On January 24, 2024, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for Force Education and Training Caroline Baxter spoke to attendees of the conference “Integrating Climate Change into Professional Military Education” co-hosted by the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS) and the Swedish Defence University.
DASD Baxter’s remarks are published below with permission from the U.S. Department of Defense. You can read more about the conference and find follow-up resources on gaming, training, and curriculum development in the full conference report.
Introduction
Thank you, Erin, and thanks to the International Military Council on Climate & Security and the Swedish Defence University organizers for inviting me to speak today. I also want to express my gratitude to you for allowing me to give these remarks virtually. This topic is incredibly important to the Department of Defense, and I regret that I could not join you in Stockholm for this event.
My portfolio includes military training and exercises, defense language programs, career broadening opportunities like fellowships, and two of the topics for which we are here to discuss today—professional military education and climate literacy. I chair the Department’s Climate Literacy SubWorking Group, which is tasked with integrating climate considerations into DoD education and training programs. Professional military education—or PME—has been a cornerstone of our climate literacy work. I will talk more about our progress in this area a bit later, and share some best practices and lessons learned from our work.