SCOTT MILLER
News Assistant
Pepperdine sophomore Richard Nye was a big supporter of the decision to go to war in Iraq. When someone asked him what he was going to do about it, he did not know. Then on July 31, 2003, Nye decided to enlist in the U.S. Army.
“My parents have always preached to us that this nation has given us so much we owe it to give something back so we, my siblings and I, all decided military service was the best way for us to serve our nation,” wrote Nye in an e-mail from Iraq.
Nye quickly moved up in rank, achieving sergeant by the time he was 20.
“It was a big deal for me being so young and leading troops several years my senior,” wrote Nye.
Originally, Nye signed up to be a Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) soldier; JAGs do legal work in the military. However, after being deployed, Nye decided to stay with his unit instead of doing legal work.
“I have this wonderful opportunity to travel and do different things,” wrote Nye. “As a consequence I’m growing immensely as a soldier and as a person.”
After volunteering to be deployed to Iraq, Nye, a political science major, visited several professors to set up a directed study program, including Dr. Dan Caldwell, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, and Dr. Chris Soper, Professor of Political Science.
“I wanted to take courses while I was over here, because I didn’t want to be a year and a half behind in my life’s plans when I returned,” wrote Nye.
Caldwell has Nye in a class for both fall semester and spring semester; Soper acted as an adviser for Nye, while completing an internship with the U.S. Army. Both professors had experienced directed study and internship programs, but neither had had a student in the military.
“I’ve never done this before,” Soper said. “But everyone was willing to help set this up since he was committed to the military.”
“In 26 years of directed study, I have never had a student in the military at the same time,” Caldwell said.
Nye had to meet with separate professors to set up and understand the requirements that the courses entailed. Soper set up a traditional internship program and did not have to alter the program much.
“We would stay in contact through e-mails,” said Soper. “It was interesting to read his reports. They were very unique compared to the other intern reports.” (Soper’s four-unit internship program requires once-a-week reflections from the students.)
Caldwell had to tailor his program a bit more, however.
“It wasn’t what I would want, ideally,” said Caldwell. “I would e-mail him his assignment, and he would e-mail back his work. Then I would snail mail his work with my comments on them back to him.”
Nye was enrolled in Caldwell’s Arms Control and International Security course fall semester. Nye said it was unique to be reading a book about the war in Iraq while hearing mortars exploding in the background. Caldwell said it was interesting to read Nye’s book reports and final paper for the class because it provided another perspective.
“School work is extremely difficult to do over here,” Nye wrote. “But as tough as it is to do my school work, it’s a wonderful outlet.”
Both professors said Nye was very responsible with his schoolwork, even though he has not been able to stick to a strict work schedule because of his military duties.
01-25-2007
