The 35th Infantry Division Intelligence Directorate hosted the first two-state Military Intelligence symposium at the 35th ID headquarters on Fort Leavenworth July 8-9. More than 100 Soldiers from Kansas and Missouri took part in the symposium.
Lt. Col. Nathan Bukowski, the Kansas joint staff military intelligence director, conceived the event in an effort to foster greater collaboration among military intelligence professionals.
“Military intelligence is a small community with a lot of talent,” said Bukowski, “but we’re spread out inside other units in such a way that we are rarely able to come together and provide mentorship and professional development. That is the goal behind hosting this event.”
Soldiers traveled from as far as Hays and Saint Louis, Missouri, to engage in diverse training sessions on every area pertaining to military intelligence and security. Many Soldiers commented on how they had never attended anything like it before.
“Fort Leavenworth works perfectly for what we wanted to do because of its centralized location between Kansas and Missouri with the new Mission Training Complex barracks and our brand new 35th ID headquarters building,” said Capt. Hans Stephensen, 35th ID deputy intelligence director. Stephensen noted the building had ample classroom capacity to accommodate everyone.
“With the help of the MTC, we were even able to conduct classified briefings,” said Stephensen.
Maj. Gen. John Rueger, the 35th ID commanding general, addressed the group and urged them to invite military intelligence Soldiers from other states to participate in future events.
“We hope to continue this every year,” said Stephensen, “and provide our military intelligence Soldiers the much-needed professional development, mentorship and networking opportunities with their peers.”