Jefferson Institute

08/21/2025

As we mark the 250th anniversaries of the events that unfolded between the first shots of the Revolution in April 1775 and declaring independence in July 1776, this is a timely appreciation of George Washington by an insightful scholar and longtime friend of the Jefferson Institute, Andrew O'Shaughnessy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2025/george-washington-revolutionary-war-commander/

01/29/2025

Military training is essential to sustain the fight 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 at war, not just preparing for it.

Nations must build systems that "train while we fight," with wartime resilience and backups among allies and partners.

https://connections-qj.org/article/sustaining-resilient-military-training-multi-domain-era-challenges-and-opportunities

George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
PfP Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes

09/05/2024

September 5, 1774: First Continental Congress

In Philadelphia 250 years ago today, 55 delegates from 12 of the British American colonies convened a Continental Congress, seeking collective action to force the repeal of the Coercive Acts issued by the British Parliament earlier in the year. The measures, also called the Intolerable Acts by those who opposed them, included the economically devastating closure of the Port of Boston—Parliament’s response to the destruction of 92,000 pounds of East India Company tea there in December 1773 (AKA the Boston Tea Party).

Among the delegates at what became the First Continental Congress were Massachusetts cousins Samuel Adams and John Adams—viewed by many of their fellow representatives as radicals bent on rebellion—and George Washington and his fellow Virginian Richard Henry Lee, who two years later at the Second Continental Congress introduced the resolution declaring American independence.

07/04/2024

"Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind..."

Thomas Jefferson, on the Declaration of Independence. (Letter to Henry Lee, 1825)

07/02/2024

July 2, 1776:
The Continental Congress in Philadelphia declared independence from Great Britain, passing delegate Richard Henry Lee's resolution 12-0 (with New York abstaining because its Provincial Congress was yet to give its delegation permission to vote for independence).

04/30/2024

April 30, 1803: US negotiators signed a treaty with France to purchase the 828,000 square miles of the Lousiana territory for $15 million, or around 4 cents an acre, doubling the size of the country and securing the entirety of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

President Thomas Jefferson, who had sent Robert Livingston and James Madison to France with the aim of purchasing only the port of New Orleans and the Floridas, hailed the vastly larger acquisition as a boon to the security and economy of the young nation:

"While the property and sovereignty of the Mississippi and its waters secure an independent outlet for the produce of the Western States, and an uncontrolled navigation through their whole course, free from collision with other powers and the dangers to our peace from that source, the fertility of the country, its climate and extent, promise in due season important aids to our treasury, an ample provision for our posterity, and a wide-spread field for the blessings of freedom and equal laws." (Third Annual Message, 1803)

03/28/2024

Today we join in celebrating the life of former Monticello President Daniel P. Jordan. Dan was a friend of the Jefferson Institute since our founding, welcoming us to the Monticello community and helping us foster lasting relationships that continue to advance our mission. Like the many individuals and institutions touched by his vast generosity of spirit, we profoundly mourn Dan’s passing.

His leadership in the transformation of Monticello and the field of Jefferson studies are legacies that will long endure, but it was Dan’s unfailing kindness and fundamental decency that etched him on the hearts of all who had the great luck of knowing him.

We already miss Dan's boundless optimism, his infectious grin, his insatiable curiosity, and his tireless commitment “to follow truth wherever it may lead.”

We at Monticello are deeply saddened by the passing of Dan Jordan, former President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Described by current president Jane Kamensky as “the most consequential president on the mountaintop since Jefferson himself,” Monticello rose to international prominence durin...

03/18/2024

Experts from Europe and the US gathered at the Military Academy in Chisinau, Moldova, to identify practical steps to enhance training for cognitive resilience against Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI). Ideas included improved collaboration in eLearning across NATO, EU, and national institutions; systematic exchange of lessons observed; and developing cooperative training methodologies for counter messaging, fact checking, media literacy, critical thinking, and psychological resilience.

