Brown Bag Branch Series-Foreign Area Officer Panel

This Thursday on Mar 4, 2021 12:30 we will be welcoming a virtual panel of Foreign Area Officers to speak with our Cadets and the student body.

“The intent is two-fold: First, to connect cadets with officers that have recent tactical or operational experiences that will better educate them on their future careers. Second, it is an open forum that any student on campus can attend in order to bridge the civil-military gap in our society by presenting the Army experience to populations that may never hear that story. We utilize Zoom as the format for this as a way to encourage participation from the student body- think of being a guest speaker in a college lecture hall. I am hopeful that many non-cadets will be interested; even if they do not join the Army they may have aspirations to work in an embassy in another capacity and this is a great opportunity to bridge the civil-military gap.”

Below are bios from a few of the FAO Panel Members:

LTC Simeon M. Harvey is a native of Dallas, Texas and is currently serving as an instructor at the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, KS.

LTC Harvey has served in numerous assignments over 18 years in the United States Army. His most recent assignment was as a Career Manager at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, KY. Prior to that, he served as a Security Cooperation Officer at the Office of Military Cooperation, U.S. Embassy, Muscat (Sultanate of Oman). LTC Harvey served as the Squadron Adjutant, the Rear Detachment Commander and the Headquarters and Headquarters Troop Commander with the 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, NY. LTC Harvey also commanded B Troop, 5th Squadron, 15th Cavalry at Fort Knox, KY conducting 19D One Station Unit Training. He served as the Battalion S4 and Assistant S3 of the 3rd Special Troops Battalion; and as the Executive Officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 68th Armor, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, CO. LTC Harvey’s first assignment was as an Assistant S3 and as a Scout Platoon Leader (mechanized) with the 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry, 2nd Infantry Division.

LTC Harvey is a 2002 graduate of the Reserve Officer Training Corps at the University of Texas at Austin, earning a BA in History. He received an MA in Global and International Studies from the University of Kansas in 2015. He is a graduate of the Armor Officer Basic Course (2003) and the Infantry Captain’s Career Course (2007). He has served two combat tours, OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM in 2006 and OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM in 2010.

His personal awards include the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Award, Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Joint Service Achievement Medal, and the Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters. LTC Harvey has also been awarded the parachutist badge and the German Armed Forces Badge (Gold).

LTC Harvey is married to the former Leah Lund of Lincoln, Nebraska. They have three children, Wyatt (7), Rowan (5), and Truett (3).

MAJ Teremuura T. Shamel currently serves at Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, KY as the FA48 J/B Career Manager. He assumed duties in this capacity in April 2019.

MAJ Shamel was born and raised in the small south pacific island of Tahiti, French Polynesia where he lived until the age of 14, after which he moved to the Big Island of Hawaii for High School. MAJ Shamel left the pacific islands in 2000 to attend the University of Oregon (Eugene, OR) where he graduated and commissioned as a 2nd LT in the Signal Corps in 2004. MAJ Shamel has held multiple leadership positions at all levels throughout his 16 years of service.

His first tour of duty after Signal OBC was in Waegwan, Korea with the 20th Area Support Group (ASG) where he served as the Group’s communication officer (S6). He was then selected to be the Headquarters and Headquarters Company Executive Officer for the newly constituted 501st Sustainment Brigade (501st SBDE). He was subsequently selected to be the 498th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion’s (CSSB) S6. Upon completion of his tour in Korea in 2007 he was assigned as the S6 for the 261st Multifunctional Medical Battalion (MMB) (A) at Fort Bragg, NC. Shortly upon arriving to the 261st MMB (A) he deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Following his tour with the 261st MMB (A), he was assigned as the S6/SIGCEN Director for 3rd BN, 3rd SFG (A) from 2009 to 2012 in FT Bragg, NC. During his tour with 3/3 SFG (A) he deployed twice in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). Near the end of his tour with 3/3 SFA (A) MAJ Shamel was selected to become an Army Foreign Area Officer (FAO) and was subsequently assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania as an In-Region Trainee (IRT) from 2012 to 2013. During his assignment at the U.S Embassy in Tanzania MAJ Shamel travelled to 20 countries in Africa and supported President Barack Obama’s visit to Tanzania. MAJ Shamel was then assigned to his first FAO operational posting as the Office of Security Cooperation (OSC) Chief at the US Embassy in N’Djamena, Chad where he served from 2014 to 2016. During his time in Chad, MAJ Shamel served as the Security Cooperation spearhead for the combined DoD and DoS response to countering the Boko Haram threat in Central Africa/the lake chad area. MAJ Shamel was then selected to be a Desk Officer for U.S. Army Africa (USARAF) in Vicenza, Italy where he served as the command’s lead action officer on the priority countries of Nigeria and Mali from 2017-2019. During his time at USARAF he volunteered to be the lead military planner for the African Land Forces Summit (ALFS) – the single biggest U.S. sponsored defense conference on the African continent – which flawlessly executed in Gaborone, Botswana in 2019.

MAJ Shamel’s civilian education includes a BA in Anthropology and International Studies from the University of Oregon, a MA in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a Masters II in Public Policy in Development and Governance from SciencesPo in Paris, France. He is also a graduate of the Army’s Command and General Staff Officer Course, the U.S. Army War College’s Defense Strategy Course, the Defense Planner Course and the Maneuver Captain’s Career Course (MCCC). MAJ Shamel and his wife, Kristina, have been married for 8 years and have twin daughters, Emma and Nora both are 3 years old.

His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with one oak leaf cluster; Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal; Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Army Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster; National Defense Service Medal; Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two bronze service star; Iraq Campaign Medal with one bronze service star; Expeditionary Global War on Terrorism Service medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Korean Defense Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon with numeral 6; the NATO Medal and the Army Parachutist Badge.

https://dickinson.campuslabs.com/engage/event/6970825

Brown Bag Branch Series-Foreign Area Officer Panel

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