ASSOCIATED PRESS
Raymond Jefferson, deputy director of Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, gave instructions Thursday to Samarith Srey, one of eight interns from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
8 West Point cadets work
as state summer interns
With his crisp blue West Point uniform and shoes so shined they reflect his laces, Samarith Srey seems out of place next to the aloha shirt and khakis his boss wears.
But the differences in garb are only symbolic for Srey, who is in Hawaii along with seven of his classmates from the U.S. Military Academy for the first state government internship program in West Point's 200-year history.
Organizers say the internship program -- piloted in Hawaii and aimed at familiarizing military-minded cadets with the structure of civilian government -- is all too relevant as the U.S. military attempts to set up a functioning governing body in Iraq.
"It gives me an appreciation of the challenges Army leaders face," Lynn Jackson, a 21-year-old cadet from Cullman, Ala., said of the military's work in postwar Iraq. "I want to see how to build a team and lead and inspire people."
Because of its isolation and multicultural population, Hawaii is an ideal setting for an internship designed to teach future U.S. Army leaders how to operate within the realm of an unfamiliar civilian government, organizers said.
Where else, asked Jackson, interning with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, would a state department be holding a board meeting on proper native burials for ancient Hawaiian remains?
West Point cadets are required to serve as interns during the summer before their senior year. Cadets typically work on military installations in areas related to their study interests.
Raymond Jefferson, deputy director of the state's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and one of the internship's coordinators, said the cadets hope to learn "how leadership is practiced in the civilian world."
Jefferson, a West Point graduate, said that even though Srey wears his academy uniform, he is learning what it means to work in a place where there are no ribbons to rank superiors.
"In the military, you've got those badges," Jefferson said. But in the civilian workplace "there's no road map on you that legitimizes you," which means that respect must be earned.
Srey, from Harrington Park, N.J., said the internship has "allowed me to see an unexpected side of civilian leadership: It takes a little bit of time to develop that trust."
The three-week internship started July 2. Interns were placed in the offices of Gov. Linda Lingle, Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, and six government departments ranging from human resources and business to labor and natural resources.
The cadets, who expect to graduate in 2004 and soon after take up leadership positions in the Army as part of their five-year commitment, say the program has given them an inside look at the differences between military and civilian power structures and how the latter is organized and maintained.
In the course of his internship day, Srey follows Jefferson through days filled with appointments: meetings with the governor and her cabinet, motivational meetings with staff members and dedication ceremonies -- all the staples of a top government employee's schedule. But he also gets a hands-on education -- writing agendas, helping to write Jefferson's speeches and preparing and presenting leadership seminars.
The cadets were the top students in a leadership training exercise at the Army's Schofield Barracks in early June.
Schofield Barracks spokeswoman Kathy Turner, who also helped organize the program, said the interns are learning from "civilian leadership at its best."
On the Net:Hawaii state government: www.hawaii.gov/
U.S. Military Academy at West Point: www.usma.edu
