A geography instructor at West Point, Major Brian Doyle deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in June 2005 on a two-month mission to advise the National Military Academy of Afghanistan "on how to begin a curriculum in geography." "They were starting from square one," he explained, "and were basically following the West Point model almost exactly. We were charged with developing physical geography, which is a core course at West Point and was to be a core course in their curriculum as well." In this interview, Doyle likened his advisory mission as akin to "being at West Point in 1802," in that they were involved in establishing both the curriculum and academy traditions. Operating under the auspices of Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, he discusses the challenges of working through interpreters, how the Afghan students had a real "thirst for knowledge," his additional partnering work with Kabul University, the vetting work done on prospective Afghan instructors, as well as a terrain walk done with Afghan students that was quite memorable.

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