Robert Holbert
- Immersion Seminar Coordinator, Center for Afghanistan and Regional Studies
- International Programs
Additional Information
Robert Holbert was one of three U.S. Army soldiers assigned to serve on the first human terrain team to Eastern Afghanistan. These teams served at the brigade, battalion, company and platoon level gathering cultural information to assist in conducting more successful missions with American units deployed in the ongoing commitment to Afghanistan, functioning to educate and inform both Afghan tribal leaders and American forces as cultural advisors.
Major Holbert was assigned to the 4th Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division from January to July 2007 in Eastern Afghanistan, and is uniquely qualified to discuss the changing religious and cultural conditions that confront American attempts to bring stability to this still poorly understood region. He experienced the extremely powerful social force that the Taliban exerted in outlying Afghan areas, and has provided eyewitness accounts of the Army’s efforts to exercise respect for, and develop understanding of, the complex network of relationships binding religion, tribal, culture, and politics in Afghanistan.
Major Holbert graduated from Macalester College, St. Paul, MN in 1990 with a BA in World History and has a Secondary Education Certification in Social Studies from the Teachers’ College at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and post-graduate historical studies at Wesleyan University in Nebraska, he is currently in his second year of the Masters of Public Administration Program at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
He is a graduate of Infantry Officer Basic Course, Infantry, Human Terrain System Training Program, U.S. Army Airborne School and the Antiterrorism Officer course. Robert is currently the Immersion Seminar Coordinator at the Center for Afghanistan and Regional Studies.
Additional Information
Robert Holbert was one of three U.S. Army soldiers assigned to serve on the first human terrain team to Eastern Afghanistan. These teams served at the brigade, battalion, company and platoon level gathering cultural information to assist in conducting more successful missions with American units deployed in the ongoing commitment to Afghanistan, functioning to educate and inform both Afghan tribal leaders and American forces as cultural advisors.
Major Holbert was assigned to the 4th Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division from January to July 2007 in Eastern Afghanistan, and is uniquely qualified to discuss the changing religious and cultural conditions that confront American attempts to bring stability to this still poorly understood region. He experienced the extremely powerful social force that the Taliban exerted in outlying Afghan areas, and has provided eyewitness accounts of the Army’s efforts to exercise respect for, and develop understanding of, the complex network of relationships binding religion, tribal, culture, and politics in Afghanistan.
Major Holbert graduated from Macalester College, St. Paul, MN in 1990 with a BA in World History and has a Secondary Education Certification in Social Studies from the Teachers’ College at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and post-graduate historical studies at Wesleyan University in Nebraska, he is currently in his second year of the Masters of Public Administration Program at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
He is a graduate of Infantry Officer Basic Course, Infantry, Human Terrain System Training Program, U.S. Army Airborne School and the Antiterrorism Officer course. Robert is currently the Immersion Seminar Coordinator at the Center for Afghanistan and Regional Studies.