Veteran is Breaking Down the Knowledge Barrier - Tribal Network

This story was originally published on the Tribal Network on Dec. 11, 2020. Click here for the original story. Login required.

BY ERIC PEREIRA

When Michael Bevers graduated high school in the small city of Bedford, Indiana, he had a plan. Serving as an altar boy in the Catholic church in the 1980s, he developed an interest in becoming a priest or monk.  

“My desire was study and contemplation,” he said. “I was attracted to a life separated from society.” 

But after two years and some personal realizations along the way, he made a radical shift to become a U.S. Marine. 

Time for Change 

While in the seminary, Michael recalls feeling he needed to prove to himself and others that he had the inner strength to sustain the most physically difficult and grueling challenge he could find.

“I wanted to prove myself that I could be that kind of a man — a Marine. It was an identity that myself and those who knew (me) would never have considered, a Marine who was someone I could be. A monk yes. Marine no,” he said. “So, I took a leap of faith on a radical reinvention. I learned a lot about myself from that leap.”

Along with gaining a conditioned physique in boot camp, the muscles in his mind also benefited from the rigorous training. He scored well on the language aptitude test and was offered a slot to study Arabic or Chinese in Monterrey, California. Michael chose the former and that decision influenced nearly every aspect of his career to this day. 

Now fluent in Arabic, Michael had the opportunity to serve in Operation Desert Storm as a signals intelligence Marine. He gathered radio communications — having to translate from Arabic — in order to assess the enemy’s capabilities as well as identify and locate targets. 

Michael’s time in the Marines expanded his knowledge, providing him with an education that pushed him to help rebuild the very societies the U.S. military had dismantled. Working in the desert climates seemed to awaken a thirst for knowledge that eventually brought him back to the desert, this time as a civilian. That moment came in 2005, following the U.S. invasion in Operation Iraqi Freedom.  

“I felt that we had failed the Iraqi people in the first Gulf War and felt a responsibility to return and help in reconstruction efforts in Iraq,” Michael said. 

He felt it was part of his duty to go there because he already had prior knowledge of the culture. 

“I was just drawn to think I had Arabic skills, and I had a real sense of urgency that I thought I could help rebuild that society.”

Hitting the Books 

Even with the bachelor’s degree in political science and economics he had secured after leaving active duty, Michael knew he needed more knowledge to succeed in the environment he was returning to. He went back to college and got a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies and focused on Middle Eastern politics and Arabic in preparation to earn a position in Iraq. 

“I felt that if you were going to help restructure a society, that you can know a little about the language and a little about that society,” he said.

“If you were going to go be a consultant for McDonald’s, you’d want to know about the McDonald’s operation before you can start making suggestions on how they can improve it,” he likes to say. 

He landed a position as a political advisor in Iraq, where he’d meet with local politicians to help them implement democratic practices, such as voting on legislation.

Education and the desire to help in the Middle East ultimately brought him and his wife, Lana, together as well. While he was working as a political advisor, Michael began leading his own English instruction courses for his employees. Lana was matched with him through human resources. 

Back to School

When he was in the Babil province, sitting in the mess hall, speaking with the XO, she asked what kind of projects he wanted to pursue. Michael was taken aback as he was just a guy from small-town USA. 

“I would think that’s something we need to ask the people that lived in Babil province,” he answered. 

That conversation and the idea of watching democratization unfold as he was helping rebuild Iraq led him to observe and understand the meaning of dialogue in the context of democracy. This pushed him to return to school again.

“The problems I witnessed in the democratization process and transfer of knowledge led me to pursue my doctorate and ask those questions,” he said. 

He studied the democratization of the Middle East at Indiana University and earned a doctorate degree. He also taught Arabic and worked as a research assistant.

Michael and Lana grew in their respective fields and eventually got married, Lana earned a position teaching Arabic at the Advanced Language Institute, the very same place Michael had learned the language during his military training in Monterrey, California.

Brothers in Study

Looking back, Michael said experiencing a country like Iraq in the Armed Forces and then having the opportunity to make an impact as a civilian made the Arabic language a major factor in his career path.  

These days you can find Michael doing freelance work, working as an Arabic tutor for private companies. Plus, his own interest in seeing veterans gaining their education has pushed him to write memoirs of their journeys as well as start his own podcast, called “Veterans in Academia,” expected to go live in January 2021.

“Veterans sometimes are misunderstood. I think we’re all classified as something they might see on TV, and maybe we all have political leanings,” Michael said. “Veterans are as diverse as the civilian population is, in my estimation.” 

Although there is a camaraderie within his former brothers in arms, Michael is just as, if not more, interested in where the knowledge took them after their time in service.  

“You got to keep learning until you’re done moving,” he said. “It doesn’t end in high school, college, PhD or anything else. Learning new things is one of the joys of life.”