Overview

This monograph examines the value added to the U.S. Army by sending officers to foreign staff colleges. It argues that the U.S. Army should educate more of its best field grade officers abroad to gain worldly, contextual intelligence. Ultimately, a foreign staff college experience, preceded by the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College resident course, will develop better strategic thinkers and leaders. In this research, General Albert C. Wedemeyer's personal archives at Stanford University provide keen insight into the strategic contribution officers educated abroad can have on national security. Next, a survey of U.S. Army officers who graduated from a foreign staff college in the last ten years confirms several valuable aspects of an overseas education, and identifies areas of the program to improve. Finally, this monograph recommends increasing the available opportunities for U.S. Army officers to attend foreign staff colleges, with a weighted priority in Asia and Europe. It also recommends sending the top 10% of each year's graduating CGSC class, approximately 100 officers, to foreign language training followed by a foreign staff college education. This benefits the U.S. Army by growing the pool of organizational leaders who can readily contextualize the challenges of a complex world beyond American borders.The U.S. Army officer Professional Military Education (PME) system underscores the organization's investment in its people. Scholarships are available to four-year universities and military academies, civilian graduate schools, and a plethora of other educational opportunities during a typical twenty-year career. Why does the Department of Defense choose to spend millions of dollars to educate officers beyond the training required for managing violence in warfare? The answer, perhaps, lies in the Army's role in American foreign policy and national security in a complex world. America exports its values, both in times of war and peace, through the U.S. Army's presence around the world. The global audience may form its opinion of America through interactions with soldiers stationed permanently, or temporarily, abroad. Therefore, the actions of U.S. servicemen and women abroad have the potential to affect national security interests worldwide, and also leave an enduring impression of American power in the minds of others. Perhaps one way of positively influencing the strategic narrative and cultivating American power abroad is through a more deliberate investment in the education of U.S. Army officers based on the potential for strategic return. The purpose of this study is to investigate this dynamic by assessing an important aspect of the officer education system: The attendance of U.S. Army officers at foreign military staff colleges.

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9781728987453

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