--- title: "Another Powerful Year: U.S. West Point Cadets Share Their Experience Interning With the Kroc IPJ’s Women Waging Peace Members" description: Every year, three US West Point Academy cadets get field internships with the KIPJ’s Women Waging Peace network. This provides an opportunity to learn from & with local women leaders around the world, working on projects. This year, CDT Leighton McAlpin is in Bosnia, CDT Cheyenne Quilter is in Nepal, and CDT Chloe DeWees is in Uganda. --- [Skip Navigation](https://krocstories.sandiego.edu/peace/the-innovating-peace-blog/another-powerful-year-u.s.-west-point-cadets-share-their-experience-interning-with-the-kroc-ipjs-women-waging-peace-members#main) [![University of San Diego](https://krocstories.sandiego.edu/hubfs/KROC/%5BKROC%5D%20Branding%20Assets/logo-usd.png)](https://www.sandiego.edu/) [Joan B. 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Each year the United States West Point Academy partners with the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (IPJ) to place three of its cadets in field internships with the Institute's [Women Waging Peace (WWP) network](https://krocstories.sandiego.edu/peace/institutes/ipj/women-waging-peace-network.php). The purpose of this program is to provide cadets with opportunities to learn from and with local women leaders in post-conflict societies on a variety of projects including conflict resolution, peacekeeping, humanitarian aid, political and economic development. West Point has been doing this program with the WWP network for over 10 years. This program has proven to help both cadets and WWP members in the following ways:  - Provide an empathetic lens to how both groups are building safer environments; - Expose WWP members and cadets to different organizational cultures and approaches to peacebuilding; and, - Prepare cadets for the leadership challenges that they will face in the future within their military careers. This past summer the following three cadets completed their internships with our WWP members, in these areas: **CDT Leighton McAlpin** - **Location**: Bosnia - **Local WWP Host**: Amna Popovac - **Project**: The cadet interned at Amna’s NGOs. She worked on various projects including: lecturing on entrepreneurship and local leadership, and raising awareness on EU integration process.  **CDT Cheyenne Quilter** - **Location**: Nepal  - **Local WWP Host**: Radha Paudel - **Project**: The cadet interned at the Radha Paudel Foundation. She helped with outreach by giving presentations to children at schools and orphanages about the importance of dignified menstruation and utilized the confidence books that she created for this internship to help teach them how to find their confidence to speak up against women’s rights restrictions. **CDT Chloe DeWees** - **Location**: Uganda  - **Local WWP Host**: Joyce Asekenye  - **Project**: The cadet interned in the Teso Karamoja Women Initiative for Peace, and focused on peacebuilding, conflict management/resolution and reconciliation projects. There were many powerful takeaways from this year’s internship. Empathy, cultural fluidity and responsiveness were all built between both groups. The knowledge and learnings will greatly impact these cadets' future work within the military and as one cadet shared: *“The cultural triad that exists in Bosnia opened my eyes to the decision-making challenges that governmental and military professionals make daily while working abroad. As a future military professional, I must be cognizant of my operational area, and to understanding the differences between stereotypes and reality. This \[internship\] provided me the opportunity to understand the significance of religion in the region and how standard behavior within a religion changes drastically on the region. In the future, I need to ensure that I am culturally aware of the area I am operating in.”* If you would like to learn more about this program and how to support its efforts in building stronger bridges between future U.S. Military leaders and local women peacebuilders, please contact: [jenniferbradshaw@sandiego.edu](mailto:jenniferbradshaw@sandiego.edu) Program Officer for Women, Peace and Security Programs   ![Kroc School](https://krocstories.sandiego.edu/hubfs/USD-SPS-logo-reverse-3.png) About the Author [Kroc School](https://krocstories.sandiego.edu/peace/the-innovating-peace-blog/author/kroc-school) The Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies (Kroc School) at the University of San Diego is the global hub for peacebuilding and social innovation. Founded in 2007, the Kroc School equips the next generation of innovative changemakers to shape more peaceful and just societies. We offer master's degrees in peace and justice, social innovation, humanitarian action, conflict management and resolution, and a dual degree in peace and law — programs that have attracted diverse and dynamic students from more than 50 countries. In addition to our graduate programs, the Kroc School is home to the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (Kroc IPJ). Founded in 2001, the Institute supports positive change beyond the classroom. Through groundbreaking research, experiential learning, and forward-thinking programs, the Kroc School and Kroc IPJ are shaping a future in which peaceful co-existence is the new normal. ![](https://krocstories.sandiego.edu/hubfs/KROC/%5BKROC%5D%20Photos/rmi-hex.svg) ## Request More Information Please complete the form below to learn more about the Kroc School graduate programs. We will email you more information regarding each of our programs. If you would like to receive a program guide for a specific degree, please select a program. ![](https://krocstories.sandiego.edu/hubfs/KROC/%5BKROC%5D%20Photos/rmi-hex.svg) ### Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies [Joan B. 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