Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal to Teach Leadership at Yale
Former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan goes to the classroom.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2010— -- Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, once the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, is heading to Yale University to teach a graduate-level course on leadership, the school announced today.
McChrystal resigned from the military in June after an article in Rolling Stone magazine exposed disparaging comments he made about officials in the Obama administration. He'll be a senior fellow at Yale's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs beginning this fall.
"I am extremely excited to be teaching at Yale and I look forward to sharing my experiences and insights as a career military officer," McChrystal said in a statement.
The seminar will be offered to students pursuing a masters degree in international relations and will "examine how dramatic changes in globalization have increased the complexity of modern leadership," according to the Yale press release.
McChrystal, a four-star general who served in the U.S. Army for 34 years, is widely known as an expert in counterinsurgency and for playing a key role in turning the tide in Iraq.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and holds a master's degree in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval Command and Staff College.
At his retirement ceremony late last month, McChrystal lamented that his military career did not end as he'd hoped.
"There are misconceptions about the loyalty and service of some dedicated professionals that will likely take some time, but I will be corrected," McChrystal added. He also mentioned unfulfilled commitments to comrades and missions left incomplete by his sudden departure.
"Over the past decade, arguably no single American has inflicted more fear, more loss of freedom and more loss of life on our country's most vicious and violent enemies than Stan McChrystal," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at McChrystal's retirement ceremony.
McChrystal Career Stumbles with Rolling Stone Article
But President Obama later concluded the General's behavior "undermines the civilian control of the military... and it erodes the trust that is necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan."
Obama appointed and the Senate confirmed Gen. David Petraeus to replace McChrystal in Afghanistan.