FOUNDATION NEWS, No. 4/Winter 2008 (March 2008)
CEO Corner--
Why CGSC needs a supporting foundation
Col. Bob Ulin, U.S. Army, Ret.
I’m going to take some additional space in this issue to make the case for the necessity of this foundation. One question that comes to mind for some donors is “Why does a government supported college need a foundation?” That’s a fair question that deserves an answer. As most of you know public universities are also government supported. I was surprised to find out that Kansas State University only receives 26 percent of its budget from the state and must raise the remainder through tuition, grants, and alumni. Clearly, CGSC is not in that position. I suspect that CGSC receives most of what it needs to provide a good baseline of support. It’s the level and sustainability of that baseline that should concern us.
Our core function is to provide the margin of excellence for the programs and activities at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College beyond that provided for by government funding. To do this we provide funds to attract distinguished visiting professors from top universities to contribute their expertise to our faculty and students. We provide support for awards for excellence in scholarship, teaching and research and we support conferences, seminars and symposia to help advance the study of military art and science. We also contribute to the outreach activities of CGSC to inform the public of the And, we help the college in areas not supported by appropriated funds but essential to establish and maintain the academic excellence and rigor required of any top academic institution. We do all of this for one reason: to ensure the best possible education for the leaders of the sons and daughters of our great nation so they may prevail on the complex battlefields of the 21st century and beyond.
We have all experienced lean times. In our profession when wars end budgets are cut and the clamor for the “peace dividend” manifests itself. I recall a time shortly after the Vietnam War while serving on the CGSC faculty we had no money for travel and the supply cabinet was bare. And, those of us in government know only too well that the end of the fiscal year usually results in belt-tightening to survive supplemental appropriations that limit travel, prohibit new contracts, and usually disrupt programmed activities.
Way back in 1969 some thoughtful folks at the Army War College and the Naval War College decided they needed a more predictable source of revenue for their respective schools to help them through the lean times. They formed nonprofit foundations that have now matured and are providing tremendous additional support to help their schools develop and maintain excellence in their faculty, programs, and activities. I’m not sure why our predecessors at CGSC did not foresee this need back in 1969 but as we look to the future we realize that the end of the current conflict will probably result in significant funding reductions. Clearly, the budget cutters are sharpening their axe and once again the Army school system may well become a bill-payer because of the need to modernize and refit the force. If we are to preserve and sustain the quality programs at CGSC and realize the goal of making the College a national Center of Excellence for Leader Development then we must act now to develop the capacity to lend needed support.
Having served abroad for 20 years of my 30-year career, I was always impressed by how the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College is viewed by foreign armies. If there is a Gold Standard in professional military education, CGSC is it. Often referred to as “Leavenworth Grads,” our international alumni (over 7,000 at last count from 153 countries) proudly wear their CGSC badge, hold reunions of fellow graduates around the world and maintain active correspondence with their military and civilian sponsors back “home” in Leavenworth and Kansas City. There is another dimension of being a Leavenworth grad and that is best illustrated by our chairman, Lt. Gen. Bob Arter, noting that he often wonders how many conflicts have been averted by Leavenworth Grads picking up the phone and working peacefully through their differences—one may never know.
But the importance of CGSC to the U.S. Army and the nation is the most important factor. The U.S. Army CGSC graduates more students each year than all the other service staff colleges combined. Whereas CGSC used to be an exclusive club for the top 50 percent of the Army officer corps, now every officer must attend the Intermediate Level of Education (ILE) course offered at Fort Leavenworth, at one of our satellite campuses, or via the distance education program offered through the World Wide Web. ILE is designed to educate field grade officers for the next 10 years of their career. This is critical in the 21st century since warfare spans the spectrum from guerilla warfare on one end to thermo-nuclear warfare on the other. Consequently, our officers must be educated broadly and taught how to think, not what to think. General George Casey, our Chief of Staff, said we are now in the age of persistent conflict where the challenges and threats are multi-faceted. He is keenly aware that the end of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan will not be the last or perhaps not even the most challenging we may be called upon to deal with in the future.
Former Chief of Staff, General Gordon Sullivan refers to CGSC as “the intellectual heart of the Army” and General David Petraeus calls CGSC “a true national asset.” He said that CGSC “has become one of our military’s most respected centers of professional military study and inquiry. In recent years, in particular, it has served as one of our Army’s most important agents of change….” Maintaining the intellectual edge and remaining relevant now and in the future will become a challenge when the budget cutters in Congress have their way.
Congressman John Murtha, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, noting that funding for FCS (Future Combat Systems) was in doubt said, “As soon as this war is over, the money is going to dry up.” While he was referring to FCS, the implication for the entire Army is clear—lean times ahead. We should not be surprised. The end of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War ushered in hard times for all the services where we struggled to remain relevant and ready for the next engagement. Remember the cry after the Korean War, “No more Task Force Smiths” and recall former Chief of Staff General Edward C. Meyer’s warning of a “hollow Army” in the years following the end of the Vietnam War.
The creation of a large and secure endowment for the CGSC Foundation will serve two key functions, it will provide the margin of excellence to the programs and activities of the College today and it will provide a shock absorber to help the College work through lean times in the future. CGSC must remain relevant throughout the 21st century educating commanders and staff officers to lead America’s sons and daughters in peace and war. There is no higher calling. Your Foundation must have the capacity to help the College fulfill its critically important mission.
