Marcus B. Griffin, the Christopher Newport University anthropologist who emerged as a prominent participant in the Army's controversial Human Terrain System (HTS) program, has decided to resign from his teaching position in order to continue his work with the military.

The HTS embeds social scientists with combat brigades in Afghanistan and Iraq, where they serve as cultural advisers. Griffin began his eleven months of service in Iraq with the Second Brigade of the First Infantry Division in August. In an e-mail message from Iraq, Griffin says that when he returns to the United States in July he will work at the newly-established HTS research facility in Newport News, Virginia. Griffin, who until recently maintained a blog about his activities in Iraq, was one of the few participants in the HTS who maintained a public profile.  

"I will be involved in implementing social science research from North Africa to the Middle East, to Southeast Asia and the Pacific," Griffin writes. "I feel fortunate to be in a position to both serve my country, be an advocate for often ignored peoples, and promote the humanitarian use of anthropology."

In November, Griffin wrote a short essay in The Chronicle Review in which he described his work as that of a "cultural broker" to "help Iraqis and Americans work more effectively as partners." 

The launch of the HTS in 2006 sparked a furor among anthropologists. Critics of the program argue that armed anthropologists in military uniforms cannot possibly be getting voluntary informed consent, and that the initiative is reminiscent of the imperial-flavored anthropology of the early 20th century.