The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military officers. The college was established in 1881 by William Tecumseh Sherman as the

School of Application for Infantry and Cavalry The United States Army Cavalry School was part of a series of training programs and centers for its horse mounted troops or cavalry branch. History In 1838, a Cavalry School of Practice was established at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, which in ...

(later simply the Infantry and Cavalry School), a training school for infantry and

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

officers. In 1907 it changed its title to the School of the Line. The curriculum expanded throughout World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War and continues to adapt to include lessons learned from current conflicts. In addition to the main campus at Fort Leavenworth, the college has satellite campuses at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Fort Lee, Virginia;

Fort Gordon Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in October 1941. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps, United States Army Cyber Command, and the Cyber Center of Excellence. It ...

, Georgia; and

Redstone Arsenal Redstone Arsenal (RSA) is a United States Army post and a census-designated place (CDP) adjacent to Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, United States and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The Arsenal is a garrison f ...

, Alabama. The college also maintains a distance-learning modality for some of its instruction.

Mission statement

The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) educates and develops leaders for full spectrum joint, interagency and multinational operations; acts as lead agent for the Army's leader development program; and advances the art and science of the profession of arms in support of Army operational requirements.

Schools

The college consists of four schools: the Command and General Staff School, the School of Advanced Military Studies, the School for Command Preparation, and the School of Advanced Leadership and Tactics. * Command and General Staff School (CGSS) provides Intermediate Level Education (ILE) for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military officers. ILE is a ten-month graduate-level program; the curriculum includes instruction on leadership philosophy, military history, and the military planning and decision-making processes. There is one ILE class per year; starting in August and ending in June. About 1,200 US military and international officers make up the class. In addition to the ILE curriculum, a graduate masters program exists for students who may qualify to complete a thesis-level research paper and receive a Master of Military Arts and Sciences (M.M.A.S.) degree from the Command and General Staff College. The program is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, the accrediting body for collegiate institutions in the midwestern United States. ILE students are normally mid-career

field-grade officers A senior officer is an officer of a more senior grade in military or other uniformed services. In military organisations, the term may refer to any officer above junior officer rank, but usually specifically refers to the middle-ranking group of ...

preparing for battalion command or staff positions at the division, brigade, or battalion level. In addition to CGSS at Fort Leavenworth, the school operates satellite campuses at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Fort Lee, Virginia;

, Georgia; and

, Alabama. Students at the satellite campuses complete the ILE Common Core, a condensed ninety-day program without the M.M.A.S. option, in lieu of the traditional ten-month program. * School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) provides post-ILE instruction on complex military issues at the strategic and operational levels. Students who complete the curriculum receive a Master of Military Arts and Sciences degree and are then assigned as high-level military planners. * School for Command Preparation (SCP) provides instruction for colonels, lieutenant colonels, and command sergeants major who have been selected for brigade or battalion command. Courses are normally three to four weeks and focus on special topics unique to assumption of command at the levels indicated. * School of Advanced Leadership and Tactics (SALT) provides officer continuing education towards developing the Scholar-Warrior-Leader from first lieutenant to selection for major. The result is mastery of branch-specific technical and tactical skills, staff processes in battalions and brigades, direct leadership and command competencies, and initial broadening opportunities. During World War I, the CGSC at Ft. Leavenworth was closed, from 1916 until 1920. Most of the school staff was sent to Langres, France, to open and conduct the Army General Staff College, which operated from November 1917 to December 1918. This compressed-curriculum school was needed to provide command and staff officers for the exponentially growing number of Army units; divisions, regiments, brigades, and battalions.

Master of Military Art and Science degree

The Command and General Staff College confers a Master of Military Art and Science (MMAS) professional degree to graduates of the School of Advanced Military Studies as well as graduates of the Command and General Staff School who complete a thesis-level research paper. The degree is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission for collegiate institutions in the midwestern United States. Military art and science is an interdisciplinary field of study. It encompasses many academic disciplines insofar as they relate to war, peace, and the employment of military forces; they include established academic fields of study such as sociology, history, engineering, psychology, politics, geography, science, ethics, economics, anthropology, and others. It may also include other professional fields of practice such as medicine and the law insofar as they interact with the military or are applied to military matters. It provides intellectual and theoretical depth to the military profession and its practitioners. Thus, a large proportion of research in the field of military art and science is done to address practical problems faced by practitioners. Purely academic research, however, is also an integral part of the field and is essential to ensure its continued intellectual vitality. The results of scholarship and research in the field may be of interest and may be helpful to political leaders and policymakers, military officers, as well as to scholars and the interested public. Military art generally deals with the human dimensions of war and military operations. Military art is generally subject to qualitative rather than quantitative investigation, although it does not exclude the use of quantitative methods when appropriate. It includes such areas as psychology, leadership, individual and collective behavior, culture, ethics, and problem-solving. History provides the context and depth for the study of military art. Military art also includes such specifically military subjects as strategy, operational art, and tactics. Military science generally deals with the technical dimensions of war and military operations. Military science is generally subject to quantitative rather than qualitative investigation, although qualitative methodologies are used when appropriate. It includes such areas as the technological military applications and equipment made possible by the physical sciences, various engineering disciplines, industrial management, logistics, electronic simulations, communications technologies, and transportation technologies. Mathematics is an important tool in the practice of military science and associated disciplines. Specific military applications include gunnery and ballistics, materials science technology for soldier protection, transportation technologies, and communications technologies. The interdisciplinary field of military art and science may be pictured as a "big umbrella" which encompasses other academic disciplines and fields of professional practice.

