Joint Professional Military Education 1999

This research examined the evolution of joint education at the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from the days before the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 to today (1999). Analysis led to recommendations to improve joint education at the intermediate Service school level throughout the Armed Forces. Analysis indicated that the US Army Command and General Staff College was meeting, and oftentimes, exceeding the minimum requirements for joint education as dictated by law and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff policy. The author proposes changes to the officer education architecture to increase the number of officers fully educated in joint matters and to improve the quality of joint education. Recommendations include: a unified intermediate Service school curriculum throughout all the Service colleges, an even mix of Service representation in both student staff groups and faculty at all schools, and the changing of the intermediate Service school focus from a Service-oriented education with some joint education to a joint education with some Service education.