About

The J. Sherwood McGinnis, Jr. War, Peace, and Justice Project

J. Sherwood McGinnis, Jr., Ph.D.

June 14, 1945 - November 18, 2021

This symposium honors our dear friend and colleague, Sherwood McGinnis. A retired career Foreign Service Officer and friend to the Carlisle community, Sherwood originated the concept of a community-based civil-military dialogue. His idea reflects the deep devotion that he had for public service and the need for an informed, inclusive discussion on national security in our democracy.

What many will remember most fondly about Sherwood is the way he was fully present to each person he met. The kind look in his eyes, and his warm and respectful demeanor, made each person in his presence sense being deeply valued. Of course, no one captivated his heart quite like his beloved daughter Claire did; his face was radiant and his eyes shone with joy when he spoke of her.

Sherwood constantly spoke of “bringing people together,” and his life epitomized this. He retired in 2011 as a Career Member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service with over 30 years of experience in the areas of national security, rule of law, governance, economic development, and foreign policy. He moved to Carlisle to be a Professor of National Security Studies at the Army War College, during which time he was also assigned to overseas postings in Afghanistan and Amman, Jordan. Upon his retirement from the U.S. Department of State he became an Adjunct Professor at Dickinson College.

Sherwood was an active leader and member of several Carlisle community organizations, including serving as: Project Director, Carlisle War, Peace, and Justice Symposium; Vice-President of the Bosler Memorial Library Board of Directors and member of the Cumberland County Library Association; a member of the Parish Council and Stephen’s Ministry for Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Community. He participated in the Carlisle Area Religious Council, Carlisle Community Action Network (CAN), Sunrise Rotary Club, Cumberland Valley Rising, Cumberland County Workforce Development Task Force, Cumberland County Democratic Committee, and was a candidate for the Pennsylvania State General Assembly in 2018.

His State Department assignments included: Political Advisor to the Commander of NATO and U.S. Forces in Afghanistan (COMISAF); Special Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Cooperation and Development (OECD); Political Advisor at the U.S. Mission to NATO; U.S. Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva; and Political Counselor at the American Embassy in Paris.

Prior to his entering the Foreign Service, Sherwood worked at Drexel University as Director of Academic Computer Services, and as a systems analyst and trainer at the University of Cincinnati and American University, where he earned a Ph.D. in International Studies. Sherwood received his M.A. and B.A. in History from the University of Virginia. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa (Virginia).

By his life and work, Sherwood instantiated loving service to others in everything he accomplished locally, nationally, and internationally.

One symposium cannot fully reflect this. But we can try.

Military and civilian populations make joint decisions about war; therefore, we must be in dialogue. In this symposium, public panel discussions featuring eminent military and civilian leaders such as Lieutenant General James Dubik and General Sir Rupert Smith will facilitate that dialogue.

Peace advances not only through political decisions, but also through culture. Another strand of Sherwood’s life was his love of music and the visual arts. He delighted in Dickinson Music Department concerts and the work of local artists. The arts and humanities both express and inspire the heart’s aspiration toward peace. This symposium will feature free music, art, film, and theater experiences to deepen our collective understanding of the imprint violence leaves upon the human soul, and to imagine a better peace through the logic of the heart.

War, Peace, and Justice Project Organizers

William Flavin
Colonel, USA (Ret.)

Mr. William Flavin is currently an independent consultant on peace and stabilization presently teaching in the Department of Distant Education at the U.S. Army War College. Previously, he was the Assistant Director at the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) in Carlisle, PA. Mr. Flavin assisted PKSOI with the implementation of its Joint Proponent responsibilities in peace and stability operations coordinating with Department of Defense, Department of State, and USAID. Additionally, he assisted with advancing the U.S. government’s United Nations initiatives by working with the key member states, as well as non-governmental organizations and international fora.
Previously, he was a senior foreign affairs analyst with Booz Allen and Hamilton to assist the Peacekeeping Institute in doctrine development. Prior to this assignment, he was a Colonel in the U.S. Army serving as the Deputy Director of Special Operations for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) from June 1995 to June 1999.
Mr. Flavin served in the U.S. Army for 31 years in Infantry and Special Forces where he has had extensive experience in planning and executing at the strategic and operational level. He has participated in many of the key operations from Viet Nam through the Balkans. He was the Special Operations Chair at the U.S. Army War College (USAWC) from 1991 to 1995 and prior to that served on the staffs of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Department of the Army. He has published on the topics of Peace and Stabilization Operations as well as interagency and civil-military operations.

R. Scott Buran Colonel, USMC (Ret.)

Prior to Colonel Scott Buran’s retirement on September 1, 2012, after 30 years of military service, he served as a faculty member in the Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations and as the U.S. Marine Corps Senior Service Representative at the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA. Colonel Buran’s operational experience includes: Desert Shield and Desert Storm; Allied Force and Joint Guardian (Kosovo); and Operation Iraqi Freedom. From September 1, 2013 through May 15, 2014, Colonel Buran served as the Maritime Stability Operations advisor to the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute at Carlisle Barracks. He was also employed by The Pennsylvania State University’s Applied Research Laboratory as a Non-Lethal Weapons Course Instructor from 2013-2020. Colonel Buran is currently the Executive Director, Cor Christi Trinitate, a non-profit 501(c)3 institute dedicated to the development of the moral conscience and the renewal of ethics, moral leadership, and spirituality in vocations. Colonel Buran is also a War, Peace, and Justice Symposium project coordinator and a resident of Carlisle, PA.

Thomas Arminio
Captain, USN (Ret.)

Tom is one of the War, Peace, and Justice Project coordinators. He is a native of Union, NJ, a 1977 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy where he received a B.S. in International Security Affairs, and a 1996 graduate of the U.S. Naval War College where he received a M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies. Tom spent 24 years in the U.S. Navy in a variety of challenging assignments at sea and ashore, retiring as a Captain in June 2001. He made multiple deployments in P-3 Orion squadrons, both in the Pacific and Mediterranean theaters. His aviation career culminated with command of Patrol Squadron 10 in Brunswick, Maine. Ashore, Tom served on both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Navy Staff, and was a faculty member at the U.S. Army War College. After retirement from the Navy, he worked for a small private-sector consulting firm for six years as Director of Emergency Management Services, starting that new line of business. Tom then moved to Penn State Harrisburg where he was in the cohort of inaugural faculty members and taught for seven years in the Intercollege Master of Professional Studies in Homeland Security Program. Before retiring completely in 2018, Tom served briefly as the Chief Security Officer for a small, fledgling medical marijuana company.

Please join us as we come together to understand matters of war, peace, and justice that can advance us, together, along the path to a better peace.