“What the graduates of Leavenworth provided… was a shared language and attitude towardproblem solving.” – Peter J. Schifferle, America’s School for War
In his 2010 study of officer education and Fort Leavenworth’s impact on the Second World War, historian Peter Schifferle opens with a discussion of the early influence of Leavenworth graduates on the Allied Expeditionary Forces under General Pershing during World War I. Pershing leaned so heavily on those officers that “a standing order required that every Leavenworth graduate disembarking in France would be detached from his unit and sent directly to Chaumont.”[1]Charles Herron, chief of staff of the U.S. 78thDivision and himself a Fort Leavenworth graduate, underscored the value of those men to the American leadership during the war, stating “[A Leavenworth man] understood what you said and you understood what he said.”[2]
The experience crystallized for Pershing his embrace of professional military education, so much so that he established the Army General Staff College in Langres, France, in 1917 to develop command and staff officers for arriving American units. In the years following the war, measures were taken to formalize a system of leader education spanning from initial entry through the war college, a system that exists to this day. For Pershing, and a great number of leaders who saw firsthand the impact of the “Leavenworth man” during the Great War, the time spent at the Army’s foremost school of application represented the formative educational experience for American officers.
A century later, that appreciation continues for graduates of the Command and General Staff Officer Course. Selection for the resident course at Fort Leavenworth is an indicator of past performance and future potential; it also reflects the first hard “cut line” of a young career. Wherever you go, whatever you do, once you depart the gates of Fort Leavenworth following graduation, there’s no looking back. Everything you learned will be tested, as will you.
There’s a common cliché at Fort Leavenworth (and probably every other staff college around the world): “This is the best year of your life.” While said tongue-in-cheek, the phrase itself is less a reflection on your year of professional military education than a harbinger of what’s to come. How do you prepare for the road ahead? Well, since we’re on the subject, a few time-honored clichés seem only appropriate:
Hit the Ground Running: In the hyper-competitive world of the Iron Major, the stakes are higher and the margin of error almost nonexistent. More than at any time previously in your career, success means hitting the ground running and not slowing down. That translates to showing up physically fit and mentally prepared to work at the field grade level. Read your division and brigade standard operating procedures before you arrive, learn who the key leaders are at every level, and – if you haven’t already – take the time to reach out to your future boss and engage in a professional dialog on duties, responsibilities, and expectations. Once you sign into your gaining unit, make a point to circulate often and get to know “the lay of the land.” Build the network that will support you – and vice versa – in the coming years.
Keep Your Head on a Swivel: It’s not enough to simply “maintain situational awareness” at all times. As a field grade leader, you must evolve that awareness into understanding, and means putting in the effort required to build and sustain that level of understanding. As a company grade leader, you had to grasp the what; as an Iron Major, you need to know the why. That equates to having a firm understanding of the context of what’s going on around you – why the readiness rate is falling, why a deployment date is shifting, why training resources are not available – as well as recognizing what alternatives are available and the risk associated with them.
Take the time to build the personal network mentioned above and you will have the “sensors” in place to maintain your situational understanding.
Complacency Kills: “Making the cut” to attend Fort Leavenworth is only the beginning of what will be a number of similar “cuts” over the coming years as your year group cohort is whittled down to meet Army requirements for promotion, command, and professional education. Complacency is the career killer that waits in the shadows. Never rest on your laurels, never “play the odds” on selection, and never allow yourself to give anything less than your very best. When the time comes to “throw your boots over the wire” you want to make that choice on your terms. Doing so means never becoming complacent.
Break it Down, Barney-Style: As a field grade leader in a battalion or brigade, you will occupy the space between the proverbial “rock” (the commander) and a “hard place” (the company grade leadership). You have the enviable job of simultaneously leading up (helping the commander succeed) and leading down (helping the company leaders succeed). You do this by providing sound advice and recommendations to the command team while ensuring guidance and intent from above is understood and followed below. Keep things simple, keep everyone on the same page. Success follows.
This Ain’t Your First Rodeo: As a field grade leader, the stakes are high and the expectations higher still. When others see an oak leaf, assumptions will naturally follow concerning your experience, knowledge, and wisdom. If you have any career aspirations whatsoever, you cannot afford to fall short of those expectations.
As you embark on your post-Leavenworth journey, take the time to read “Influence without Authority” by Allan Cohen and David Bradford. Few books will better define your field grade years, and no other book will help you as much. Mastering the skills discussed in that book will go a long way toward making your Iron Major time less “burdened.”
Steve Leonard joined the KU School of Business as the Director of the graduate program in Organizational Leadership following a 28-year career in the U.S. Army. A former senior military strategist and the creative force behind the defense microblog, Doctrine Man!!. He is a non-resident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point; the co-founder of the national security blog, Divergent Options, and its sister podcast, The Smell of Victory; co-founder and board member of the Military Writers Guild; and a member of the editorial review board of the Arthur D. Simons Center’s Interagency Journal. He is the author of five books, numerous professional articles, countless blog posts, and is a prolifically bad military cartoonist.
[1]Schifferle, Peter J., America’s School for War: Fort Leavenworth, Officer Education, and Victory in World War II(Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 2010), 11.