This recap and photos were provided by West Point Head Delegate Elizabeth Constantino
Keynote speaker, Colonel (Promotable) Kimberly Field at WPSC 2012. {From Left: Cadet Mike Kerper-WPSC Commander, Colonel Meese-Head of the West Point Department of Social Sciences, Colonel Field-Keynote speaker, Cadet Brett Schuck-WPSC Chief of Staff, Cadet Ross Boston
The West Point Security Conference at the United States Military Academy was proud to welcome Colonel (Promotable) Kimberley Field on Saturday night. Colonel Field is a 1987 graduate of the United States Military Academy, where she majored in Russian.
She has served in many leadership positions at various levels, from Platoon Leader in the 59th Military Police Company to the Executive Officer (XO) of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command in Afghanistan. Over the course of her career, Colonel Field has studied Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterrey, California, earned a Master of Arts in Security Management from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and graduated from the US Army War College.
She returned to West Point to teach as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences, served as Political Advisor to the United States’ Ambassador the United Nations, and served as the Chief of Plans and Analysis at the George C. Marshall Center for Security Studies in Garmisch, Germany. Colonel Field served as the ISAF Executive Officer (XO) for three commanders: General McKiernan, General McChrystal, and General Petraeus. In addition to her deployments to Afghanistan, she has also deployed to Somalia in support of Operation Restore Hope and to Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Colonel Field is now the Army’s Deputy Director of Strategy, Plans and Policy at the Pentagon. She will be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General later this year. She spoke to the delegates at the West Point Security Conference on her perspective of the United States’ role in the Middle East, whilst involved in two wars and a global campaign on terrorism. She provided anecdotes from her professional career and concluded by stating that she was very hopeful for the future of US relations within the Middle East.