Notable people

Notable alumni

* Creighton Abrams (1949) * Clara Leach Adams-Ender (1976) * Henry H. Arnold (1929) *

Lloyd J. Austin III Lloyd James Austin III (born August 8, 1953) is a retired United States Army four-star general who, since his appointment on January 22, 2021, has served as the 28th United States secretary of defense. He is the first African American to serv ...

* Charles L. Bolte (1932) * Omar Bradley (1929) * Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. (1928) *

Richard E. Cavazos Richard Edward Cavazos (January 31, 1929 – October 29, 2017) was a United States Army four-star general. He was a Korean War recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross as a first lieutenant and advanced in rank to become the United States Ar ...

(1960) * Mark W. Clark (1935) *

J. Lawton Collins General (United States), General Joseph Lawton Collins (May 1, 1896 – September 12, 1987) was a senior United States Army officer. During World War II, he served in both the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, Pacific and European Theater of Operations, U ...

(1933) * William E. DePuy (1946) * Jacob L. Devers (1925) * Roger H.C. Donlon (1971) *

Robert L. Eichelberger Robert Lawrence Eichelberger (9 March 1886 – 26 September 1961) was a general officer in the United States Army who commanded the Eighth United States Army in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II, Southwest Pacific Area during Wo ...

(1929) * Dwight D. Eisenhower (1925–26) *

James M. Gavin James Maurice Gavin (March 22, 1907 – February 23, 1990), sometimes called "Jumpin' Jim" and "the jumping general", was a senior United States Army officer, with the rank of lieutenant general, who was the third Commanding General (CG) of the 8 ...

(1942) * Andrew Goodpaster (1943) *

Stuart Heintzelman Major General Stuart Heintzelman (19 November 1876 – 6 July 1935) was an American soldier. He was a grandson of Civil War general Samuel P. Heintzelman. Military career He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Cavalry from the United Sta ...

(1916) * Lewis Blaine Hershey (1933) * Courtney Hodges (1925) *

William M. Hoge General William Morris Hoge (January 13, 1894 – October 29, 1979) was a United States Army officer who fought in World War I, World War II and the Korean War, with a military career spanning nearly forty years. Early life and military career ...

(1928) * Michelle J. Howard (1998) *

Clarence R. Huebner Lieutenant General Clarence Ralph Huebner (November 24, 1888 – September 23, 1972) was a highly decorated senior officer of the United States Army who saw distinguished active service during both World War I and World War II. Perhaps his most no ...

(1925) * Harold Keith Johnson (1949) *

Robert Kingston Robert Charles Kingston (July 16, 1928February 28, 2007) was a United States Army general who served as the commander of U.S. Central Command. Early life and education Kingston was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on July 16, 1928, and graduated ...

(1960) *

John C. H. Lee John Clifford Hodges Lee (1 August 1887 – 30 August 1958) was a career US Army engineer, who rose to the rank of lieutenant general and commanded the Communications Zone (ComZ) in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. A grad ...

(1918) * Kirk Lippold (1994) *

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

(1912) *

Raymond S. McLain Lieutenant General Raymond Stallings McLain (April 4, 1890 – December 14, 1954) was a senior United States Army officer. In the words of General George C. Marshall, Raymond S. McLain "gave great distinction to the term 'citizen soldier. His serv ...

(1938) * George Marshall (1907) *

Troy H. Middleton Lieutenant General Troy Houston Middleton (12 October 1889 – 9 October 1976) was a distinguished educator and senior officer of the United States Army who served as a corps commander in the European Theatre during World War II and later as pre ...

(1924) *

Aubrey Newman Aubrey Strode "Red" Newman (1903–1994) was a United States Army major general with 34 years of service. During World War II, Newman commanded the 34th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division during the Philippines Campaign. His cry ...

(1943) * Lunsford E. Oliver (1928) * John McAuley Palmer (1910) * George S. Patton Jr. (1924) * David Petraeus (1983) *

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...

