The Basic Strategic Art Program (BSAP) is an academic program taught at the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officer ...

Carlisle Barracks Carlisle Barracks is a United States Army facility located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The site of the U.S. Army War College, it is the nation's second-oldest active military base. The first structures were built in 1757, during the French and In ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The course was designed to support the educational requirements for Functional Area FA59 (FA59),

U.S. Army Strategist United States Army Strategist or Functional Area 59 or FA59 is a Structure of the United States Army#Plans development, functional area of the United States Army. While the U.S. military and Army has had strategic thinkers throughout its history, t ...

, formerly called Strategic Plans and Policy. The first course began in 2003 and the school continues to teach three 16-week courses per year. The course provides most new Army Strategists, who transition from a different U.S. Army basic branch, with a foundation in strategic theory and practice. It helps officers connect their early tactical experiences with the challenges of operating in the strategic environment. The course, which includes various staff rides and modules, is taught to rigorous academic standards. Failure to achieve these standards is cause for disenrollment from the program and removal from the functional area.

Origins

In September 2001, Army leaders in coordination with various senior service colleges such as the Army War College and

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...

"convened a workshop to determine the competencies and educational requirements for Army strategists". The attendees identified the functional area's "skills, knowledge, and attributes" and designed the resulting BSAP course to support them. On 16 January 2002, the Army G-3 directed the Commandant of the Army War College to develop a basic qualification course for Functional Area 59; the G-3 approved the BSAP concept on 22 July 2002. The pilot course was conducted 16 June through 17 September 2003, graduating seven in its plankholder class. By 2006, the course grew to two classes per year and by 2008 had grown to three classes per year. Its first civilian interagency graduate in 2009 marked an effort to diversify the course. A 2010 analysis by the BSAP Director at the time, LTC Charles P. Moore, noted that U.S. Army strategists, in a relatively new career field at the time, had dissimilar experiences and a "degraded sense of identity and commonality" because not all new 59s were able to attend BSAP. Moore stated that, "In time, all strategists will share a common BSAP experience, strengthening their commonality and collective identity" although noting that BSAP cannot accomplish the latter alone.

Purpose

According to the U.S. Army War College's Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations,

BSAP provides officers newly designated into Functional Area (FA) 59 (Strategist) an introduction to strategy and to the unique skills, knowledge, and behaviors that provide the foundation for their progressive development as Army strategists. BSAP also creates a shared common foundational experience for Army strategists, acculturates officers to the functional area, and assists graduates in the creation of their FA59 self-identity as part of a network of Army FA59 strategists.

Curriculum

Faculty from across the U.S. Army War College support BSAP, which also draws from world class academic and professional guest speakers and lecturers. There are three 16-week courses annually (Jan–Apr, May–Aug, and Sep–Dec). The course includes various staff rides or visits including a trip to

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

to visit U.S. government interagency organizations and a staff ride of U.S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign at the conclusion of the course. Students share experiences with those of the Advanced Strategic Art Program, the U.S. Army War College resident program, and other Senior Service Colleges. As of 2018, the BSAP curriculum comprised the following six modules: strategic theory, strategic art, national security decision-making, contemporary strategic challenges, institutional strategy and planning, and joint and Army planning. Using the graduate seminar method, the course combines history, theory, exercises, guest lectures, and staff rides to develop a 'rich professional perspective on policy, strategy, and doctrine.

Modules

The first BSAP module is ''Strategic Theory'', which allows students to "evaluate doctrine and strategy". Students consider military classics by authors such as

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu ( ; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of ''The ...

and

Clausewitz Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz (; 1 June 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral", in modern terms meaning psychological, and political aspects of waging war. His mos ...

. The course also considers modern strategic theory related to service and joint doctrine as well as strategic culture and practical application of theory. In the ''Strategic Art'' module, students study campaigns including the

Peloponnesian Wars The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...

and

Global War on Terrorism The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...

. Topics of discussion include: "strategy and policy match, theories of victory, mirror imaging, civil-military relations, pre-war plans and wartime realities, and coalition warfare". The ''National Security and Decision-making'' module focuses on

decision-making In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the Cognition, cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be ...

and organization within the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

of the

U.S. government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

, including real-world

case studies A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular fi ...

and a trip to Washington D.C. for U.S. government interagency visits including the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

, and others. In the ''Contemporary Strategic Challenges'' module, students learn about homeland security as well as conduct regional studies related to Northeast Asia, Southwest Asia, Western Hemisphere, and Europe. The ''Institutional Strategy and Planning'' module centers on the U.S. Army related to resources, force management, readiness, and transformation. In the ''Joint and Army Planning'' module, students learn about campaign planning with U.S. Army forces and landpower in a broader strategic context.

