NSU alum joins the U.S. Department of Defense

By Bryce Johnson •

NSU alum Fernando Montoya completed his Ph.D. in the conflict resolution program from 2010 to 2016. While attending NSU online, Montoya simultaneously served in the military in Hawaii.

“It was very challenging because at the time, in 2010, we were ending one war in Iraq, but efforts were ramping up in another war in Afghanistan,” Montoya said. “I would wake up sometimes at three or two in the morning to be able to dial into classes, or to just write all my requirements that I would have to write before I was at work at 6:30 in the morning to go do physical training.”

Now, Montoya is still in Hawaii and works for the U.S. Department of Defense, specifically for the Department of the Army.

Montoya works in the Pacific region, where he helps develop operations informing the general public. In times of crises, Montoya also helps inform his department on how to allocate resources toward solutions.

“Our emphasis is primarily the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan and Korea, but we also inform and provide influence activities and influence strategies to advance U.S. political and military interests,” said Montoya, whose department worked during the Lahaina wildfires in August.

He wasn’t directly involved but had conversations about how best to keep the people of Hawaii informed.

COURTESY OF FERNANDO MONTOYA. In Manila, the capital of the Philippines, NSU alum Fernando Montoya leads a discussion on information warfare, national defense challenges and cognitive warfare.

“To understand the situation in Lahaina, you have to understand the sociopolitical context of Hawaii, and you also have to understand the economic component of Hawaii. If you don’t know what questions to ask, or if you don’t know where to go for answers, you’re not going to be very effective in your policy formulation,” Montoya said. “It was through the NSU program, the Ph.D. program, that I was able to hone in specifically those critical, graduate level questions and the answers that I needed to find for decision makers within my organization.”

As part of his work, Montoya also frequently travels and holds conferences.

“I talk about information warfare, so my conversations are driven to political topics, defense topics and topics that are currently affecting the national discourse when it comes to defensive security of the nation,” Montoya said.

In the future, Montoya hopes to get back to law school.

“I’ve already retired from the military in 2019. I’ve been retired now for four years, going on to five, but I’m still working. I still work as a full-time employee for the Department of the Army,” Montoya said. “But I don’t want to do this forever. I want to at some point be able to say I’ve already contributed enough to my nation. Now I need to step back, and maybe go into academia. I would love to go into academia. I would love to teach at NSU.”

Montoya encourages students to pursue a Ph.D., especially one in the conflict resolution program.

“It brings you a whole different level of awareness and perception in the world,” Montoya said. “The Ph.D., conflict resolution at Nova and the professors that you have are very, very good.”