The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a

graduate school Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

for

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military officers. The college was established in 1881 by

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...

as the School of Application for Infantry and Cavalry (later simply the Infantry and Cavalry School), a training school for

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

and

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

officers. In 1907 it changed its title to the School of the Line. The curriculum expanded throughout

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

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 Fort Belvoir ( ) is a United States Army installation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It was developed on the site of the former Belvoir (plantation), Belvoir plantation, seat of the prominent Lord ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

; Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia; Fort Eisenhower,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

; and Redstone Arsenal,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. 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, trains and develops leaders for Unified Land Operations in a joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational operational environment; and to advance 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 Sergeants Major Academy. * Command and General Staff School (CGSS) delivers a ten-month Command and General Staff Officers Course (CGSOC) in residence at Fort Leavenworth, KS, to just over 1,200 U.S. military officers, international military officers, and interagency partners each academic year. Additionally, the School teaches CGSOC Common Core to 960 students at four satellite campuses, and the CGSOC Common Core and Advanced Operations Course (AOC) via distance learning (DL) to approximately 5,300 active and reserve component officers around the world. Resident CGSOC students are eligible to pursue the Masters of Operational Studies (MOS) or the Master of Military Art and Science (MMAS). Chapter 7 details CGSS delivery of CGSOC. – The School of Professional Military Education at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) on Fort Benning, GA, offers the ten-month resident Command and General Staff Officer Course in Spanish to approximately 64 US and international officers each year. Since 2012, CGSOC students at SPME have been eligible to pursue the MMAS. * School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) provides the Advanced Military Studies Program (AMSP) to 144 officers – most of whom just graduated from CGSOC – and the Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies Program (ASLSP) for 16 Senior Service College-select U.S. officers, international officers, and U.S. agency partners. All graduates of AMSP receive the Master of Arts in Military Operations, while graduates of ASLSP receive a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies. SAMS also manages the Army’s Advanced Strategic Planning and Policy Program (ASP3) within which Army officers pursue PhDs in international relations, public policy, economics, and history from leading universities in the U.S. and United Kingdom. There are currently 103 carefully selected senior Army strategic planners and future leaders in this program. * School for Command Preparation (SCP) provides continuing education for future Army battalion and brigade commanders, command sergeants major, and spouses in ten 1-4 week courses offered multiple times during each academic year. SCP’s important mission and ten courses are characterized in Chapter 10. * The Sergeants Major Academy (SGM-A) on Fort Bliss, TX, became CGSC's fourth school and a branch campus in March 2018. Each year, SGM-A offers the ten-month Sergeants Major Course-Resident (SMC-R) to 720 senior U.S. and international noncommissioned officers, and the SMC via distributed learning to another 1,320 mainly Army Reserve and National Guard NCOs around the world.

Master of Military Art and Science degree

The Command and General Staff College confers a Master of Military Art and Science (MMAS)

professional degree A professional degree, formerly known in the US as a first professional degree, is a degree that prepares someone to work in a particular profession, practice, or industry sector often meeting the academic requirements for licensure or accreditatio ...

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 The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

for collegiate institutions in the midwestern United States.

Notable people

Notable alumni

Creighton Abrams Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. (15 September 1914 – 4 September 1974) was a United States Army General (United States), general who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972. He was then Chief of Staff of the United Sta ...

(1949) * Clara Leach Adams-Ender (1976) * Henry H. Arnold (1929) * Lloyd J. Austin III * Charles L. Bolte (1932) * Omar Bradley (1929) * Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. (1928) * Richard E. Cavazos (1960) * Mark W. Clark (1935) * Wesley Kanne Clark (1975) * J. Lawton Collins (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 W ...

(1929) *

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

(1925–26) * James M. Gavin (1942) * Andrew Goodpaster (1943) *

Stuart Heintzelman Major general (United States), 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 ...

(1916) * Lewis Blaine Hershey (1933) * Courtney Hodges (1925) * William M. Hoge (1928) * Michelle J. Howard (1998) * Clarence R. Huebner (1925) * Harold Keith Johnson (1949) * Robert Kingston (1960) * John C. H. Lee (1918) * Kirk Lippold (1994) *

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

(1912) * Raymond S. McLain (1938) * George Marshall (1907) * Troy H. Middleton (1924) * Aubrey Newman (1943) * Lunsford E. Oliver (1928) * John McAuley Palmer (1910) * George S. Patton Jr. (1924) * David Petraeus (1983) * Paul D. Phillips (1951) *

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

(1968) *

Elwood Richard Quesada Elwood Richard Quesada, CB, CBE (April 13, 1904 – February 9, 1993), nicknamed "Pete", was a United States Air Force Lt. General, FAA administrator, and, later, a club owner in Major League Baseball. Early years Elwood Richard Quesada was ...

(1937) *

Matthew Ridgway Matthew Bunker Ridgway (3 March 1895 – 26 July 1993) was a senior officer in the United States Army, who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1952–1953) and the 19th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1953–1955). Although he ...

(1935) * Bernard W. Rogers (1954) * Lowell Ward Rooks (1935) * Richard J. Seitz (1950) * Peter J. Schoomaker (1982) * H. Norman Schwarzkopf (1969) * Clarence O. Sherrill (1906) *

Walter Bedell Smith General (United States), General Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith (5 October 1895 – 9 August 1961) was a senior officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forc ...

