Richard Downie Richard Downie , Ph . D . , is the director of the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies ( CHDS ) at the National Defense University in Washington , DC . He is regarded as an expert in Latin America n security affairs and is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations . Background . Downie was born in Hempstead , New York but grew up in Southern California ( Riverside ) . He attended high school at the Webb Schools in Claremont , CA . Education . Dr . Downie graduated from the United States Military Academy ( USMA ) at West Point with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1976 . He earned his Masters of Arts Degree and Ph . D . in International Relations from the University of Southern California . His research focused on organizational learning and counterinsurgency ; his dissertation examined how militaries learn — or fail to learn — how to discard outmoded doctrine and enhance performance . This work would later be published under the title " Learning From Conflict , The U . S . Military in Vietnam , El Salvador , and the Drug War . " Dr . Downie ' s " Institutional Learning Cycle " has been referenced in numerous publications including " Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife " . Military and government Service . During his service in the US Army , Downie held a series of both staff and command positions . He served as an Infantryman and later as a Latin American Foreign Area Officer . In 1985 Downie served as an exchange officer in Colombia , where he completed the Lancero ( International Ranger ) School as the distinguished graduate . Downie worked at the U . S . Army South and the United States Southern Command in Panama ; coordinated Western Hemisphere affairs on the U . S . Joint Staff ; served with the Multinational Specialized Unit in Bosnia ; and was the Defense and Army Attaché in Mexico . On January 17 , 2001 , the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation ( WHINSEC ) opened its doors in Fort Benning , Georgia . Downie was the school ' s first Commandant in his final US Army command position . In 2004 , Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld , appointed Downie as the Director of the Center For Hemispheric Defense , which " conducts educational activities for civilians and the military in the Western Hemisphere to foster trust , mutual understanding , regional cooperation and partner capacity . " Downie ' s military education includes the U . S . Army War College , the U . S . Army Command and General Staff Course and the Defense Strategy Course . He was also an Army Fellow in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ’ s Seminar XXI Program . Downie is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York . Downie holds a 1st degree Black Belt in the martial art of Hwa Rang Do . Awards . His numerous awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal , the Legion of Merit , the Defense Meritorious Service Medal , the Meritorious Service Medal , the Joint Service and Army Commendation Medal s , the Army Achievement Medal , the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal , the Inter - American Defense Board Medal . He also has been decorated with a number of foreign awards , including the " Orden del Gran Caballero " ( Colombia ) “ Orden de Mérito Académico ” ( Colombia ) , the Bosnia / Former Yugoslavia NATO Medal , the Order of Military Merit ( Mexico ) , as well as the Order of the Peruvian Cross ( Peru ) .