FOUNDATION NEWS, No. 2/Fall 2007 (October 2007)
New award approved for outstanding thesis
By Robert Baumann, Ph.D.
The U.S. Army Command and General Staff College recently approved a new
award that will be presented to a CGSC student each year for the best
thesis for the Master of Military Art and Science Program. The award is
named for two long-serving faculty members, Doctors Ivan Birrer and
Philip Brookes and is sponsored by the CGSC Foundation.
Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Birrer and Dr. Brookes over the years, the
Master of Military Art and Science Degree program fulfilled the Army’s
mandate to serve two purposes: to develop a cadre of competent
researchers with polished analytical skills, and to facilitate the
dissemination of relevant studies to members of the military profession.
Dr. Ivan Birrer’s service at the College extended from January 1948 to
June 1978. Birrer served in the U.S. Army during World War Two, during
which time he also graduated from CGSC. In July 1949 he was designated
as the Commandant’s Educational Advisor, a title he held until 1974
when at the behest of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
(TRADOC) he was re-designated as Director, Graduate Degree Programs. In
the 1960’s and 1970’s Birrer became a
principal player in the conceptualization, authorization, and eventual
accreditation of the MMAS Program. Together with General Harold K.
Johnson, then Commandant at CGSC, Birrer helped design the MMAS concept
in the early 1960’s.
Dr. Philip Brookes’ service at CGSC extended from July 1975 to June
2003. Beginning his career as a one-man writing department for the
College, Brookes succeeded Dr. Birrer as the Director, Graduate Degree
Programs in 1978. Among other things, his duties included managing an
array of cooperative degree programs between CGSC and civilian
universities that flourished until the late 1990’s when the Army
concluded that leaving CGSOC graduates in residence for a second year
in order to earn a master’s degree was no longer practical. In the
meantime, his primary responsibilities were to advise the Commandant
and Deputy Commandant on educational matters and to direct the MMAS
program. On Brookes’ watch, the number of CGSOC students annually
earning the MMAS degree grew from about 30 to more than 100. In
addition, with the creation of the School of Advanced Military Studies
in the 1980’s, Brookes administered the creation of a second MMAS
Program that has since expanded to award as many as 90 degrees
annually.
The Birrer-Brooks Award will be presented at the CGSC graduation.