(1968) * Elwood Richard Quesada (1937) * Matthew Ridgway (1935) *

Bernard W. Rogers Bernard William Rogers (July 16, 1921 – October 27, 2008) was a United States Army general who served as the 28th Chief of Staff of the United States Army, and later as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and Commander in Chief, United Sta ...

(1954) *

Richard J. Seitz Lieutenant General Richard Joe Seitz (February 18, 1918 – June 8, 2013) was a United States Army officer and paratrooper who, during a 35-year career, commanded the 2nd Battalion, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II, the 82n ...

(1950) *

Peter J. Schoomaker Peter Jan Schoomaker (born February 12, 1946) is a retired four-star general of the United States Army who served as the 35th Chief of Staff of the United States Army from August 1, 2003 to April 10, 2007. Schoomaker's appointment as Chief of S ...

(1982) * H. Norman Schwarzkopf (1969) * Walter Bedell Smith (1935) *

Carl Andrew Spaatz Carl Andrew Spaatz (born Spatz; June 28, 1891 – July 14, 1974), nicknamed "Tooey", was an American World War II general. As commander of Strategic Air Forces in Europe in 1944, he successfully pressed for the bombing of the enemy's oil product ...

(1936) * Donn A. Starry (1960) * Joseph Warren Stilwell (1926) *

Gordon R. Sullivan Gordon Russell Sullivan (born September 25, 1937) is a retired United States Army general, who served as the 32nd Chief of Staff of the Army and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Sullivan also served as acting Secretary of the Army. Aft ...

(1969) *

Loree K. Sutton Loree K. Sutton (born July 15, 1959) is an American psychiatrist and retired military officer who served as a brigadier general in the United States Army. Sutton served for over 20 years and was awarded a Bronze Star. From 2007 to 2010, She was th ...

Maxwell D. Taylor Maxwell Davenport Taylor (August 26, 1901 – April 19, 1987) was a senior United States Army officer and diplomat of the mid-20th century. He served with distinction in World War II, most notably as commander of the 101st Airborne Division, ni ...

(1935) *

Maxwell R. Thurman Maxwell Reid Thurman (February 18, 1931 – December 1, 1995) was a United States Army general, who served as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army and commander of United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. Early life and educati ...

(1967) * Hoyt Vandenberg (1936) * James Van Fleet (1918) * Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV (1931) * Albert Coady Wedemeyer (1936)

Notable foreign alumni

The college reports that 7,000 international students representing 155 countries have attended CGSC since 1894 and that more than 50 percent of CGSC International Military Student (IMS) graduates attain the rank of general. * General Carlos Prats, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Interior and Defense Minister, Vice President of the Republic of Chile. * Minister of State General Mohammed F Abo Sak of Saudi Arabia * Prime Minister and General Kriangsak Chamanan of Thailand * General

Alfredo M. Santos Alfredo Manapat Santos (July 13, 1905 – February 7, 1990) was Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 1962 to 1965, making him the first four-star general of the Philippines' armed forces. Early life Santos was born in Santa Cr ...

of the Philippines * Lieutenant General Rafael Ileto (former Secretary of the Department of National Defense) of the Philippines * Prime Minister and General

Tran Thien Khiem Tran may refer to: Arts, media, and entertainment * "Tran", a novel in the Janissaries series named for a fictional planet * Dr. Tran, an animated miniseries People * Trần (陳), a Vietnamese surname * Tran, member of the Nazi-era comedy duo ...

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

* General Do Cao Tri of

* General Hau Pei-tsun of the Republic of China (Taiwan) * President Paul Kagame of Rwanda * General Katumba Wamala of Uganda * Brigadier General Muhoozi Kainerugaba son of Ugandan president * General Yahya Khan of Pakistan * General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan * General Rahimuddin Khan of Pakistan * General Jehangir Karamat of Pakistan * General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani of Pakistan * General

Eiji Kimizuka was the 32nd Chief of Staff of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the ''de facto'' army of Japan. He was promoted to four-star General and assumed the position on August 5, 2011. Career Kimizuka was born and raised in Kanagawa Prefecture. He a ...

of Japan * General

Hisham Jaber General Hisham M. Jaber (born September 13, 1942) ( ar, اللواء الركن هشام جابر) is a retired Lebanese Major General and political researcher. Early life and education Born in Nabatieh, in South Lebanon, he is the grandson of h ...

of Lebanon * General Krishnaswamy Sundarji of Indian Army * Brigadier-General Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore * General Dieudonné Kayembe Mbandakulu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo * President Gaafar Nimeiry of Sudan * Lt. Colonel Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero of the Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua * General

Nguyễn Hợp Đoàn Nguyễn Hợp Đoàn (28 August 1928 – 15 April 2002) was to be the last Mayor of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam and Governor of Gia Dinh Province, before the fall of Saigon that led to the reunification of Vietnam under the Communist par ...

