By Javier Chagoya

Newly-arrived NPS student Air Force Capt. Luke Robertson attends the first class of his NPS educational career in Glasgow Hall, March 28. As the Spring Quarter represents the university’s smallest incoming class, Robertson begins his 12-month National Security Affairs program as one of just 56 new students on campus.

Robertson comes to the university after recently graduating from the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) Arabic language program. He says the challenging, 63-week language program also provides studies in Arab culture and history, which he looks forward to expanding upon here at NPS. 

"As a C-17 pilot, I was at the implementation end of delivering U.S. strategic policies,” said Robertson. “What I’m looking forward to at NPS is to better understand how and why such policies are created. It’s the deeper scholarly examinations of ideas affecting the Arab world that I am truly interested in."

Robertson is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy where he earned his undergraduate degree in engineering. He went on to flight training and has served for several years as a pilot, most recently at Travis Air Force Base in Northern California. Now at NPS, he will be broadening his Air Force career as a Regional Affairs Strategist with his studies putting him on track to serve at U.S. Central Command, or in any number of embassy positions in the Middle East.