Honored tradition opens CGSOC Class of 2026 academic year

(Army University Public Affairs) Flags representing 92 nations were marched across the stage of Eisenhower Auditorium and posted Aug. 11, 2025, in an International Flag Ceremony that marks the beginning of the Command and General Staff Officers Course (CGSOC) Class of 2026 at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC).

The international flags represent the 120 International Military Students who will join more than 900 U.S. service members and civilians for the next 10 months in learning to be adaptive, decisive leaders of warfighters.

This year, a Cabo Verde flag was added to the display, marking the first time the nation has sent a student to America’s “School for War.”

Before giving the order to post the colors marking the beginning of the academic year, Col. Ethan Diven, Deputy Commandant, CGSC, spoke to the professional and personal journey each student in attendance was about to begin.

“You come from different nations, different cultures, and different histories. But what unites all of us here today is not uniformity but rather, conviction,” he said. “Each of you are here, not because you were told to believe in something, but because you chose to. That is the genius of the national ideal. That free people, acting freely, can stand together and shape history.”

International military education at Fort Leavenworth began in 1894.

Since then, more than 8,700 IMS from nearly 170 countries have attended classes alongside their U. S. counterparts.

International students provide cultural and national insight to classroom discussions even the most innovative curriculum cannot provide. The 120 international students representing 92 countries, contribute to the 2026 CGSOC class that totals 966 students including mid-career officers from all branches of the U.S. armed forces, including Space Force and Coast Guard, and four interagency civilians.

This year’s class marks the first to learn through a re-imagined professional military education model developed by Command and General Staff School.

Recent professional military education transformation puts the student at the center of a threaded curriculum delivery method.

This method ties current events, lessons learned, hands-on leadership lessons, and an innovative complexity tool kit together.

This threaded delivery ensures field grade officer alumni are prepared to provide creative, critical, and agile leadership for the next 10 years of their careers with an emphasis on corps and division level execution.

The modernization of PME reflects the deliberate actions of CGSOC faculty to match the speed of transformation set by the force.

At the end of what is called “the Best Year of their Life,” CGSOC graduates are expected to emerge masters of the ever changing operational environment, with the creative and critical thinking skills to lead corps and division level formations in multi-domain engagements.

After the flag ceremony, Dr. David Cotter, CGSC’s dean of academics, and CGSC Commandant Lt. Gen. Milford H. Beagle, Jr., presented College chairs to the college’s 2025 Educators of the Year: Military Instructor of the Year Lt. Col. Marc-Andre Walther and Civilian Instructor of the Year Mr. Todd Ebel. The CGSC Foundation sponsors the instructor of the year awards.

Beagle then addressed the new class as part of the traditional kick-off of a new academic year.

For more photos see the CGSC Flickr album

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

For more photos of the flag ceremony see the CGSC Foundation Flickr album

For more photos of the 2025 Instructors of the Year awards see the CGSC Foundation Flickr album