On April 10, 2026, AGS took a group of students to the Pentagon to learn more about the U.S. Department of Defense, its history, and its role in U.S. foreign policy. Participant Garrett Simons (‘28) shares his reflection on the trip.
As someone interested in U.S. foreign and defense policy, I was so excited to participate in the AGS Pentagon trip. The opportunity to meet Duke alumni working at the Pentagon was unique, and we learned so much from them about their work and current U.S. foreign and defense policy.
We started our day with informational panels with Duke alums and learned about their work and how it relates to current U.S. foreign policy. The combination of subject matter expertise and personal experience that these alumni described is unparalleled. We learned a lot about their career paths since graduating from Duke, and about their current work at the Pentagon. Since most of us are interested in working for the U.S. government someday, hearing from successful Duke alumni was very helpful, especially because they all took such different paths to the Pentagon. This demonstrated that there is no one correct path to government service, and that we will have time and freedom to explore after graduating from Duke. The subject matter expertise that these Duke alumni shared with us was so helpful, especially because their knowledge aligned with the regions and topics that we are most interested in. I am really interested in Indo-Pacific security, so hearing from two Duke alumni who specialize in that region was amazing and helped me learn more background for my internship at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command this summer.
During lunch, we had an insightful discussion with our host at the Pentagon, learning about the Pentagon’s organizational structure. This conversation demonstrated how complex and interesting the United States government, and especially the Department of Defense, are.
Furthermore, we learned about the infrastructure that the United States has in place around the globe to support its service members and their families. I was unaware of everything that the Department of Defense does in that regard, so it was a really interesting conversation. Finally, we took a tour of the Pentagon, learning about its fascinating history and design.
I learned so much about the Pentagon and the U.S. Department of Defense, and civilian careers in the U.S. government. This was an incredible experience, and I am so grateful to Duke AGS for the opportunity.