The best defense

John Rose, class of 1968, will not advise today’s graduates to simply “follow their dreams.” His extensive military, business and academic careers have taught him that “it is an unbelievably tough, cruel, complex and often painful world that today’s graduates will enter.” 

“Today’s realities,” he said, “can and likely will derail initial plans.” 

As a Vietnam War veteran, Rose recognizes that today’s political, international and social landscape seem all too familiar — very much reflected in the conditions and circumstances of the late 1960s. Currently serving as professor and director of the graduate School of Defense and Strategic Studies for Missouri State University, a position he’s held since 2021, Rose has a cohort of 30 faculty who integrate real-world experiences into classes that focus on finding solutions to some of the most difficult and complex security issues faced in today’s challenging geopolitical environment.

Rose has taught graduate seminars addressing international terrorism, global security challenges, science, technology and defense policy, and NATO and European security challenges. 

The School of Defense and Strategic Studies that Rose heads provides classes addressing a host of global threats and risks facing the United States and its global partners. 

“Our goal is to get students to think strategically, critically, long term and connect the dots between a changing climate, cyberattacks, autocratic governance and genocidal threats from nations such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, to illegal immigration, energy security, weapons of mass destruction effects to the next pandemic and terrorists’ threats. It’s coming,” Rose said.

Looking back on the experience he faced during the Vietnam War era, he notes that the nation was embroiled in its own moral battle. The social and political unrest festering on U.S. soil manifested into feelings of turmoil, frustration and hope — spread so unevenly among Americans.

“In the late 1960s and 1970s our nation was a very divided country, much like today but far more toxic,” Rose said.

It was at that point, in May 1968, that 2nd Lt. Rose graduated from UD with an accounting degree and ROTC commission in hand and began his adventure through life. While his accounting degree never took him into that profession, the values, knowledge and real-world experiences from Dayton shaped his path going forward.

The pain of that time was manifested in his return to the U.S. in 1970. After landing in Seattle, returning service members were met by a non-commissioned officer who greeted them with the words: “Take off your uniform. You will not be welcomed back home.”

Those sentiments were a reflection of the time, Rose explained. “The public did not view military service in a favorable light. It was a painful time for the nation and those that served in the military.”

Nonetheless, he remained in the Army and was sent to Germany in 1970 where he was stationed for the next three years, serving in a NATO air defense unit with a 24/7 tactical mission to respond to a Soviet-Warsaw Pact attack. 

Rose met his future wife, Barbara, in Germany when he went to the dental clinic and ended up as her patient. The two were married in December 1974, and they have three children who currently work in the science, film and prosthetics fields.

Life in the military didn’t afford Rose and his family many visits back home to Dayton, but Rose had recognized that experiences in the “real world” had changed him when he did return.

“Dayton was Dayton, but trips back home were not the same. There was nothing wrong with friends or family. It was me who had changed. My experiences changed my thinking, my perspective and outlook on life. The late 1970s were a difficult time for our nation and those of us trying to make sense of what was happening.”

But he said that there can be no doubt that experiences at the University helped him in positive ways.

“To be truthful, I did not realize the value of my education, fellow students, friends and faculty that influenced me until years later when I stepped back to realize the values, knowledge and insights I gleaned from my time at the University.

“UD no doubt shaped my understanding of what was important in life. I greatly value what I learned and the people I met.”

“UD no doubt shaped my understanding of what was important in life. I greatly value what I learned and the people I met.”

The guidance received from UD, his military experiences, his understanding of community, the love for family and his personal determination were constant light posts to guide him on his path to success.

While in the Army, Rose earned his doctorate in international relations from University of Southern California and went onto teach for three years at West Point. While there, he was bestowed the prestigious William P. Clements Award for Outstanding Educator in 1981. He went onto serve in positions around the world and concluded his military service as the director of requirements for the U.S. Army at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., 1995-98.

His retirement as brigadier general in the Air Defense Artillery Branch in 1998 only began the next phases of his life.

After several years in the business community, Rose was appointed by the U.S. Department of Defense as the director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies — a German-American and international center for defense and security studies which interacted with more than 130 nations.

He continues to adhere to the principle that graduates will face a tough world, but they must not be discouraged from the global and life-changing challenges ahead. Convinced that today’s young men and women will prevail, he notes that “they should not be alarmed by divisions within our country.”

“We have always had divisions. It is the ability to think and act strategically that defines us as a people and as Americans. There is no better place to be.”