Senior Lecturer Rick Lorenz served twenty-seven years in the Marines before joining the faculty of the Middle East Center where, for the last decade, he has been teaching very popular courses on water and security in the Middle East and international law focused on the Middle East. This past summer, Lorenz was invited back by the Marines to join the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit at the beginning of a seven month deployment. He served as a civilian subject matter expert with the Naval Postgraduate School Regional Security Education Program. He had the unique opportunity to see the many remarkable advances in technology and changes in personnel management that have transpired since his retirement from the Marines. He was able to provide valuable education on a wide range of subjects including maritime security, Middle East Policy, Libya, and East Africa while he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from June 27 through July 16, 2016 on the USS Wasp LHD-1 with 1,400 Marines. As a retired Marine, Lorenz was in his element reporting, “I think I have died and gone to heaven …. I can wander around the ship incognito and chat with the Marines and hear about their lives and jobs.” After he left the ship, the USS Wasp was reported to be off the coast of Libya conducting airstrikes against Islamic State targets.
Autumn quarter 2016 Rick Lorenz will teach “Water and Security in the Middle East” (JSIS A 493/593) and “International Law and the Use of Force” (JSIS 534)