Foundation supports CGSC elective course to improve leader resiliency

In academic year 2018, the CGSC Foundation had the opportunity to support an academic elective at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College entitled “A710– Total Fitness: The Leader’s Mind, Body, and Spirit.”

According to Matthew Broaddus from CGSC’s Department of Command and Leadership, the A710 course is a series of lessons intended to increase the psychological resilience of students by providing evidence-based instruction and experiences that inspire positive change. The Foundation’s support for this elective course included sponsoring the yoga classes and funding the purchase of three books for students to supplement their professional libraries.

CGSC students in the A710 elective participate in yoga classes at the Leavenworth Yoga Coop in downtown Leavenworth, Kan., during the spring 2018 elective period of CGSOC.

Broaddus passed on a note of thanks to the Foundation from the students and faculty who completed the course in the CGSC Class of 2018.

“The 57 students and three instructors who participated in the course wish to thank the CGSC Foundation,” Broaddus wrote. “Together these educational experiences, which are heavily weighted towards practical application, help our students make meaningful changes in their habitual behaviors that are predictive of greater psychological resilience and more effective leadership. Neither the yoga lesson nor insights gained through these specific books would have been possible without the generous support provided by the CGSC Foundation.”

The three books the Foundation provided for the course are: Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, by John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman; Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity, by Charles Duhigg; and Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol S. Dweck.

One of the CGSC Foundation’s three general areas of support to the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College is “Soldier and Family Support.” This line of support has been a very successful one for the Foundation in terms of attracting sponsors to underwrite the various programs within it, including the summer youth reading programs, support to the international officers and their spouses, scholarships and more.

In February 2018, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Rich Keller, the CGSC Foundation Vice Chair for Military Affairs and leader of the Foundation’s Programs Committee, and Foundation President/CEO Doug Tystad asked the College for input to an expanded family program based on the Foundation’s success with fundraising in this area.

“Our family programs are designed to enrich the lives of our military and their families so support to the A710 elective definitely falls within that mission,” said Tystad. “The Department of Command and Leadership suggested to the committee that we support the A710 elective in those areas that they were unable to get government support. Our hope is that the officers that attended this program will be better leaders that have a positive impact on our units and staffs.”

Recent supporters to the Foundation’s Soldier and Family Support programs include: Pioneer Financial Services; JE Dunn Construction; Northrop Grumman; retired Brig. Gen. Eddie Cain; and a number of individual donors that have directed their support to this program. Tystad stressed that rallying support for this and other programs for the Foundation’s mission is never-ending.

“We’re always looking for new approaches to our mission and new sponsors to help us get there.” Tystad said. “But meanwhile, we’d like to thank all of our volunteers and donors. – Without your help, we can’t do what we do.”