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thedrifter
03-21-09, 06:45 AM
Posted on Fri, Mar. 20, 2009
Midwest Voices: Leavenworth program takes officer training to the next level


In September 1990, Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf and tens of thousands of coalition troops stared across the northern border of Saudi Arabia. The forces formed what was then called Desert Shield, but the U.S. Central Command was already planning offensive operations to oust the Iraqis from Kuwait.


Stormin’ Norman, however, was not comfortable with the plan up to that point and called the Army for help. That help soon came in the form of four men, all graduates of the U.S. Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS). Within a few weeks the officers delivered their proposed battle plan and the rest is history. Since then most military writers give credit to them for the famed “Left Hook” that coalition forces used against the Iraqi Army during the Gulf War.

In the last 25 years the school has built a reputation for providing insightful planners as well as future military leaders. As a current student in the Advanced Military Studies Program, I can tell you that the experience is everything I imagined and more.

We spend most of our days in discussion on assigned readings, usually several chapters from four or five books. We are expected to demonstrate a grasp of the readings, question the concepts and discuss contemporary relevance. Exercises throughout the lessons help us put the concepts to practical use. The classes are intense, and many times discussions have to be cut short by the instructors.

In addition to the class work, each student has to complete a monograph on a timely subject. After graduation, students can expect assignments to high-level headquarters staff sections as senior planners.

Formed in 1983 at Fort Leavenworth by then-Col. Huba Wass de Czege, the mission is to educate “the future leaders of our Armed Forces, our Allies, and the Inter-Agency at the graduate level.” The vision was to offer a second year of study for selected majors after graduation from the Army Command and General Staff College. Wass de Czege proposed educating future Army leaders in campaign planning and modern war complexity.

Today the school educates officers and creates a multiplier effect as these officers seed their future units with emerging ideas. The topics taught at the school include leadership, philosophy, strategic decision-making, application of national power, military history and doctrine, design theory, complexity theory and causality.

Readings — listed on Amazon.com’s SAMS page — include The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Moneyball, Cobra II, The Moral Warrior and The Logic of Failure.

Gen. David McKiernan, the International Security Assistance Force commander in Afghanistan, has requested officers from the next two classes to assist NATO efforts in that complex operating environment. The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, other government agencies and our allies all send officers to the school to enrich current operations and to build bonds for future partnerships.

The school will celebrate its 25th anniversary on May 20 and 21 at Fort Leavenworth. As the school reflects on the effect it has had in planning operations, leading soldiers and transforming the Army, it also looks to the future and how it can better develop strategy to support national policies in today’s complex world. As the motto says: “Mens Est Clavis Victoriae,” or “The mind is the key to victory.”
Grant Martin is a major in the U.S. Army and a student at the School of Advanced Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth. To reach him, send e-mail to oped@kcstar.com or write to The Editorial Page, The Kansas City Star, 1

Ellie