By David E. Hubler
Contributor, In Homeland Security
The 13th Annual International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE) conference took place May 22 to May 24 in Charles Town, West Virginia, and was hosted by American Military University, one of the largest providers of education to the U.S. Armed Forces.
Attendees to IAFIE include students and faculty from 28 colleges and universities as well as leaders from government and industry. In all, nine countries were represented: Australia, Canada, China, France, Greece, Israel, Norway, Romania, and the United States.
This year’s conference theme was “New Challenges and Opportunities for Enhancing Intelligence Education.” Erik Kleinsmith, Associate Vice President for Strategic Partnering at APUS, says this year’s theme differered from past years because it focused on ways IAFIE supports students and alumni in the intelligence field.
Featured speakers included:
- Garry W.G. Clement, former National Director for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Proceeds of Crime Program. He has provided training to law enforcement in Hong Kong, Ireland, Panama, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Jamaica, Antigua, the United States and every province in Canada.
- Fran Moore, President of FPM Consulting, LLC, served as CIA Director for Intelligence from 2010 to 2014 and led the Agency’s large-scale substantive analytic program. From 2005 to 2008 she served in the CIA Counterterrorism Center.
- Keith Melton is an intelligence historian with a personal collection of over 9,000 spy devices, books and papers of eminent spies. Melton is also the author of several highly respected books on espionage and spy tradecraft.
- Reese Madsen has served as the Defense Department’s Intelligence and Security Chief Learning Officer within the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence since January 2006. He is also Chairman of the DoD Intelligence Training and Education Board (DITEB).
- Chase Untermeyer served three years as United States Ambassador to Qatar. He also served as Director of the Voice of America in the George H.W. Bush administration.
- Brian Kelly is the Chief of the DHS Intelligence Training Academy (ITA) in Washington, D.C. He is responsible for developing government training to ensure personnel can execute highly complex homeland security missions. Kelly currently serves on the Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation Board of Directors.
Prior to the start of the IAFIE conference, Dr. Karan Powell, President of the American Public University System, announced that APUS has received approval from the Higher Learning Council to offer two applied doctorates: Doctor of Strategic Intelligence and Doctor of Global Security. Classes in the doctoral programs are expected to begin in early 2018.
Over 3,000 undergraduate students are currently enrolled in the APUS’s B.A. in Intelligence Studies and more than 1,000 graduate students are enrolled in the M.A. in Intelligence Studies. APUS has awarded over 7,300 undergraduate and graduate degrees in Intelligence Studies and Strategic Intelligence.
APUS has been involved with IAFIE for 10 years, and has been a sponsor/major contributor to the IAFIE conference since 2009.
IAFIE was formed in June 2004, when more than 60 intelligence studies trainers and educators met at the Sixth Annual International Colloquium on Intelligence at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania.