About the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
The U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) mission is to educate, train and develop leaders for Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) and Joint All-Domain Operations (JADO) in a joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational (JIIM) operational environment; and to advance the art and science of the Profession of Arms in support of Army operational requirements.
Since its inception in 1881 as the School of Application for Infantry and Cavalry, the Command and General Staff College has evolved to meet the educational and operational needs of the United States Army. Today, CGSC is more than an Army school – we are a Joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational College, accredited by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to provide Joint Professional Military Education, and by the Higher Learning Commission to grant a Master of Military Art and Science degree to qualified graduates in three of CGSC’s fourteen academic programs. The Command and General Staff College is a subordinate organization of Army University.
CGSC is Comprised of Four Schools
Command and General Staff School (CGSS)
(Out of old habits many still refer to this school as CGSC). CGSS provides masters-level curriculum and instruction to nearly 5000 U.S. Army Majors, Sister Service, and interagency personnel annually, by way of the Command and General Staff Officer Course (CGSOC). CGSS’s mission is to educate field grade officers to be agile, innovative, and adaptive leaders within increasingly complex and uncertain environments. Contemporary field grade officers are those who communicate effectively, think critically, and are able to build and lead organizations under mission command in Unified Land Operations. This education prepares officers for the next 5-10 years of their career. CGSOC is primarily taught at Fort Leavenworth, but some Army majors receive CGSOC instruction at one of the three satellite and blended campuses: Fort Belvoir, Va.; Redstone Arsenal, Ala.; or Fort Leavenworth. Additionally, about 8,000 students each year, primarily Guard and Reserve, receive CGSOC instruction via the internet through CGSS’s Department of Distance Education.
CGSOC graduates are eligible to receive either a Master in Military Art and Science (MMAS) or Masters in Operational Studies (MOS) depending on their individual elective selections and other requirements.
School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS)
SAMS 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 School administers three programs:
1) The Advanced Military Studies Program (AMSP), a second year (beyond CGSOC) of intermediate, master’s level education for majors and junior lieutenant colonels. AMSP students are eligible to receive the Master of Arts in Military Operations (MAMO).
2) The Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies Program (ASLSP), a 24-month senior level war college program designed to develop theater-level senior leaders and general staff officers for positions of significant responsibility, including strategic thinkers and planners to serve in combatant commands, Joint Task Forces (JTF) and other four-star headquarters. 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.
3) The Advanced Strategic Planning and Policy Program (ASP3), a multi-year program that prepares field-grade officers for service as strategic planners through a combination of practical experience, senior level professional military education, and a doctorate from a civilian university in a field of study related to strategy to produce broadly networked leaders with strategic acumen, skills, and credentials.
School for Command Preparation (SCP)
The School for Command Preparation (SCP) conducts resident courses at Fort Leavenworth and synchronizes the Army’s Command Team Preparation Programs in order to provide formations with competent, committed leaders of character prepared to lead change, win in Multi-Domain Operations, and ready to meet the Army’s 21st Century challenges. SCP courses, which are from one to four weeks long, provide education and preparation for colonels, lieutenant colonels, command sergeants major and their spouses selected for battalion and brigade levels of command.
Sergeants Major Course (SMC)
The Sergeants Major Course (SMC), formerly known as the Sergeants Major Academy (SGM-A), at Fort Bliss, Texas, became CGSC’s fourth school and a branch campus in March 2018. Each year, the SMC offers the ten-month resident course to senior U.S. and international noncommissioned officers, and the twelve-month distance learning course to another Army Reserve and National Guard NCOs around the world. In 2019, CGSC received Higher Learning Commission (HLC) authority and Department of the Army approval to offer a Bachelor or Arts in Leadership and Workforce Development to eligible graduates of the Sergeants Major Course.
CGSC is a fully accredited college by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. CGSC provides graduate level instruction and offers a master’s degree program through the CGSS and the SAMS courses to officers who elect to enroll in the program of study. As with any graduate program the requirements for a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences are demanding.
CGSC is led by a commandant, a deputy commandant, and a command sergeant major, as one of the five colleges in Army University, but also includes a collegiate structure under the CGSC Dean of Academics.
