 14 students from the U.S. Marines, one from the U.S. Navy Reserve, five from the U.S. Air Force, 15 civilians from the State Department, Army, Congress, Interagency, Department of Defense and Intelligence Agencies. Included with the U.S. military and civilians were three international fellows from Kosovo, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

On the first Monday of the two-week period, Major Gen. Bill Rapp, the college commandant, introduced students and guests to all that goes on at the Carlisle Barracks, and then each Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, July 11-22, the students and guests participated in the following studies: Acquisition & Resources, Middle East ISIS, Gettysburg Strategic Setting and on-site field trip, Stewardship of the Military Profession and many other war college subjects.

The Carlisle Barracks was founded by Colonel John Stanwix of the British Army on May 30, 1757, some 20 years before the Revolutionary War. It was also the U.S. Army's first educational institution which started the first artillery school in 1778. After that it was it was The School of Calvary Practice, and was occupied and burned by Confederate forces during the Civil War.

It was later home to the famous Carlisle Indian School from 1879 to 1916, and produced such famous athletes as Jim Thorpe. From 1926 to 1946, it was the home of the Medical Service School. Except for the two world wars, the USAWAC has been in operation more than 100 years, and since 1951 the barracks has been the home of the U.S. Army War College.

Today's mission of the U.S. Army War College is to educate and develop leaders for service at the strategic level while advancing knowledge in the global application of land power. That's a bold and vital goal for today's war-torn world, but not new - our Army's history has lived that role since Gettysburg.

After the opportunity to attend the war college and graduation with his son, Broomhead had this to say about his experience:

"I was fortunate that John included me for the last two years of his studies by sharing some the required reading, the papers he prepared and his thoughts, all via email.

"Then for him to nominate me to attend the Army's War College, (to) be accepted by the commandant and for him to be my host the last week of his war college experience was truly an honor.

"To be with him and have the opportunity to meet some of the soldiers he associated with during his deployment to Europe will be one of the highlights of my life. It was humbling, but truly an honor and privilege, to be associated with some of the top-notch soldiers in the U.S. Army and to see the depths of their dedication to defend this country, the U.S. Constitution and to give their lives if required to protect us, the citizens of this great country."