SAMS graduates 111 ‘seed planters’



SAMS graduates 111 ‘seed planters’

The U.S. Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) Class of 2023 graduated at 9 a.m., May 25, in Eisenhower Auditorium at the Lewis and Clark Center on Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The class consisted of 95 students graduating from the Advanced Military Studies Program and 16 from the Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies Program. The class also included 17 international officers from nine countries and four federal civilian employees.

Maj. Ryan J. Orsini, Colonel Thomas Felts Leadership Award

Maj. Ryan J. Orsini, Colonel Thomas Felts Leadership Award

Lt. Col. Darin S. Eldersma, U.S. Air Force, Best ASLSP Monograph

Lt. Col. Darin S. Eldersma, U.S. Air Force, Best ASLSP Monograph

Lt. Col. Shane F. Kraft, U.S. Marine Corps, Best AMSP Monograph

Lt. Col. Shane F. Kraft, U.S. Marine Corps, Best AMSP Monograph

Maj. Joanna J. Zemek, U.S. Air Force, Simons Center Interagency Writing Award

Maj. Joanna J. Zemek, U.S. Air Force, Simons Center Interagency Writing Award

Maj. Dustin E. Lawrence, U.S. Army, Iron Leader Award

Maj. Dustin E. Lawrence, U.S. Army, Iron Leader Award

Commander of the Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth and Commandant of the Command and General Staff College Lt. Gen. Milford H. Beagle Jr. was the commencement speaker. Col. Andrew Morgado, the 18th director of SAMS, introduced Beagle.

During his remarks Beagle directed the graduates to reach under their seats to find a card with their name on it. In the card he provided three points for the graduates to take with them into their next assignments. He addressed the three points, expounding on their meaning: Be vocal and have personal courage; Simplify to clarify; and Develop others along the way.

“And my last point,” Beagle added, “You are the Army’s newest seed planters. You will plant seeds and you will not reap the harvest. This is what we classify as good ancestors. You want to be a good ancestor. Plant the seed so that our Army and leaders at multiple levels reap the harvest of critical, creative thinkers who are agile, adaptive and steeped in the knowledge of doctrine and operational art.”

After Beagle’s remarks, he and Morgado, along with CGSC Dean of Academics Dr. Jack Kem, Deputy Provost of Army University Mr. Mike Johnson, and Army University Command Sgt. Maj. Jason C. Porras presented the class awards. SAMS awards are sponsored by the Command and General Staff College Foundation.

Maj. Ryan J. Orsini, U.S. Army, was presented with the Colonel Thomas Felts Leadership Award, considered the top award in SAMS. The award is presented to the student who best exemplifies the desired attributes of an Advanced Military Studies Program graduate. 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.

Lt. Col. Darin S. Eldersma, U.S. Air Force, was presented with the award for the best monograph in the Advanced Strategic Leader Studies Program.

Lt. Col. Shane F. Kraft, U.S. Marine Corps, was presented with the award for the best monograph in the Advanced Military Studies Program.

Maj. Joanna J. Zemek, U.S. Air Force, was presented with the Simons Center Interagency Writing Award for the best monograph focused on interagency cooperation and coordination.

Maj. Dustin E. Lawrence, U.S. Army, won the Iron Leader Award which recognizes the student who scores the highest on the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT).

Maj. Lawrence also accepted the Iron OPT Award on behalf of Seminar 7. The award goes to the seminar with the best weighted balance from key events throughout the academic year, including the team-building “Boat Warz,” the Turkey Bowl, the seminar’s percent of on-time monograph submissions, the seminar’s average oral comp score and average ACFT score.

The Advanced Military Studies Program is a 10-month graduate-level education program to develop innovative and adaptive leaders who excel at operational art. Program graduates apply critical and creative thinking to solve complex problems, demonstrate mastery of joint and Army doctrine, and anticipate the future operational environment.

The Advanced Strategic Leader Studies Program is a Senior Service College program, equivalent to the Army War College, that focuses on planning and executing the full spectrum of unified land operations with government and nongovernmental agencies and international partners. Its students comprise senior lieutenant colonels, colonels and their civilian equivalents. Military class members have typically commanded a battalion-sized unit in the armed services prior to selection for the course.

Graduates of the Advanced Military Studies Program receive a master of arts in military operations, and graduates of the Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies Program receive a master of arts in strategic studies. Degrees are awarded by the Command and General Staff College based on students successfully completing the SAMS curriculum, passing an oral comprehensive exam and successfully completing an extensive monograph based on original research.

Completed monographs are published electronically by the Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library. CGSC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission to award the degrees.

For more photos of the ceremony see the CGSC Flickr Album

Watch video of the complete ceremony on the CGSC Facebook page

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