The group will present its recommendations in two forthcoming information papers. Jefferson Institute President Dr. Aaron Presnall and Col. Steven Banks, NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT), are co-chairs of the PfPC Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Working Group, which sponsored the discussions. The event was opened by Sergiu Plop, Moldovan Ministry of Defense Secretary General, and Col. Vadim Cemîrtan, Commandant of the Moldovan Military Academy.

02/06/2024

Artificial Intelligence offers an opportunity to greatly enhance the quality, scalability, and insights of military Education, Training, Exercises, and Evaluation (ETEE). A new information paper by the Partnership for Peace Consortium’s Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Working Group provides military education and training leaders with an overview of how AI can support the full ETEE lifecycle:

• Pitfalls to avoid when utilizing AI for ETEE
• Benefits of incorporating AI into ETEE
• Action recommendations for advancing AI adoption in ETEE

This paper is part of the PfPC ADL Working Group’s “ETEE Emerging Capabilities Quick-Looks” series. It grew from discussion at a September 2023 conference co-sponsored by the PfPC ADL WG and the NATO Centre of Excellence for Military Medicine (MILMED COE) in Budapest, Hungary.

You can download the paper here: https://www.pfp-consortium.org/media/489/download

01/31/2024

The tempo and intensity of the war in Ukraine is creating an urgent need for more Military Medicine (MILMED) personnel across all levels and specialties.

A new information paper by the Partnership for Peace Consortium’s Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Working Group provides specific, actionable eLearning solutions to aid the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy. The recommendations address Ukraine’s specific challenges, but the underlying principles would enhance the MILMED readiness of any allied or partner nation.

Jefferson Institute President Dr. Aaron Presnall is co-chair of the PfPC ADL Working Group and a principal author of the information paper.

You can download the full paper by clicking https://www.pfp-consortium.org/media/488/download , and you can learn more about the PfPC ADL WG here: https://www.pfp-consortium.org/working-groups/advanced-distributed-learning

12/15/2023

The increasingly important role of eLearning in military education and training was a key topic at this week’s Partnership for Peace Consortium (PfPC) conference “Russia’s War Against Ukraine.” Jefferson Institute President Aaron Presnall participated in the conference in his capacity as the co-chair of the PfPC Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Working Group.

The first day of the conference focused on lessons learned from the war and how distance learning has emerged as a critical element of Ukraine’s development of a more resilient and agile approach to training and educating their forces while they fight.

On the conference’s second day, discussion focused on the war’s impact in the Black Sea and the Western Balkans—and its potential implications for geopolitical developments in the Indo-Pacific—including the need for modern multinational training and education systems capable of responding to emerging geopolitical realities.

The conference was hosted by the George C. Marshall Center ( ) on December 12-15 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Keynote speakers included Bulgaria Minister of Defense Todor Tagarev, Ukraine Military Representative to NATO Maj. Gen. Serhii Salkutsan, and former NATO Parliamentary Assembly President Madeleine Moon.

12/07/2023

Jefferson Institute President Aaron Presnall co-organized and moderated one of the Signature Events at this year’s Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), the world’s largest modeling, simulation, and training event.

We were honored to bring together a panel of distinguished senior civilian and military training and education leaders for “Train While You Fight: Ukraine as a Touchstone for Training in Future Wars.” The panelists examined how NATO allies and partner nations can apply the lessons we are learning from the war in Ukraine to develop dynamic military instruction that meets the rapidly changing requirements of modern warfare.

“Complex, hybrid, multidomain campaigning demands interoperable, resilient, sustainable, survivable, agile, and responsive training capabilities,” Presnall said.

The participants emphasized the need to view training and education as an operational capability in wartime that is essential to sustain the fight. This includes data-driven insights that enable the acquisition, development, and delivery of education and training solutions to equal today’s accelerated speed of relevance.

The panel members noted that next year’s 75th anniversary of NATO provides a unique opportunity to begin a process of transforming multinational military education and training.

Read more about the discussion here: https://ow.ly/qEPi50Qf16C