Colonel Alejandro Amigo:
Foreign Faculty in Latino American Studies and Multicultural Leadership
Department of Command, Leadership, and Management
Colonel Alejandro Amigo is a Foreign Faculty in Latino American Studies and Multicultural Leadership at the United States Army War College. He teaches the Strategic Leadership course, the Regional Studies Program “Americas,” the “Advance Regional Studies” elective focused on the same region, and the elective “Leading in Multinational Organizations.”
He received his commission as a Signal Officer from the Chilean Army Military Academy in 1993. He graduated from the Chilean Army War College in 2010 and was awarded Suma Cum Laude. Before he arrived at Carlisle Barracks, he was a Regiment Commanding Officer at the Chilean Army 1st Division in the north of Chile. His previous assignments include four years as a planner in the Chilean Army HQ G-3 Department, Instructor at the Chilean Army Military Academy and the Signal Corps School, and Platoon Commander of Signal Units.
He was the senior Army officer of the first joint and combined deployment of Chilean Army troops to a peacekeeping operation where he was the Future Operations Officer in the Argentinian Task Force in UNFICYP, Cyprus, in 2003.
Colonel Amigo holds a Master of Arts in Security Studies from the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, and a Master in Strategic Planning from the Chilean Army War College. He holds a Bachelor in Military Sciences, a Certificate in Refugees, Migration, and Humanitarian Emergencies from Georgetown University, and attended an Executive Course on Cybersecurity at Harvard Kennedy School in 2018.
Colonel Amigo is also a faculty in the Master of Global Studies at the University of Salamanca, Spain. He has published in Chilean and Latin American Journals about International Organizations, Cybersecurity, Peacekeeping Operations, and Responsibility to Protect.
Episode Transcript: Hispanic Heritage Month – Alejandro Amigo
Stephanie Crider (Host)
The US Army War College celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15th to October 15th. This year, to observe the occasion, the US Army War College Press recorded a series of interviews showcasing war college leadership, faculty, staff, and students. Listen in to hear their insights, anecdotes, and more.
The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the podcast guests and are not necessarily those of the Department of the Army, US Army War College, or any other agency of the US government.
This episode’s guest is Colonel Alejandro Amigo. A foreign professor in multicultural studies at the United States Army War College, he received his commission as a signal officer from the Chilean Army military academy (General Bernardo O’Higgins Military Academy) in 1993. Prior to his arrival at Carlisle Barracks, he was assigned as a commanding officer of a regiment in the Chilean Army 1st (Army) Division.
Amigo holds a master of arts in security studies from the (Walsh) School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University and a master(’s) in military planning from the Chilean Army War College. He’s published in Chilean and South American journals about international organizations, cybersecurity, peacekeeping operations, and (the responsibility to protect or) R2P.
Thank you so much for being a part of the (US) Army War College Hispanic Heritage Month podcast series. I’m really excited to talk with you.
(Alejandro Amigo)
Well, thank you for having me here, recording this episode as part of this Hispanic Heritage Month. Also, thanks for recognizing the importance of the contributions of all the diverse cultures that comprise the US Army. So, thank you very much.
Host
Absolutely. This is one of the . . . my favorite parts of my job is talking to so many different people. So let’s just get started and talk about your background. How has your background prepared you for the collaboration with our diverse student body and faculty?
(Amigo)
Well, I have leveraged my life experience as a Latin American, my professional career in the Chilean Army, and my graduate studies Georgetown University to collaborate with this fantastic group of professionals. Earlier education, Chilean customs, and my cultural traits have shaped my contribution to the students’ learning process and during my collaboration with my peers.
During the class dialogue, I always work hard to expand the students’ views about my region’s strategic challenge. I have learned that it’s puzzling for them to grasp and understand the scope of those problems from a US perspective, I would say. I challenge them to apply strategic empathy by putting themselves in the regional peers’ positions and analyzing security issues from others’ point of view.
For instance, during the Regional Studies Program Americas, I always attempt to change students’ mental models regarding our region—for example, moving Latin America from a surge of security risk to a land full of opportunities that share several culture aspects with the US, while, also, the region’s knowledge allowed me to plan tailor a tree to Chile and Brazil for the advanced regional studies this past May, academic year ’22.
During that travel, the US students participated in the firsthand experience for our political defense and economics, public and private institution, and they enjoyed some aspects of our cultures. Let me tell you that their feedback was very interesting. They really enjoyed that experience and, indeed, some of them said that they were treated as (very important people or) VIP visitors. So that was great to hear from them, and that was our main goal for that trip.
Well, regarding faculty, it has been a tremendous experience to learn from them about the seminal learning methodology and the role of the faculty in that challenging environment. During my first two semester, I got here in the middle of (coronavirus disease or) COVID. It was kind of difficult at the beginning, but I supported them by coteaching some classes, participating actively in class planning and after-action-review processes.
Then, as one of the primary instructors in the Regional Studies Program Americas, I shared the burden of planning, coordinating guest speaker and all the different academic activities that bring forth the students’ learning during the year.
Host
Getting here during COVID: I can’t even imagine. That was a crazy time.
(Amigo)
Absolutely. Yeah.
Host
So let’s back up a little bit and maybe talk about what is your biggest professional accomplishment to date?
(Amigo)
Well, let me tell you that my designation as a foreign instructor in the US Army War College because of my professional achievements, I would say, in the Chilean Army is so far my biggest accomplishment. As a colonel in, I would say, my final part of the career, I could not teach now at war college back in Chile. Despite that, in parallel, I have been teaching in other institution at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
So this designation allowed me to do one of the activities that I enjoy most, such as teaching and sharing time with the students—also, researching about my interesting topics. Also, I have had a unique opportunity to present my army, Chile, and Hispanic culture, of course. I contribute to the USA work students’ curriculum with that background.
Host
Would you be willing to share with us a pivotal moment in your life that maybe changed your trajectory for the better?
(Amigo)
Yes, of course. Back in 2003 as a first-year captain, I was designated as the senior officer of the first contingent of the Chilean Army troops that participated in a joint and combined force in the United Nation forces in Cyprus (UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus). Chilean Army and Navy sent troops to be part of an Argentina task force in that UN mission.
I had opportunity to act as a future operations officer in the G3 department in our predeployment training Chile and Argentina. And then, during the six months’ mission, I realized the importance of international organizations in maintaining peace and international security and, also, the relevance of showing cultural awareness and empathy to work in multicultural settings, such as that UN mission.
That Argentinian unit was comprised of six other South American nations permanently. I had to interact with international officers in the mission (headquarters or) HQ located in Necochea. I would tell you that that experience showed me the advantage of multicultural teams where mutual respect, different perspectives and backgrounds resulted in a great work environment and high standards of missions accomplished.
Host
What are you currently working on that you’re excited about?
(Amigo)
I mean mainly, this academic year, I’m part of the seminar for team faculty team. This position means I had the opportunity to welcome the students and their respective families to a challenging year and, also, introduce them to the curriculum by coteaching the foundation course with my faculty peers. And in that position, I am currently teaching the Strategic Leadership core course and advising five students in the seminar—mainly, for supporting them in achieving their personal and professional goals during this academic year.
Also, in parallel, I am waiting for feedback from the review process of a manuscript about Latin America in the context of the current strategic competition. In that article, I aim to propose a renewal of the US strategy regarding the region by differentiating itself from near-peer competitors, rather than focusing only on confronting those actors’ regional approaches.
Host
That sounds really interesting.
(Amigo)
I hope so—for the readers, I mean.
Host
Do you have any final thoughts before we go?
(Amigo)
Just to reinforce my thinking about the importance of this kind of instance that you create. This kind of celebration demands of this different cultures and backgrounds that you bring here to the faculty and to the students in order to improve the learning process of the students. You can see in a daily basis in their dialogue, in their discussions that having different cultures, different backgrounds, different point of view in that group—it’s very relevant for their learning process. And I can see that they are already changing. They are already changing their point of view, their mindsets about the different strategic challenges that they will face in their professional future.
Host
I love hearing that. It makes me happy to even have a small part in something that good. So, thank you so much.
(Amigo)
Thank you for having me here.
The US Army War College celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15th to October 15th. This year, to observe the occasion, the US Army War College Press recorded a series of interviews showcasing War College leadership, faculty, staff, and students. Listen in to hear their insights, anecdotes, and more. The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the podcast guests and are not necessarily those of the Department of the Army, US Army War College, or any other agency of the US Government.