Booz Allen Defense Analyst Victor Morris: Using Language and Experience to Train Today’s Warfighters

While with the U.S. Army in Iraq, Victor Morris wrote a patrol report after each mission: actions he took, people he met, and lessons learned. This intelligence helped new troops advance their work and avoid repeating known mistakes.

Today this former infantry platoon leader and company commander is putting his information-sharing skills to work at Booz Allen. He’s a defense analyst and planner supporting U.S. Army Europe’s  Joint Multinational Readiness Center and recently joined the Headquarters’ new Identity & Exploitation (IDEX) Operations Branch, which enhances force protection and intelligence warfighting across military operations.

Scenario training for complex threats

Morris helps design and deliver multi-level exercises that prepare the U.S. Army and European partner nations for the complexities of modern warfare. This includes non-traditional tactics such as improvised weapons, aggressive cyberattacks, and digital espionage.

“I fuse my real-world research and experience with realistic, yet fictional scenarios that challenge training audiences,” he said. Through these scenarios, they develop a holistic appreciation of operational environments.

Leveraging the power of language

Morris is proficient in German and French and is learning Georgian. Across countries, he tries to learn the native language of the audiences he trains. This way, he says, “I can talk to the participants and make jokes—even if my imperfect language is the brunt of the joke. The students appreciate it, and it helps me connect with them.”

In these new roles, and as a Booz Allen Europe-Eurasia Experts Network (E3N) member and guest blogger for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine’s Mad Scientist initiative, he continues to write about his experiences and share what he’s learned from the participants of his training sessions. “I learn just as much from them as they do from me,” he said.”

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