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A Liberal Arts Education Gives Perspective for Military

Eugene Chu came equipped for leadership in a changing U.S. Army.

Former TCU Army ROTC member Eugene Chu currently works as a senior strategy analyst for Quantum Research International, where he advises the U.S. Armed Forces on how they can best benefit from technological developments. Photo by Lisa Helfert

Former TCU Army ROTC member Eugene Chu currently works as a senior strategy analyst for Quantum Research International, where he advises the U.S. Armed Forces on how they can best benefit from technological developments. Photo by Lisa Helfert

A Liberal Arts Education Gives Perspective for Military

Eugene Chu came equipped for leadership in a changing U.S. Army.

While serving as a military adviser in Baghdad during the Iraq War, Eugene Chu ’04 (MBA ’15) needed to navigate the complexities of conflict and overcome cultural barriers.

“When you have a liberal arts education and you’re studying history, sociology and political science, you can understand the reasons why conflicts are occurring along with the people who are involved,” he said. “I was able to better understand the people I was trying to help — what their interests were and what their backgrounds were — in order to bridge cultural gaps and improve interactions.”

During his yearlong deployment from 2007 to 2008, Chu, then a U.S. Army captain, served as a consultant for an Iraqi military unit and as a liaison between American and Iraqi forces. He accompanied midlevel Iraqi military leaders during raids and security missions and updated U.S. forces on the rebuilding progress of his Iraqi partner unit.

Eugene Chu says his liberal arts courses at TCU gave him valuable perspectives in his roles with the U.S. Army and in defense work. Photo by Lisa Helfert

Eugene Chu says his liberal arts courses at TCU gave him valuable perspectives in his roles with the U.S. Army and in defense work. Photo by Lisa Helfert

Peter Worthing, professor of history and associate dean of the AddRan College of Liberal Arts, remembered his former student’s insatiable thirst for knowledge.

“Eugene is genuinely interested in many things and wants to understand people and events,” he said. “As a student, he was full of questions every class and after class. He always wanted to know more. The military needs officers who understand cultural nuance.”

Officer in Training

Before immigrating to the U.S., Chu’s dad served in the Taiwanese army through the mandatory draft. Eugene Chu, who grew up in Arlington, Texas, said he saw the U.S. military as a prestigious institution that could help pay for college. He chose the biggest branch: Army.

Competition for ROTC scholarships was fierce, and Chu came up short. Undaunted, he enlisted in the Army after graduating from Arlington’s Martin High School in 1997 and earned a spot at the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School, also known as West Point Prep. After nine months, Chu realized West Point wasn’t the best path for his goal of becoming a military officer.

“After seeing life over there, I decided I’d rather go home and go through TCU to become an officer. While the service academies are fine schools, I didn’t like the insular nature,” said Chu, noting that ROTC programs enable prospective officers to interact with college classmates with various backgrounds, political views and career pursuits.

“TCU is diverse. You have a more balanced ratio that reflects civilian life, and you’re also exposed to other cultures instead of being insulated and indoctrinated in one alone,” he said.

Focused on becoming an officer, Chu majored in political science and minored in history.

“I wanted to understand why things were happening and also understand the military’s role in the government,” he said. “Whether you’re going overseas or deploying here in the U.S. for a natural disaster, it’s important to understand the background and the reasons for your mission.”

Chu recalled a Chinese language course that illuminated his heritage.

Eugene Chu serves as a U.S. Army Reserve officer; he appears here in his Army Reserve fatigues. Photo by Lisa Helfert

Eugene Chu serves as a U.S. Army Reserve officer; he appears here in his Army Reserve fatigues. Photo by Lisa Helfert

“Sometimes American minorities don’t know their own ancestral language,” he said. “I grew up in a Westernized household and primarily spoke English. However, by taking Chinese, I was able to learn a little bit more about my ancestry.”

The course also deepened his connection with his father. “It was a chance for us to bond over shared culture.” (His father died in October 2007, when Chu was preparing for his Iraq deployment that November.)

Worthing’s Vietnam War class also proved helpful.

“Some people compared the U.S. involvement in Iraq to the U.S. involvement in Vietnam that came earlier,” Chu said. “By seeing and understanding some of the reasons and histories behind the limited success but also the failure in Vietnam, it helped me prepare for my role as an adviser in Iraq because I was dealing with — similar to Vietnam — a complicated political situation, having to win over people who were skeptical of the U.S. and also dealing with inherent corruption that was hurting the U.S. mission.”

After graduating, Chu served for four years as an active-duty Army officer before becoming a reservist. He worked as a defense contractor for several years and then realized he could use the GI Bill.

Chu returned to TCU to pursue an MBA focused on supply chain management, which had been his role in the Army.

Arlington to Arlington

In 2016, Chu joined Quantum Research International as a military readiness analyst working in the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Now he’s a senior database analyst. He also is a part-time major and logistics officer in an Army Reserve unit in the area.

“The primary role of the U.S. military globally is to perform organized activity of a violent nature in order to support U.S. foreign policy,” he said. “The role has changed through the years because U.S. political situations have changed.”

“When you’re a leader, you can’t just make an instant decision. You need to be able to understand the background, and you need to be able to analyze.”
Eugene Chu

The emphasis on Communist adversaries in the 1980s gave way to the Gulf War and peacekeeping in the 1990s, then changed to counterterrorism and the Afghanistan and Iraq occupations. In 2019, the focus is on foreign military support and deterring resurgent enemies, Chu said. Secondary U.S. military missions include homeland security, such as assisting police or other agencies with major events like the Super Bowl, as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Chu said his TCU education has helped in all his military roles.

“Officers are executive leaders within the armed forces, and you need to have educated officers because they are the ones doing a lot of the planning, writing the extensive reports, or recommending promotions or legal punishments for soldiers based upon their authority,” he said. “And they need to have education in order to understand and be ready for that kind of leadership role.”

Part of being an effective leader is holistically understanding situations, Chu added. “When you’re a leader, you can’t just make an instant decision. You need to be able to understand the background, and you need to be able to analyze. Otherwise, you could make a bad decision that could hurt yourself or others unnecessarily.”