(1935) * Carl Andrew Spaatz (1936) * Donn A. Starry (1960) * Joseph Warren Stilwell (1926) * Gordon R. Sullivan (1969) * Loree K. Sutton *

Maxwell D. Taylor Maxwell Davenport Taylor (26 August 1901 – 19 April 1987) was a senior United States Army Officer (armed forces), officer and diplomat during the Cold War. He served with distinction in World War II, most notably as commander of the 101st Air ...

(1935) * Maxwell R. Thurman (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. * Brigadier Aslam Khan, Captured Kennedy Peak (Myanmar) in

and conquered Gilgit Baltistan, brother of Air Marshal

Asghar Khan Mohammad Asghar Khan (17 January 1921 – 5 January 2018) known as ''Night Flyer,'' held the distinction of being the first native and second C-in-C of the PAF, Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) from 1957 to 1965. He has been d ...

* 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 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 of

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

* General Do Cao Tri of

* General Hau Pei-tsun of the Republic of China (Taiwan) * President Paul Kagame of Rwanda * General Jennie Carignan of Canada * General Katumba Wamala of

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

* Brigadier General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of Ugandan president * General Yahya Khan of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

* General

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also se ...

of Pakistan * General

Rahimuddin Khan Rahimuddin Khan (21 July 1926 – 22 August 2022) was a four-star rank Pakistani general who briefly served as the 16th Governor of Sindh in 1988. Previously, he had served as the fourth Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1984 to 19 ...

of Pakistan * General Jehangir Karamat of Pakistan * General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani of Pakistan * General Eiji Kimizuka of Japan * General Hisham Jaber of Lebanon * General Krishnaswamy Sundarji of

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

* Brigadier-General

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who served as the third Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024, thereafter serving as a Senior Minister of S ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, 3rd

Prime Minister of Singapore The prime minister of Singapore, is the head of government of Singapore. The President of Singapore, president appoints the prime minister on the advice and consent of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent prime minister is Lawrence Wong, ...

* 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 of

* General Nguyễn Khánh of

* General Phạm Văn Đổng 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 as SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired Indonesian Army, army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014 and the second president of Ind ...

of Indonesia * General

Veljko Kadijević Veljko Kadijević ( sr-Cyrl, Вељко Кадијевић; 21 November 1925 – 2 November 2014) was a Serbian General officer, general of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). He was the Minister of Defence in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugo ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

* General Antonio Domingo Bussi of Argentina * General Moeen U Ahmed of Bangladesh * General Amer Khammash of Jordan * General Arne Dagfin Dahl of Norway * General Gustav Hägglund of Finland * General Avigdor Kahalani of Israel * Lieutenant General David Tevzadze of Georgia * Major General Vladimer Chachibaia of Georgia * Colonel Nikoloz Janjgava of Georgia * Général d'armée René Imbot, Chief of Staff of the French Army, General Director of DGSE, France * King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

* General Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini of Somalia * Colonel Ahmed Mohammed Ali of Egypt * President and General Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco of Brazil * Lieutenant General Sean McCann of Ireland * General Mahesh Senanayake of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

* General Bipin Rawat of India, Chief of Defence Staff * Lieutenant General Mykhailo Zabrodskyi of Ukraine * Major General Andrus Merilo of Estonia * Minister of Defense of Kosovo, Ejup Maqedonci

Notable faculty and deputy commandants

Robert Arter Robert Arter (born September 7, 1929) is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General (United States), lieutenant general and former commanding general of the Sixth United States Army. Born and raised in Massillon, Ohio, Arter graduated from ...

(Deputy Commandant 1977–79) * Richard E. Cavazos (faculty 1970–71) * Roger H.C. Donlon (1978–81) * Frederick M. Franks Jr. (Deputy commandant 1985–87) * Glenn K. Otis Deputy Chief of Staff 1976–78 *

Deputy Commanding General of the Combined Arms Combat Development Activity (1982–83) * Lowell Ward Rooks (1933−1935) * Gordon R. Sullivan Deputy Commandant 1987–88 * Adna R. Chaffee Jr. 1919–20 * Clarence R. Huebner (1929–33) *

Walter Krueger Walter Krueger (26 January 1881 – 20 August 1967) was an American soldier and general officer in the first half of the 20th century. He commanded the Sixth United States Army in the South West Pacific Area during World War II. He rose fro ...

(1901–12) *

Lucian Truscott General (United States), General Lucian King Truscott Jr. (9 January 1895 – 12 September 1965) was a highly decorated senior United States Army Officer (armed forces), officer, who saw distinguished Active duty, active service during World War ...

1934–40

Commandants

Since 1976, the commandant of the college has been a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. David Petraeus was the commandant between 2005 and 2007, immediately before going to command the Multi-National Force – Iraq.

Photo gallery

File:Students of the US Command and General Staff College (1950-51).jpg, Students of the Fifth course 1950-51 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
{{Coord, 39, 20, 39, N, 94, 54, 57, W, format=dms, display=title, type:edu_region:US-KS 1881 establishments in the United States 1881 in Kansas Staff colleges of the United States Universities and colleges in Kansas Education in Leavenworth County, Kansas Military in Kansas Fort Leavenworth United States Army schools Buildings and structures in Leavenworth County, Kansas Universities and colleges accredited by the Higher Learning Commission