West Point NY, 07-JANUARY-2016 – The United States Military Academy (USMA) West Point has announced that Ian Holbrook, a native of Las Vegas Nevada has been recognized by the school as a recipient of the United Nations Model Program. The 21-year old Cadet Sergeant at the military academy has made the dean's list during each semester at the academy. He currently is a Junior at the United States Military Academy, where he carries a double major in French and Legal Studies with a track in Nuclear Engineering. Model United Nations is an authentic simulation of the UN Security Council, UN General Assembly or other multilateral body. It introduces students to the world of diplomacy, negotiation and decision making.

Ian Holbrook was selected for World Bank Internship in the Chief Economist’s department while he simultaneously did the Kimsey Scholarship program. James Kimsey was the sponsor for the scholarship program and gave an experience of a lifetime to eight service academy students who were selected for his program.

Each scholar had differing jobs ranging from working on Capital Hill, the Supreme Court, and with the World Bank. Ian was the only scholar to work at the World Bank and was one of the few undergraduates ever to do so in the history of the World Bank. During the scholarship program, the scholars would have lunch or dinner with many affluent people among Washington and the world. Some of the individuals were Dan Christman, Senior VP of Foreign Affairs for the Chamber of Commerce, Jake Tapper, an investigative journalist at CNN, General Petraeus, former Director of the CIA, General Chipman, Adjutant General of the Army and General Reimer.

As a part of his World Bank job, Ian and a team under the authority of the World Bank Chief Economist worked on the reform of the Somalian Security Sector. Specifically, Ian's task was to reform the spending on the Somalian Army and help to structure their military. He created a detailed equipment list, found the prices necessary to buy each equipment and determined how many were necessary for adequate protection of each Somalian soldier. He also helped equip and arm their national police force and aided in creating their air force and coast guard.

His equipment list and funding structure were passed on through his boss and presented to the UN to finalize the funding of the reformation of the Somalian security sector. This reform was a 200 million dollar project that is being implemented currently in Somalia. He was published in two projects at the World Bank as a contributor to a 400 million dollar project giving millions of people in Myanmar electricity, and as a main contributor in the project with Somalia. The plan was implemented in the fall of 2015 and was given directly to the UN to be facilitated in Somalia.

The military Ian helped create for Somalia will fight Al Shabar in southern Somalia and will create stability within a region that has been plagued with warfare. Ian expects that his team’s work will begin to see results by the summer of 2016 in creating regional stability among differing Somalian tribes, Al Shabar, and other factors that have led to a crumbling infrastructure in Somalia.

Ian looks forward to his time progressing through USMA and after, and wants to make a lasting impact on this world.

Media Contact:
Ian Holbrook,
USMA West Point
West Point, NY
928-846-5595
[email protected]