Alfred University News

Nov. 17 Bergren Forum to feature "Sand, Sweat, and Swearing": recollections of life at Fort Bliss

Issac Matson, a US Army veteran with an MA in military history, will deliver the Nov. 17 Bergren Forum: “Sand, Sweat, and Swearing: Experiences as a Mechanized Infantry Platoon Leader at Ft. Bliss, Texas.”


The presentation will offer Matson’s overview of his experience in an Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), while participating in equipment testing as part of the US Army’s Network Integration Evaluation (NIE), and an intensive pre-deployment train-up. Matson also will offer a first-hand account of the daily rituals that comprise an infantry platoon, as well as the physical and emotional stresses that soldiers must deal with even while on a non-combat mission. 

Matson is a native of Massachusetts and attended Westfield State University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice. He served in the US Army as an infantry officer, then moved to Alfred with his wife, Elizabeth Matson, assistant professor of Math in Alfred University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The Bergren Forum is sponsored by the Division of Human Studies and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and will be held in-person from 12:10-1 pm on Thursdays in Nevins Theatre, Powell Campus Center. Attendees are invited to bring a brown bag lunch. Coffee and tea will be provided. For those not able to make it to Nevins, there is a Zoom link, which will be the same each week. Please contact Marilyn Saxton for the Zoom link.