Lt. Col. Michael Weisz

MILITARY PROFESSOR

Area of Expertise - Japan/Security Assistance

Lt. Col. Michael Weisz joined the Asia Pacific Center team in February of 2006.  Lt. Col. Weisz is a U.S. Army Foreign Area Officer specializing in Northeast Asia.  He is coming from an assignment at the U.S. Pacific Command where he worked as Security Assistance Program Manager for Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Defense Cooperation in Armaments.  During that time Lt. Col. Weisz was involved in numerous bilateral forums that spanned the full spectrum of international cooperation. This ranged from participation in the first military defense discussions with Vietnam since 1973 concentrating on Vietnam’s entry into the U.S International Military Education Training program to development of an International Armaments Cooperation strategy focused on: Australia, India, Japan, Korea, and Singapore.    

Lt. Col. Weisz graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor of Arts in History.  He also holds a Master of Arts in Asian Studies with a certificate in Japan Area Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  He completed Japanese language training at the Defense Language Institute, Monterey, California, and furthered his language and Japan focused education by graduating from the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute in Yokohama, Japan.  His military education includes completion of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

Prior military assignments include: U.S. Army Japan Liaison Officer to the Japan Ground Self Defense Force’s Western and Middle Armies where he was the first resident Liaison Officer stationed in Kumamoto, Japan on the island of Kyushu; Foreign Area Officer Training, U.S. Embassy, Tokyo, Japan; service in the Infantry with various assignment’s to the 25^th Infantry Division, 24^th Infantry Division, 10^th Mountain Division and the 82^nd Airborne Division.  

Lt. Col. Weisz’s military awards and decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (second award), Army Commendation Medal (fourth award), Army Achievement Medal (fifth award), the Joint Service Achievement Medal (second award), Ranger Tab, Expert Infantryman’s Badge, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge and various other awards and commendations. 

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Last updated: 06/23/2008