CAPT. JOHN VELIS
WESTFIELD – John Velis, Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve and State Representative, will be speaking today at Harvard Law School. Velis will be part of a symposium on military law with several other members of his Army unit, as well as professors from Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School. The symposium will focus specifically on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rules of engagement in the area, lethal targeting, and the cultural challenges service members face in the Middle East.
“I’m honored to be speaking at an event with so many subject matter experts in these fields. It’s not often that the world of academia and the armed services cross paths in a setting like this,” says Velis.
Captain Velis is a veteran of the war of Afghanistan, where he dealt first-hand with the cultural complexities of Southern Afghanistan and the rules of engagement. He also worked on a task force aimed at building up capacity in the area. During his deployment, he worked with tribal leaders and Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in Zabul Province to establish the rule of law.
“Understanding some of the cultural differences between my US and NATO counterparts and our Afghan allies was critical to our mission. I received several briefings on this topic before my deployment, as well as first-hand knowledge from my translators while there. Events that combine academia and the military like this further strengthen the US military’s ability to understand the complex environments they operate in. It’s my opinion that we should have many more of these. They always say ‘know thine enemy’, and these symposiums really help us to do just that. I think we will all learn a lot from each other and I’m definitely looking forward to it,” concluded Velis.
