Over the course of the past summer, 16 Midshipmen from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point completed two-week internships at The Institute of World Politics. One cohort of nine Midshipmen completed an internship in June, and seven more participated in July.
During these internships, the Midshipmen worked on cyber intelligence projects with Dean Lane, IWP Senior Vice President for Cyber Intelligence. These projects included presenting the use case of a company that was hacked, researching trends in spending on cybersecurity and the demand for professionals with cyber skills, and investigating the legacy costs of a technology system.
The Kings Point interns also had the opportunity to participate in IWP classes, specifically:
- Geography and Strategy, with Dr. Marek Chodakiewicz, director of IWP’s Center for Intermarium Studies;
- U.S. Bilateral Security Agreements, with Dr. Wayne Schroeder, a 41-year veteran of Washington, D.C. with service in government, industry, public policy, the military, and higher education;
- Peace, Strategy, and Conflict Resolution, with Prof. Albert Santoli, Founder and President of Asia America Initiative;
- History of Counterintelligence with Prof. John Quattrocki, a former Senior Executive on the National Security Council Staff; and
- Estimative Intelligence Analysis and Epistemology with Prof. Darlene Almont, an intelligence professional with over 30 years of military and civilian experience.
The interns also attended lecture lunches with IWP faculty members, including founder and president Dr. John Lenczowski.
Of his experience, Midshipman Samuel Spencer 1/C, who is in the Class of 2021 at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, shared the following with IWP:
“Although it was restricted to Zoom calls, my experience with the Institute was perhaps my favorite part of my second sailing period. I learned a lot that I had not previously known about counterintelligence and international affairs while attending Professor Quattrocki’s History of FBI Counterintelligence course. Thank you very much for taking the time to organize the internship opportunity for Kings Point Midshipmen.”
IWP Senior Vice President Chris Glass, a Kings Point Maryland Field Representative, hosted the program, along with Kings Point alumnus and IWP Executive Vice President Larry Cosgriff and IWP Dean Dr. Frank Marlo.
This internship for Kings Point Midshipmen is part of an ongoing partnership between IWP and the United States Merchant Marine Academy. In 2018, seven midshipmen participated in the IWP internship program, and, in 2019, Midshipman Jacob Davis received the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Class of 2019 IWP Award For Excellence in Cyber Statecraft.