Reading List

* ''2006 Lebanon Campaign and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy'',

Stephen Biddle Stephen D. Biddle (born January 19, 1959) is an American author, historian, policy analyst and columnist whose work concentrates on U.S. foreign policy. Currently, he is the Professor of International and Public Affairs at School of Internation ...

and Jeffrey Friedman * ''34'' ''Days: Israel, Hezbollah and the War in Lebanon'',

Amos Harel Amos Harel is an Israeli journalist. Personal He graduated from Tel Aviv University and lives in Hod Hasharon. Journalism career As of 2014 he is the military and defense analyst for the Israeli newspaper '' Haaretz''. From 1999 to 2005 Harel ...

and

Avi Issacharoff Avi Issacharoff ( he, אבי יששכרוף; born 1973) is an Israeli journalist, known for his focus on Palestinian affairs. He is a Middle East commentator for The Times of Israel and its sister news outlet Walla!, and the Palestinian and Arab A ...

* ''Accidental Guerilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One'',

David Kilcullen David John Kilcullen FRGS (born 1967) is an Australian author, strategist, and counterinsurgency expert who is currently the non-executive chairman of Caerus Associates, a strategy and design consulting firm that he founded. He is a professor at ...

* ''American Civil - Military Relations'', Edited by Suzanne C. Nielsen and Don M. Snider * ''American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings'', Allan C. Cigler * ''American Way of War'', Russell F. Weigley * ''An Unknown Future and A Doubtful Present, Writing the Victory Plan of 1941'', Charles E. Kirkpatrick * ''And Keep Moving On'',

Mark Grimsley Mark Grimsley (born October 8, 1959, Ahoskie, North Carolina, United States) is an American professor of History at Ohio State University. His 1995 book, ''The Hard Hand of War: Union Military Policy Toward Southern Civilians 1861-1865'', earned s ...

Art of War ''The Art of War'' () is an ancient List of Chinese military texts, Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist ...

by Sun Tzu, trans. by Samuel Griffith * ''Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking'', M Neil Browne and Stuart Keeley * ''Austro-Prussian War'',

Geoffrey Wawro Geoffrey Wawro (born 1960) is an American Professor of Military History at the University of North Texas, and Director of the UNT Military History Center. His primary area of emphasis is modern and contemporary military history, from the French Re ...

* ''Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War'',

Robert A. Pape Robert Anthony Pape Jr. (born April 24, 1960) is an American political scientist who studies national and international security affairs, with a focus on air power, American and international political violence, social media propaganda, and t ...

* ''Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It'',

James Q. Wilson James Quinn Wilson (May 27, 1931 – March 2, 2012) was an American political scientist and an authority on public administration. Most of his career was spent as a professor at UCLA and Harvard University. He was the chairman of the Council of A ...

* ''Carrying the War to the Enemy: American Operational Art to 1945'', Michael R. Matheny * ''Cobra II'', Michael Gordon and

Bernard Trainor Bernard E. Trainor (September 2, 1928 – June 2, 2018) was an American journalist and a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general. He served in the Marine Corps for 39 years in both staff and command capacities. After retiring from the Mari ...

* '' Congress: The Electoral Connection'', David Mayhew * ''Centers of Gravity and Critical Vulnerabilities, Perspectives on Warfighting'', Dr. Joe Strange * ''Confederate War'',

Gary W. Gallagher Gary William Gallagher is an American historian specializing in the history of the American Civil War. Gallagher is currently the John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia. He produced a ...

* ''Conflict After the Cold War'',

Richard K. Betts Richard Kevin Betts (born August 15, 1947) is an American political scientist and international relations scholar who centers on U.S. foreign policy. He is currently the Arnold Saltzman Professor of War and Peace Studies in the Department of Pol ...

* ''Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare'', Daniel Marston and

Carter Malkasian Carter Malkasian (born 1975) is a historian and former adviser to American military commanders in Afghanistan. Career Malkasian earned a doctorate in military history from the University of Oxford, where he studied under Robert O'Neill. After com ...

* ''Dereliction of Duty'',

H.R. McMaster Herbert Raymond McMaster (born July 24, 1962) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 25th United States National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018. He is also known for his roles in the Gulf War, Operation Endurin ...

* ''

Elements of Style ''The Elements of Style'' is an American English writing style guide in numerous editions. The original was written by William Strunk Jr. in 1918, and published by Harcourt in 1920, comprising eight "elementary rules of usage", ten "elementary ...

'',

William Strunk William Strunk Jr. (July 1, 1869 – September 26, 1946) was an American professor of English at Cornell University and author of ''The Elements of Style'' (1918). After revision and enlargement by his former student E. B. White, it became a highly ...

and

E.B. White Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985) was an American writer. He was the author of several highly popular books for children, including ''Stuart Little'' (1945), '' Charlotte's Web'' (1952), and ''The Trumpet of the Swan'' ...

* ''Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis'',

Graham T. Allison Graham Tillett Allison Jr. (born March 23, 1940) is an American political scientist and the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is renowned for his contribution in the late ...

and

Philip Zelikow Philip David Zelikow (; born September 21, 1954) is an American diplomat, academic and author. He has worked as the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, and Coun ...

* ''Fighting Talk: Forty Maxims on War, Peace, and Strategy'',

Colin S. Gray Colin S. Gray (December 29, 1943 – February 27, 2020) was a British-American writer on geopolitics and professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies at the University of Reading, where he was the director of the Centre for Strategic ...

