Written by Bebe Faas Rice
The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), an American non-profit, non-partisan think tank based in Philadelphia, PA, recently launched the Lt. General Bernard E. Trainor Veterans Fellowship. By its own description, the Institute is devoted to “bringing the insights of scholarship to bear on the development of policies that advance U.S. interests.”
The inaugural competitive fellowship will be awarded annually to a deserving veteran who wishes to pursue a career in journalism. In announcing the fellowship, the president of the FPRI said it is named after Bernard “Mick” Trainor, “an exceptional individual who so perfectly exemplifies the Institute’s purpose. “
Mick has had broad military experience in the military, academic and journalistic worlds. He enlisted in the Marines at the end of WWII and subsequently had combat commands in the Korean and Vietnam wars, serving twice in Vietnam. He retired after 40 years as a general officer and went on to become the New York Times Chief Military Correspondent, a nationally syndicated columnist and the Director of National Security studies at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. In addition, he was the military analyst for MSNBC TV and a senior Fellow in defense at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also the co-author of three bestselling books on the Gulf wars.
Here in our Falcons Landing community, Mick has been actively involved in many volunteer activities including participation in all our theater productions and regularly contributing feature articles to the Falcons Landing News. Mick is also the earlier recipient of the Anderson Memorial Award for military thought; the Goodpaster Award for courage, selfless service and leadership; and the In Hoc Signo award for a career of Christian principles. His spouse, Peggy, is well known at Falcons Landing for her volunteer work as head of the Pharmacy Desk in the Wellness Center.
Each Trainor Fellowship recipient will, for the period of one year, receive research and travel support for writing and will be given the opportunity to work out of the FPRI office as a fully integrated staff member in the FPRI community. The Fellowship also includes a mentor program, in which the individual will receive one-on-one attention from defense and foreign affairs writers, investigative reporters, columnists, and authors.
We at Falcons Landing are proud of Mick and wish him well.