Preparing Field Grade Officers for Joint Staff Assignments

<p>Publication of Another Crossroads? Professional Military Education Two Decades After the Goldwater-Nichols Act and the Skelton Panel by the House Armed Service Committee calls into question the ability of our current Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) system to prepare officers to serve in joint duty assignments. This paper examines the joint education field grade officers receive in preparation for joint duty assignments. In this regard the main areas for examination include the curriculum and the student and faculty composition at the Army Command and General Staff College's Intermediate Level Education (ILE) the Army's delivery method for JPME Phase I. However in order to sufficiently understand how ILE fits into the continuum of joint education it is necessary to examine the timing of ILE in relation to the rest of an officer's joint education. Additionally it is important to determine how the timing of the education links to the assignment of officers to joint duty assignments. While the joint education provided to field grade officers is basically sound there are significant areas for improvement that begin with precommissioning and continue through the intermediate level. First joint education needs to begin much earlier in an officer's career in order to prepare officers for not only joint duty assignments but also better prepare them for the rest of their joint education. Additionally the curriculum at ILE while ensuring it adapts to the continually changing joint operating environment must continue to focus on the enduring subject matter necessary to prepare officers for joint duty assignments. Finally a diverse and quality student body and faculty are crucial to the success of joint education at any level.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>