MIIS Students and CTEC Director Interview Retired General and Former Ambassador for Counterterrorism at the State Department

Middlebury Institute students Shailene Pimentel, Cierra Horsting, Chuck Woodson, and CTEC Director Jason Blazakis interviewed retired general and Ambassador Dell Daily at the Birnam Golf Club in Santa Barbara. General Dell Dailey shared his experiences on decision-making and policy challenges related to counterterrorism. The interview and lessons learned from the discussion with General Dailey will inform the Special Operations Research Database (SORD) - a database designed to preserve the experiences and views of those working on the front lines of the global war on extremism.

Here are some of the thoughts expressed by our students:

“I would just like to capitalize that it was truly a great experience, and one that I couldn’t have done with any other project on campus. It is a great feeling documenting these interviews into the SORD database, because I know the information gathered will make a difference in future CT policy as the database continues to grow.” - Shailene

“I share the same thoughts as Shailene. I think the interview, participating on this project, and knowing the impact it will all have in the future is invaluable. There is no other project like this at MIIS. It has been great to see the evolution of this project, and all of the hard work of the SORD team, turn into a successful interview like this one.” -Cierra