Life After DPIR - Lieutenant Commander Conor O'Neill
Alumni 2000, Wadham College
Summary
When I saw that History and Politics was being offered as a course at Oxford, I was sure that it was what I wanted to study, and I have never regretted that decision. The opportunity both to develop different but complementary methods of understanding and analysis and to draw from such a range of subjects and periods to study was an exciting one, and across the three years I and my fellow "MHPists" often found ourselves hopping back and forth between the PPE and History fraternity, or holding the line between them. I was lucky enough to be funded by the Hudson Trust to complete an MSt, researching terrorist strategy, and the interdisciplinary work I had done during my MHP degree was invaluable in conducting very recent historical research.
I went to Oxford on a Royal Navy University Cadetship, and so after finishing my Masters it was back to sea. I am a Warfare Officer, responsible for a variety of operational and management activities onboard ships, from navigation to HR, and I've served in most corners of the globe. Patrolling the Strait of Hormuz or the Falkland Islands certainly gives some rather immediate context to IR theory.
Although, clearly, there is much of my job that is either technical or highly specialised, I've always felt my degree has enduring relevance and utility. Much of the work the navy does, day to day, is diplomatic in nature, and appreciating the global and regional context in which we are operating and the effects we are both seeking and likely to achieve is critical to success. Conflict is, fortunately, rare, but the issues that often underlie it are ever changing and if we are to apply the levers of military power in all its forms to prevent it, we must understand both the levers and the actors to which they are applied.
I am frequently called upon to digest large amounts of material, often in a constrained timeframe, whether that be sensitive intelligence or policy proposals, and the practical skills of quick reading and trenchant analysis that were developed over long nights and the odd early morning have been much used. The service still prizes succinct, accurate and tightly argued writing, just as my tutors did, even if rhetorical flourishes are not encouraged in military signals! I've even found myself examining the constitutional niceties of Military Aid to the Civil Power, working through the theoretical concept right down to the practical implications. As my career alternates between time at sea and working in the policy arena, including in Whitehall, I have the chance to blend my practical experiences with the knowledge and skills I gained at Oxford.
