School of Advanced Military Studies graduates next generation of leaders

(Jessica Brushwood, Army University Public Affairs) The U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies conduct a graduation and academic honors ceremony to recognize its 42nd cohort May 22, 2025, at the Lewis and Clark Center on Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

The school, which “converts intellectual power into combat power,” granted master’s degrees to 129 students representing the total Army, the joint force, 11 allied partner nations, and several federal agencies.

Guest speaker Lt. Gen. Milford H. Beagle, Jr., Commanding General of the Combined Arms Center and Commandant of Command and General Staff College, graduated from SAMS in 2003.

He emphasized the complex challenges that come with a rapidly changing operational environment yet assured the graduates they are now prepared for what comes next.

“I have not met a planner yet, produced through SAMS, who would cringe at any of those problem sets. Thou shall not say that’s a wicked problem without bringing a wicked solution,” Beagle said.

His words of wisdom, taped under each graduate’s seat, touched on three points and concluded with a challenge.

“Leadership is not a position. It is not a rank. It is not a title. It is a choice. Make an impact. Make a difference. Every single day,” Beagle said.

In his remarks, Col. Dwight Domengeaux Jr., director of SAMS, emphasized the graduates will help commanders in the operational force to understand, visualize, describe, direct, lead, and assess operations in a complex environment, and create war-winning solutions, today and into the future.

“The academic year 2025 SAMS graduates from each of the school’s three programs are warrior scholars, preparing to meet the highest priority security needs of our nation and those of our allies,” he said.

Academic rigor and student performance are prioritized at SAMS, demonstrated by highlighting the top 30% among the master’s level programs: Advanced Military Studies and the Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies programs.

Awards were presented for outstanding achievements in the areas of superior leadership, physical fitness, writing, academic excellence, and more.

Awards Presented:

Iron Leader Award – This award is for the highest Army Combat Fitness Test Score. Recipients were Maj. Donald Galatis and Maj. Kaitlyn Hernandez

Iron OPT Award – This award is presented to the best AMSP seminar with the highest cumulative score across several academic and group performance categories and volunteer engagement events throughout the academic year. AMSP Seminar 6 won the 2025 award.

Lt. Col. Michael “Scott” Flurry Award – This award is presented to the top joint service officer in the class for academic excellence, physical fitness and bearing and superior leadership. Maj. Ronald “Ty” Bracken, U.S. Space Force, received this year’s award.

Major General Edwin Harding Award – This award is presented to a faculty member and a student during each SAMS academic year for distinguished published written work in professional military journals. This year’s Harding Award for a faculty member was presented to Dr. Dan Cox. Maj. Joesph Schmid won the student award.

Col. Arthur D. Simons Center Interagency Writing Award – This award is presented to the student with the best monograph focused on an interagency topic. Christine van Oostendorp from the CIA received this year’s award.

Best Advanced Strategic Leader Studies Program Monograph – Col. Roy I. Taylor, United Kingdom

Best Advanced Military Studies Program Monograph – Maj. Matthew R. Gallager

The Col. Thomas Felts Leadership Award for the top AMSP student was presented to Maj. Nicholas Barber, Australia. The award is presented to the student who best exemplifies all the desired attributes of an Advanced Military Studies Program graduate and is considered the top award in SAMS. The award is named in honor of Felts who graduated from the Advanced Military Studies Program in 1998 and the SAMS senior program in 2005. He was killed in action in Iraq in 2006.

The SAMS experience is both enjoyable and intense as described by some of this year’s students.

The 2025 Lt. Col. Michael “Scott” Flurry Award recipient, Maj. Ronald “Ty” Brackin was honored to be selected for the award, reflecting that it would not have been possible without his classmates.

“Our seminar really came together to support and push each other, and my selection is as much a reflection of our seminar as it is anything,” he said. “We all worked hard to make ourselves and our classmates better this year and I am continuously impressed by the men and women representing all of the military branches and interagency partners here at SAMS.

When he enrolled, Maj. Khalid Rodriguez expected to gain tools and methodologies to lead planning teams more effectively.

“The reality of the program not only met but exceeded those expectations,” he said. “The depth of the curriculum, the quality of the tools provided, and the opportunity to put theory into practice far surpassed my initial expectations.”

His role as class leader enhanced his overall experience.

“I applied and further refined critical leadership attributes I developed during my key developmental assignments—specifically, team building, integration, ruthless prioritization, and creating and sustaining effective processes,” Rodriguez said.

Another student in the class, Maj. Claire Brindle, would encourage Soldiers thinking about SAMS to apply.

“This year was probably one of the most transformative of my career thus far,” she shared. “This program equipped me with intellectual tools and operational frameworks necessary to think critically and creatively, plan effectively, and contribute meaningfully at the operational level.”

In addition to the master’s degrees granted in person, nine officers were recognized for completing a doctoral program at a U.S. university through the Advanced Strategic Planning and Policy Program (ASP3), which was founded by Gen. Raymond T. Odierno in 2012.

For more photos see the CGSC Flickr album

View the video of the full ceremony on the CGSC YouTube Channel

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About the School of Advanced Military Studies

The School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), one of four schools in the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, educates select armed forces, interagency and allied members to become critical and creative thinkers, agile and adaptive leaders, and skilled practitioners in doctrine and operational art. The goal of SAMS is to enable senior leaders to drive the operations process to achieve favorable strategic, operational, and tactical outcomes. The School administers three programs:

• The Advanced Military Studies Program (ASMP) is a graduate-level, 11-month program designed for majors, junior lieutenant colonels, select senior warrant officers, and international officers of the armed forces. This is the largest SAMS program and the one that is most typically populated by selected graduates of the Command and General Staff Officers Course (CGSOC) who remain at Fort Leavenworth for a second year of eduction at the Command and General Staff College (CGSC). The program is intended to develop effective planners who engage and enable senior leaders’ understanding of the operational environment further enabling them to visualize and describe viable solutions to complex operational problems. AMSP students are eligible to receive the Master of Arts in Military Operations (MAMO).

• The Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies Program (ASLSP) is a graduate-level, 24-month, senior level (war college) program designed to develop theater level senior leaders and general staff officers. ASLSP graduates are eligible to receive a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies (MASS) and will normally remain for a second year during which they will serve as a seminar leader for AMSP students.

• The Advanced Strategic Planning and Policy Program (ASP3) is a multi-year doctoral-level program for selected field grade officers. The program prepares officers for service as strategic planners through a combination of practical experience, professional military education, and a doctorate from a civilian university of their choice.