Pennington’s Global Studies Certificate Program was proud to welcome Paul Fermo P’23 ’25 as a guest speaker last week. Fermo’s talk was titled, “Understanding the Human Terrain in Armed Conflict,” and the discussion largely centered around his time in the Middle East and the lessons he learned while there. According to Fermo, the global connections he made during that time are intrinsically linked to the very principles of democracy which first drew him to a life of service.

A retired U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter pilot who completed five combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Fermo’s military service shifted gears when he transitioned to the ground in Afghanistan. After completing seven months of intense cultural and language training, Fermo served as the deputy commander of a NATO air command responsible for building and training the Afghan Air Force. That connection and partnership, according to Fermo, provided “a new dimension of cultural understanding” that was essential to the U.S. mission in that region. “Interfacing with the community,” recounted Fermo, “allowed me to take new information back which helped inform better decisions overall.” 

As the former pilot explained, outside of major cities, the literacy rate is quite low in that part of the world, which makes young men in those regions prime targets for radicalized recruitment; they have no other information but the propaganda they are being fed by warlords. Fermo was able to forge relationships with locals, village elders, and others, thanks in large part to the help of an interpreter who became a trusted friend. When discussing the delicate nuance of building these relationships in sometimes tense conditions, Fermo stated that “It is our responsibility to understand them, not for them to understand us.”

Following his time in Afghanistan, Fermo also served on Capitol Hill as a DoD Fellow assigned to the House Armed Services Committee and in the Pentagon as an Air-Sea Branch Chief on the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Fermo earned his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and is a distinguished graduate of the National Defense University. Currently, he serves as Vice President of Business Development for Ascent AeroSystems, a U.S. aerospace and defense company that manufactures small unmanned aerial systems for mission-critical operations. 

Fermo’s advice to the students in the audience preparing for future careers was to think beyond a particular industry to consider the elements of human connection. Particularly in any field with global implications, Fermo emphasized the importance of cultural empathy and relationships built on understanding and respect. “You are all going to go on to do great things,” he promised, “but make sure you move beyond just being subject matter experts. Make sure you understand the human terrain and ask yourself questions like ‘What’s the history or what’s the culture behind this?’ because that deeper understanding helps you make much better decisions in life.”