Richard Downie
Richard Downie Colonel (Ret.) Richard Downie, PhD (1954- ) is a retired officer in the United States Army. He is the Director of the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS) at the National Defense University in Washington, DC and is regarded as an expert in Latin American affairs.
Background
After growing up in Riverside, California, Downie attended the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1976. He received his Masters of Arts Degree and Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Southern California. His research was focused on counterinsurgency and his dissertation examined how militaries learn from conflict. This work would later be published under the title Learning From Conflict, The U.S. Military in Vietnam, El Salvador, and the [...] War. His book has been referenced by numerous authors.
Throughout his service in the US Army, Downie held 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 also 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 it’s first Commandant. It was 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.
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 Medals, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Expeditionary Medal, the Inter-American Defense Board Medal, the “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).
Published Work
Books
[http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Conflict-Military-Vietnam-Salvador/dp/0275960102/''Learning from Conflict: U.S.Military in Vietnam, El Salvador and the [...] War']' (1998)/ ISBN 0275960102/ ISBN 978-0275960100
Articles
"Defining Integrated Operations," Joint Force Quarterly (Issue No. 38, July, 2005, pp. 10–13)
“Taking Responsibility for Our Actions? Establishing Order and Stability in Panama,” Military Review (Vol. LXXII, Apr, 1992, pp. 66–77)
“Low Intensity Conflict Doctrine and Policy: Old Wine in a New Bottle?” Studies in Conflict and [...] (Vol. 15, No. 1, Jan-Mar, 1992, pp. 53–67)
External links
- Bio at Center For Hemispheric Defense