On Friday, April 29th, two Batten School MPP students traveled to the Pentagon to participate in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Force of the Future event. The Force of the Future is a group of initiatives which seeks to maintain the DoD’s competitive edge by bringing in top talent.

After a careful review of the student memos, the Batten faculty committee selected second-year MPP students Locher Grove and Charles Rommel to participate in the program. Their memo, “Innovation in the Department of Defense,” was presented to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.

The afternoon event also included a briefing with senior defense leaders, a tour of the Pentagon and a photo opportunity with Secretary Carter. The invitation-only event included presentations by graduate public policy students from Duke University, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Chicago and University of Minnesota.

Rommel and Grove’s presentation were praised by Secretary Carter, other DoD representatives and the students from other teams for the quality of their recommendations and their performance during the question and answer session.

Grove noted, “The DoD Force of the Future event was easily one of the most unique and special events of my grad school experience. Having the chance to engage with Secretary of Defense Carter and also present original work for critique to high level DoD officials was an amazing opportunity. I’m proud of the work Charles and I were able to present to the DoD, and I’m proud to have had the pleasure of representing the Batten School at the Pentagon that afternoon.”