Applied History: Military Predictions

In this 36 week course, the student will use applied military history to predict America’s next war. The student will then design and publish a commercial board game based on that war. The students will then, as a group (pending the number of students in the course), draft legislation to send to Washington military decision makers, transforming our current force structure into a force structure that is designed to win that war. They will then produce a video presenting their case for transformation and publish that on social media as a way of engaging the public in smart foreign policy.

Course Verse:

“Prepare plans by consultation, and make war by wise guidance.” — Proverbs 20:18

Where Did the Idea Come From?

This course started with a realization that, if you don’t have a good military history, you really don’t get to spend much time writing the other kind!

I also had a military history professor at one point who was able to demonstrate that the trajectory of military art and science, rather than some vague sense of lucky guessing, was the real basis for military advancement.

Working in Afghanistan, Qatar, Iraq, and Lithuania also taught me the lucrative nature of military contracting.

These factors, combined with my personal love of history in general, made me want to demonstrate how studying history could actually be lucrative.

When I was in my first Masters’ program, the department head, during his course on Guerilla Warfare (awesome course title!) said: “The irony of military operations is that the less time that you need to do it well, the more time the American public is willing to give you to do it completely.”

This stuck with me, as I studied ways to “do it well.” I believed that criteria separated well-executed military operations from badly-conducted ones, and the standard answers didn’t seem to fit.

The more I learned, the more frustrated I was that the decision making I saw was ignoring what I had learned.

I tried, again and again, to get various military leaders to engage my ideas, but they would not. What was interesting was that they did not refute my theories. They just said that it could not be done in our military.

This scared me, as I continued to face adaptive foes in various far-off places, so I decided that responsible citizens should be able to ask the right questions of their military decision makers without it being either meddling or treasonous.

Thus was born Applied History: Military Predictions (formerly known as Military Art and Science.)
 

What Adult Accomplishments Does This Course Coach?

1. A published and released commercial board game simulating America’s next war
2. Draft legislation sent to Washington military decision makers transforming our current military force structure into a force structure optimized to win America’s next war
3. A marketing plan for their board game
4. A video trailer for their board game
5. A video on the need for military transformation published on social media
6. Crowdfunding campaign to fund video game production/publication

What Transferable Skills Does This Course Train?

1. Game design
2. Ability to predict where America will need subject matter experts to support military efforts in the future
3. Marketing planning
4. Video advertising and persuasion
5. Legislative writing
6. Fundraising/crowdfunding

What Careers Does This Course Give Me a Leg Up On?

1. Game designer – Average Salary: $84,850 (https://www.indeed.com)
2. Military Officer – Average Salary: $90,478 (https://www.glassdoor.com)
3. Military Contractor – Average Salary: $93,961 (https://www.woman.thenest.com)
4. Documentary Maker – Average Salary: $70,950 (https://www.careeronestop.org)
5. Game Marketing Manager – Average Salary: $102,176 (https://www.indeed.com)
6. Congressional Legislative Assistant – Average Salary: $47,660 (https://www.glassdoor.com)
7. Politician – Average Salary: $174,000 (www.work.chron.com)
8. Lobbyist – Average Salary: $108,727 (www.salary.com)

Why “0 Minutes”?

In talking with a number of homeschool families (and remembering my own childhood), I realized something important: families are busy! If I schedule a course to meet on Tuesdays at 9:30, then any family that has something else at that time cannot take part, and I didn’t want that. On the flip side, we have all done various self-paced, self-improvement hobbies that did not end up doing any good because there was no accountability (New Years’ Resolutions, anyone?) I decided to get the best of both worlds: Weekly accountability with daily flexibility.

The students will have assignments that they must accomplish each week. They will also interact with me and with their classmates in chat type interactions. This keeps them on schedule to actually complete the amazing accomplishments that this course coaches them through. But they have the freedom, within the week, to choose when they are going to work on the assignments. I have tried to provide enough instruction to enable the students to do the tasks that they have been assigned, but I also understand that sometimes, there needs to be some more direct instruction to clear up misunderstandings.

To accommodate this need, it will be possible to schedule “office hours” on an “as needed” basis where I would have a live conversation with one or more students. There will be some expectations of the student when they are asking for “office hours.” I will give them questions to answer in order to make sure that I understand what their question is and can best prepare to make that time as efficient and effective as possible. Office hours will be scheduled based on mutual scheduling needs and availability, and if there seems to be a topic that everyone is having problems with, I will either schedule a class session to clear it up, or I will provide additional instructional materials.

I am committed to your student’s success. But rather than limit your family’s ability to take part in the course, I prefer to give your family the flexibility to have your child work on their schedule, as long as they are getting their work done by the Friday deadline each week.

How Would I Write This Course Up On a High School Transcript?

1. As a History credit, given the intensive and extensive amount of political/military history that the student digests in order to create their board game.
2. As a Business/Marketing elective, given the planning necessary in order to get the board game out to market, as well as the video advertisements for the board game, as well as the need for military transformation. Also, the understanding of how legislation gets developed would be very useful in business down the line.
3. As an International Relations elective, given the need to predict both the appearance and the nature of inter-state conflict is the essence of what international relations is.
4. As a Civics credit, given the student requirement to produce and send draft legislation for transforming one of the largest departments on the cabinet.