Korea Officer Awarded for Teaching at U.S. Naval Academy
By 1st Class Bobbie G. Attaway
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U.S. Navy photo by Specialist 1st Class Bobbie G. Attaway
Rear Adm. Peter A. Gumataotao, left, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea, presents a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal to Cmdr. Duk Cho, Director of the Republic of Korea Naval Academy Museum, right, with his wife Eun Sil Cho in the center. Cho was awarded the medal after serving two years as a foreign exchange instructor teaching U.S. Naval History and giving seminars on Korean history at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
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SEOUL, Republic of Korea – Rear Adm. Peter Gumataotao, Commander, U. S. Naval Forces Korea, presented a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal to Cmdr. Duk Cho, Director of the Republic of Korea Naval Academy Museum, for Cho’s participation in the Officer Exchange Program to the U.S. Naval Academy.
“I am honored to be receiving a medal for having done what I was given to do,” said Cho. “I was glad to have been able to teach Korean culture and tradition to cadets.”
Cho participated in the Officer Exchange Program from July 2007 to July 2009, teaching American Naval History at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. The Officer Exchange Program began in 1993, under which eight Korean officers and six American officers have taught in the partnering schools. Cho was the seventh officer from Korea to teach at the U.S. Naval Academy.
“One of the best U.S. Navy mottos I found was spoken by Capt. James Lawrence, who commanded the USS Chesapeake during the War of 1812,” said Cho. “His last order before the ship sank was ‘Don’t give up the ship!’ I asked my students what other things that ‘D.G.U.T.S’ could mean. The most impressive answer was ‘Diversity gives us the strength,’ which I think was a very telling answer.”
During his classes, Cho focused on critical thinking, analysis of events from a global perspective and real world application of classroom material that directly supported the highest national strategic initiatives. He also gave seminars on the History of Korea.
“Navy officers are the most effective after graduation, because they have two families,” said Cho. “They have their actual families and the Navy family.”
Cho taught over 200 U.S. midshipmen during the two-years he was stationed at the U.S. Naval Academy.
U.S. Naval Forces Korea is the regional commander for the U.S. Navy in the Republic of Korea and provides expertise on naval matters to area military commanders, including the Commander for the United Nations Command, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and U.S. Combined Forces Command, and Commander, U.S. Forces Korea. CNFK also serves as liaison to the ROK Navy, the Combined Forces Commander staff in armistice and in wartime and to the Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, operating from Yokosuka, Japan.
For more news from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea, visit www.navy.mil/local/cnfk/.