1st Lt. Matthew Moosey
Interview
- Q: Can you share a little bit about yourself with us?
- A: I'm 26 years old and I hail from Colorado Springs, Colorado, although I spent a significant part of my youth living in the Republic of Panama while my father was stationed in the Canal Zone. I graduated high school in Colorado and attended the United States Military Academy, West Point, for my undergrad. In 2005 I received a B.S. in political science with a minor in nuclear engineering. I commissioned at the same time as an armor officer. After the officer basic course at Ft Knox, Kentucky., I was assigned as a tank platoon leader in the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) based at Fort Hood, Texas. In December of 2005, I deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, spending 12 months maneuvering my Abrams tank platoon in southern Baghdad. I returned for my second deployment March of this year as an executive officer for an Abrams tank company, a billet I currently occupy. I have been based on a small combat outpost of about 200 soldiers in the East Rashid neighborhood of Baghdad for the past five months.
- Q: Tell us about the road that led you to The Chicago School.
- A: A major part of my job as an Army officer deals with professional counseling of my soldiers. I found that I enjoyed it and the study of human behavior in general. I felt that the time was right to continue my studies with my ultimate goal of becoming a psychologist. I researched several online programs, and found The Chicago School to be best suited for my needs.
- Q: Why is the study of forensics such a good fit for you?
- A: As a federal officer, a lot of my duties are dictated by law and regulation, both military and civilian. I feel that studying the law and its interaction with my professional interest of human behavior is a relevant and fulfilling endeavor.
- Q: You're working on a project examining the effect of everyday amenities on combat morale. What have you learned so far, and what kind of impact could the information have on the way the Army handles combat morale issues?
- A: I think that the Army needs to hear from one of its own. The Army has been a major part of my life since I was a child. I think it would do the Army good to hear some honest criticism, praise, study, and suggestion from someone who cares very much about the organization, but more importantly the soldiers.
One of the distinct changes in the current Global War on Terror is the ability for soldiers to have real-time connectivity with what's happening back home. That's not always for the best. In past wars, soldiers have been insulated from home-front challenges by distance and lack of communications, allowing them more focus on performing rigorous combat tasks. Today, soldiers know what's going on back home; stress over the difficulties loved ones deal with, and they must perform complex tasks in an ever-changing non-traditional battlefield. It can be very trying.
I think the Army needs to face the problem of prolonged conflict head-on. We certainly don't need to repeat past mistakes. Today's soldiers are educated, intelligent, sensitive, and complex women and men who are at a high risk for a wide range of combat-related disorders. The United States Army and the field of psychology owe these brave women and men concrete progress in diagnostic methods and treatment. I hope that my own scholarship can assist in any way possible. - Q: What would you say to someone who is reluctant to pursue an online education?
- A: Online education requires a tremendous amount of personal discipline and self-sacrifice. And one of the things I like about it, it does allow you to couple your professional experience in with the work environment. It does require a level of maturity and professionalism, and I've had a couple years in the army and so that kind of keeps me on the right track. I actually find this as a bit of a release because it does connect me to a larger community that is outside of this conflict. In ways I'd say are rather ironic, but appropriately so, it's therapy for me. I believe by and large online education is here to stay. It's had its early critics, and it continues to. Although it does require some self-commitment and sacrifice, anybody can do it, and that's the brilliance of it. And it's because it's so universal and it's largely in people's homes these days. That means that it just opens up a whole world of educational experience to people who are not tied down to a physical campus. You get the same level of quality of education, in fact, in many ways more so, because you are teaching yourself and you're understanding it yourself more, you're having more of a tactile experience with the material because you're actually using it in your day-to-day life.
- Q: You're an online student, yet you're still able to get real-world-training experience. Explain how that works to people who might be skeptical about it happening.
- A: One of the best things about online learning is that it recognizes the maturity and dedication that a working professional commits to education. The tremendous instructors and professors at The Chicago School have shown me that serious scholarship and real-world experience can be complementary. I do not exaggerate when I say that what is learned from my online education quickly gets applied in my everyday work.
- Q: What has been the most surprising thing about your Chicago School experience so far?
- A: My classmates have been the most pleasant, respectful, and educational part of my Chicago School experience. Despite the non-traditional form of the online classroom, I feel that we are very much a team, dedicated to each other's educational and professional success.
- Q: What's the biggest myth about your area of study, the study of forensics?
- A: Popular television and cinema show forensic psychology to be everything from psychic para-science to climactic car chases. What most aren't aware of is that forensic psychology must be grounded in realistic clinical psychology. That is, one must understand the basic, sterile, clinical, and scientific nature of psychology and its interaction with the legal system. In this manner, forensic psychology is perhaps not as dramatic as popular culture portrays, but entirely more scholarly and applicable.
- Q: What's your definition of impact?
- A: My definition of impact would be to influence positively someone or something—an institution or a person. To influence in a positive way.
- Q: Your project is about everyday amenities. Which one do you personally miss the most and why?
- A: Among the things I miss the most is the ability to freely move around. The United States is a society that prides itself on the mobile nature of its citizenry and I myself love to travel. Here in Iraq, I don't have that ability. Movement from point A to point B requires careful planning, extensive security, and always some degree of risk. I look forward to returning to the U.S. where I will be able to hop in my car and drive and visit where I please.
- Q: Once you get your degree what would your dream job be?
- A: Well, I am looking at getting out after my term of service expires in May of 2010 and I'd love to go into a terminal psych or Ph.D. program; I think psychology is where I need to be…
- Q: When do you think you'll be able to visit The Chicago School in person?
- A: You know, I would love to come by redeployment early next year. That will be fun, to meet the people behind the internet connections, so to speak.