* General Nguyễn Khánh of

* General Phạm Văn Đồng of

* Ministry/Chief of Army General Staff and General Ahmad Yani of Indonesia * President and General

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to by his initials SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party ...

of Indonesia * General Veljko Kadijević of Yugoslavia * General Antonio Domingo Bussi of Argentina * General Moeen U Ahmed of Bangladesh * General Amer Khammash of Jordan * General

Arne Dagfin Dahl Arne Dagfin Dahl (24 May 1894 – 26 October 1990) was a Norwegian military officer most renowned as the commander of the Alta Battalion during the fighting at Narvik in Northern Norway in 1940. Early and personal life Born in Kristiania on ...

of Norway * General Gustav Hägglund of Finland * General Avigdor Kahalani of Israel * Lieutenant General

David Tevzadze David Tevzadze ( ka, დავით თევზაძე) (born 30 January 1949) is a retired Georgian lieutenant general who was the country’s Minister of Defense from April 1998 to February 2004. Education and academic career Born in Sukhu ...

of Georgia * Major General Vladimer Chachibaia of Georgia * Colonel

Nikoloz Janjgava Nikoloz "Nika" (Nick) Janjgava ( ka, ნიკოლოზ ��იკაჯანჯღავა; born 23 April 1970) is a Georgian major general, military historian and currently a deputy chief of general staff of the Defense Forces of Georgia ...

of Georgia * General Moeen U Ahmed of Bangladesh * Général d'armée

René Imbot René Imbot (17 March 1925 - 19 February 2007) was a French general. In 1983 he was appointed as Head of the French Army. Two years later he reached the normal French army retirement age, but after the sinking of the ''Rainbow Warrior'' caused ...

, Chief of Staff of the French Army, General Director of DGSE, France * King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain * General

Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini General Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini ( so, Cabdulkaadir Sheekh Diini, ar, عبد القادر الشيخ ضئنئ) is a Somali politician and military official. He served as Chief of Army from March 2011 to March 2013, under both the Transitional Fe ...

of Somalia * Colonel

Ahmed Mohammed Ali Colonel Ahmed Mohammed Ali ( ar, أحمد محمد علي; also known as Ahmed Ali; born 19 November 1972) is the media adviser to the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the ex spokesperson of the Egyptian Army. He was appointed first A ...

of Egypt * Lieutenant General Sean McCann of Ireland * General Mahesh Senanayake of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

* General Bipin Rawat of India, Chief of Defence Staff * Lieutenant General

Mykhailo Zabrodskyi Mykhailo Vitaliyovych Zabrodskyi (; born 24 January 1973) is a Ukrainian politician and retired military officer. A member of the European Solidarity party, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2019 ...

of Ukraine

Notable faculty and deputy commandants

* Robert Arter (Deputy Commandant 1977–79) *

(faculty 1970–71) * Roger H.C. Donlon (1978–81) *

Frederick M. Franks Jr. Frederick Melvin Franks Jr. (born 1 November 1936) is a retired general of the United States Army. He commanded the Gulf War coalition VII Corps in the highly successful "Left Hook" maneuver against fourteen Iraqi divisions, a number of which w ...

(Deputy commandant 1985–87) *

Glenn K. Otis General Glenn Kay Otis (March 15, 1929 – February 21, 2013) was a United States Army four-star general who served as Commanding General, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command from 1981 to 1983, and as Commander in Chief, United Stat ...

Deputy Chief of Staff 1976–78 *

Deputy Commanding General of the Combined Arms Combat Development Activity (1982–83) *

Deputy Commandant 1987–88 *

Adna R. Chaffee Jr. Adna Romanza Chaffee Jr. (September 23, 1884 – August 22, 1941) was an officer in the United States Army, called the "Father of the Armored Force" for his role in developing the U.S. Army's tank forces. Early life and education Chaffee was bor ...

1919–20 *

(1929–33) * Walter Krueger (1901–12) * Lucian Truscott 1934–40

Commandants

Since 1976, the commandant of the college has been a lieutenant general. David Petraeus was the commandant between 2005 and 2007, immediately before going to command the Multi-National Force – Iraq.

Photo gallery

File:International students, class of 1998-99 (United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavensworth, Kansas).jpg, International Students of Class 1998–99 File:International students, class of 1998-99 (United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavensworth, Kansas) on a class trip to Burns & McDonnell Engineering.jpg, International Students of Class 1998–99 on a Kansas company visit File:International students, class of 1998-99 (United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavensworth, Kansas) on a class trip to Gettysburg.jpg, International Students of Class 1998–99 Gettysburg visit

References

External links

*
Command and General Staff College, Combined Arms Research Library

Command and General Staff College, Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library
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