* ''Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871'', Geoffery Wawro * ''Grand Strategies in War and Peace'' edited by

Paul Kennedy Paul Michael Kennedy (born 17 June 1945) is a British historian specialising in the history of international relations, economic power and grand strategy. He has published prominent books on the history of British foreign policy and great pow ...

* ''Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', Edward N. Luttwak * ''Great Civil War: A Military and Political History 1861–1865'', Russell F. Weigley * ''Landmark Thucydides'' R.B. Stassler * ''

The Lexus and the Olive Tree ''The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization'' is a 1999 book by Thomas L. Friedman that posits that the world is currently undergoing two struggles: the drive for prosperity and development, symbolized by the Lexus LS, and the des ...

'',

Thomas L. Friedman Thomas Loren Friedman (; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for ''The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global tra ...

* ''Making of Peace: Rulers, States, and the Aftermath of War'',

Williamson Murray Williamson Murray (born November 23, 1941) is an American historian and author. He has authored numerous works on history and strategic studies, and served as an editor on other projects extensively. As of 2012, he is professor emeritus of histo ...

'' * ''Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War'', Williamson Murray,

MacGregor Knox MacGregor Knox is an American historian of 20th-century Europe, and was from 1994 to 2010 the Stevenson Professor of International History at the London School of Economics. He is the son of the British-born classical scholar and historian Bernard ...

,'' Alvin Bernstein * ''Modern Strategy'',

Obama's Wars ''Obama's Wars'' is a 2010 book written by Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist Bob Woodward. The book was published by Simon & Schuster and released on September 27, 2010. It focuses on the internal debates and divisions within the ...

'',

Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the title of associate editor. While a young reporter for ''The Washingto ...

* ''On Point: US Army in

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

'', Gregory Fontenot, E.J. Degen, David Tohn * ''On Point II : the United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom, May 2003 – Jan 2005 : Transition to the New Campaign'', Donald P. Wright * ''

On War ''Vom Kriege'' () is a book on war and military strategy by Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), written mostly after the Napoleonic wars, between 1816 and 1830, and published posthumously by his wife Marie von Brühl in 1832. I ...

'',

* ''Paths of Heaven, Evolution of Airpower Theory'', Phillip S. Meilinger * ''Patterns of War Since the Eighteenth Century'', Larry H. Addington * ''Peace to End all Peace: The

Fall of the Ottoman Empire The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) began with the Young Turk Revolution which restored the constitution of 1876 and brought in multi-party politics with a two-stage electoral system for the Ottoman parliament. At the same ti ...

and the Creation of the Modern Middle East'',

David Fromkin David Henry Fromkin (August 27, 1932 June 11, 2017) was an American historian, best known for his interpretive account of the Middle East, ''A Peace to End All Peace'' (1989), in which he recounts the role European powers played between 1914 an ...

* ''

Plan of Attack ''Plan of Attack'' is a 2004 book by the American author and investigative reporter Bob Woodward. It was promoted as "a behind-the-scenes account of how and why President eorge W.Bush decided to go to war against Iraq". The book's chief content ...

'',

* ''Selected Military Writings of Mao Tse-Tung'',

Mao Tse-tung Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (P ...

* ''Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War'',

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (December 11, 1940 – January 5, 2023) was a American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread, which reached the top of the musical charts i ...

* ''Strategy and Power in Russia 1600–1914'', William C. Fuller, Jr. * ''Strategy in the Contemporary World'', John Baylis, James Wirtz,

Eliot Cohen Eliot Asher Cohen (born April 3, 1956 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American political scientist. He was a counselor in the United States Department of State under Condoleezza Rice from 2007 to 2009. In 2019, Cohen was named the 9th Dean of t ...

, Colin Gray * ''Supreme Command'', Eliot A. Cohen * ''Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decisionmakers'', Neustadt and May * ''This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War'', James McPherson * ''The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggles for Iraq, from George Bush to Barack Obama'', Gordon and Trainor * ''

The Tragedy of Great Power Politics ''The Tragedy of Great Power Politics'' is a book by the American scholar John Mearsheimer on the subject of international relations theory published by W.W. Norton & Company in 2001. Mearsheimer explains and argues for his theory of "offensive ...

'',

John Mearsheimer John Joseph Mearsheimer (; born December 14, 1947) is an American political scientist and international relations scholar, who belongs to the realist school of thought. He is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the Univers ...

* ''Transformation of War'',

Martin Van Creveld Martin Levi van Creveld ( he, מרטין ון קרפלד; born 5 March 1946) is an Israeli military historian and theorist. Life and career Van Creveld was born in the Netherlands in the city of Rotterdam to a Jewish family. His parents, Leon a ...

* ''Transforming an Army at War: Designing the Modular Force, 1993–2005'', William M. Donnelly * ''War, Peace and International Relations: An Introduction to Strategic History'',

* ''War Within: A Secret White House History 2006–2008'',

* ''Why the Allies Won'', Richard J. Overy

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

Basic Strategic Art Program official siteThe Strategic Plans and Policy Officer in the Modular Division
-- ''Military Review''
What’s the Matter with Being a Strategist?
-- ''Parameters''
What’s the Matter with Being a Strategist (Now)?
-- ''Parameters'' Military education and training in the United States United States Army War College