U.S. Rep. Steve Russell
OXFORD, Miss. – U.S. Rep. Steve Russell will share details about his Army battalion’s intelligence-related efforts that led to the capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during a program Wednesday (Oct. 17) at the University of Mississippi.
Russell also plans to discuss how the U.S. Congress uses military intelligence during his talk, hosted by the UM Center for Intelligence and Security Studies, or CISS. The event, set for 3 p.m. in the School of Law’s Weems Auditorium, is free and open to the public.
Because the congressman has served both in the military and as a member of the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, he can offer valuable perspectives on a host of sensitive issues related to the U.S. intelligence community and military, said Timothy Russell, CISS director.
“He is uniquely qualified to talk about how the intelligence community supports the warfighter and about how policymakers use intelligence products,” Russell said. “These are important components to the ISS curriculum, and we are excited to have the congressman provide an insider’s view on them for ISS and other students.”
The U.S. House Committee on Armed Service’s responsibilities include the annual defense authorization bill, the annual national defense budget and contingency operations related to the war on terrorism.
Ken Pope, an instructional assistant professor at the CISS and a U.S. Army veteran, asked Steve Russell to speak at Ole Miss.
“Congressman Russell’s discussion will focus on how the various military units in Iraq functioned independently and together to achieve a goal,” Pope said. “It’s important for our students to see how this process works in the military and in the intelligence community and how those functions are used and understood in Congress for policy decisions.”
Steve Russell has served as a Republican representative for Oklahoma’s 5th District since 2015. He served in the Oklahoma Senate from 2008 to 2012 and in the U.S. Army from 1985 to 2006.
For more information on the event, visit https://ciss.olemiss.edu/.