getting it right

military education

AMB James Smith will discuss current trends at work in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, 19 July between 5-6 pm Eastern. The link is below. As I discussed earlier this week, AMB Smith has held an array of interesting national security positions and, as President Obama’s representative to the Kingdom, interacted frequently with the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. I recommend this session highly.

I spent today at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. for two meetings. The first was at the National War College where graduation a fortnight ago today put 209 or so folks, schooled in strategic thinking, into the national security communities around the world to help their nations develop and execute strategies. Obviously, the United States values our gradautes to include those students from allied and partnering nations with whom we expect to share activities, views, and strategies in the future. No students were in the building today as the Class of 2024 will report on 7 August, merely 8 weeks after their predecessors marked across the stage to get their graduate degrees and shake General Mark Milley’s hand.

It takes a lot of preparation to execute the curriculum at the War College or any of the joint professional military education (JPME) establishments around the world. It is a rigourous preparation sequence because so many evaluations provide feedback on what military education needs to accomplish. JPME schools in the United States also face the dual requirements of the civilian accreditors (in National’s case, that is the Middle States Commission on Higher Education which oversees the schools from the District and beyond to the north) and the Joint Education and Doctrine Directorate of the Joint Staff, known colloquially as the J-7.

Military education is something the United States values greatly as we entrust our officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted personnel with great responsibility. We have back to Thomas Jefferson commissioning the U.S. Military Academy at West Point developed a series of schools with rather specific objectives but also broad inculcation of values on behalf of the nation. Joint Professional Military Education is for officers.

Contrary to the myths of the Vietnam era when many mischaracterisations occurred, those in uniform in the United States are anything but ‘knuckle-draggers’. They have a wide variety of political views but teach take an oath to the Constitution of the United States as do any federal employees at all. Easily the most serious students I experienced in six different academic settings (my learning and teaching post-secondary institutions here and in the United Kingdom) were in JPME because these people both defend the nation and lead others in harm’s way. All have undergraduate degrees, most already have masters’ degrees (often multiple degrees) and terminal degrees are not uncommon.

No one in uniform takes on that weighty obligation without seriousness of purpose. Indeed, the oath officers swear upon receiving their commissions or promotions to a higher rank includes the sentence ‘I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion’ to remind the individual this is a voluntary act the individual chooses to accept. Education helps with that seriousness, requiring a payback period upon completing the degree so the taxpayer is not merely educating someone who then leaves for something else. This JPME is to sow logic and thinking into the Force.

Military education is both necessary for a more prepared officer (and service) and also an incentive for retention. Today’s military indeed finds retention a challenge as the contrasting demands and opportunities of twenty-first century life disincentivises a military career to many.

The education is a fascinating balancing act for any institution because the increasing demands on officers’ time go beyond learning objectives. The higher anyone goes in rank, the more each needs leadership appreciation, knowledge of their particular expertise within the Service, the role the Service contributes to the Force, the linkages across the Joint Force, broader understanding of specific topics relevant to contemporary political-military events, grasp of national documents such as the National Defense or National Security Strategies, and other aspects of their military careers. Additionally, the J-7 determines specific requirements they must meet such as warfighting; some of those specifics appear in U.S. law while other objectives appear in the Officer Professional Military Education Policy (less than affectionately called the OPMEP) issued by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on a regular basis. The Chairman assigns each JPME institution specific learning objectives for a graduate to know when she or he assume specific jobs designated as Joint positions. On-the-job training doesn’t work well during conflict so this opportunity is essential. Without holding one of those Joint positions at some juncture in her career, an officer cannot achieve Flag or General Officer rank.

Then the education the JPME schools offer is also put into the learning experience. JPME today is a 10 month opportunity rather than a two year master’s program. The intensity of the program becomes a back breaker for many students in their initial weeks as they find the move from 16-18 hour days in their operational jobs into the classroom far harder than they expect because the seminar experience allows no one to hide or be unprepared.

Faculty revise the curriculum annually, with learning objectives revalidated regularly, but occasionally the real world encourages (or forces) change on the fly. Even with those changes, meeting the range of required objectives to satisfy the civilian and military accreditors is an on-going process.

Traditional civilian universities generally have at least 12 weeks, often more, between the end of the spring term and convocation in the fall, allowing faculty the opportunity to research to their heart’s content and revise their curricula in a somewhat leisurely manner. The federal employees who teach in the JPME system must accomplish those activities in a shorter period along with mandatory faculty programs to help bring new faculty into the system annually.

It’s no wonder the hallways were quiet in Roosevelt today but a mere three weeks from now that will not be the case as newbie faculty arrive on about 10 July. At that point, the entire cycle begins anew for the next year.

It’s seductive to assume this is all proforma but the U.S. JPME system remains the gold standard around the world. Whatever one thinks of various decisions our political leaders take on our behalf, it’s a remarkable education we offer our officers to think logically, coherently, and creatively to execute the missions they receive. I only wish the policy makers took as much time to understand all of the steps as the JPME students get the opportunity do absorb.FIN

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The entire oath for an officer is

"I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the _____ (Military Branch) of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God." retrieved from military.com at https://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/swearing-in-for-military-service.html

Cynthia Watson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Timely Topic: AMB James Smith on Saudi Arabia

Time: Jul 19, 2023 05:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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