Redstone Staff Officer Graduates At Top Of His Class

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Maj. Joe Davis didn't have to travel far for a training course that will have far-reaching impact on his career.

Davis, an experimental test pilot in the Aviation Flight Test Directorate at the Redstone Test Center, was the Distinguished Military Graduate of the Command and General Staff Officer Course class of 2013 03. The four-month course was taught at the Command and General Staff School, Redstone Arsenal Satellite Campus. More than 60 majors from throughout the Army received their diplomas at the graduation ceremony Dec. 20 at Heiser Hall.

"It's an outstanding course and the instructors and staff are highly professional and committed to teaching," Davis, 38, from Birmingham, said. "It is a bridge between company level leadership and organizational level leadership. So it's preparing us for the next 10 years as military officers."

He has been at RTC for three of his 17 years in the Army.

"We're very proud of Maj. Joe Davis and his achievements," Lt. Col. Richard Bratt, commander of the Aviation Flight Test Directorate, said. "He's a tremendous officer and a phenomenal experimental test pilot."

The graduates heard from guest speaker Col. Kevin Nash, deputy chief of staff, G-3, for the Army Contracting Command. His advice included taking care of their personal fitness, having balance in their lives, becoming experts in their assigned fields and making an effort to care about other people. "Best of luck in your future assignments," he said.

Ten graduates completed the course by either distance learning or at another satellite campus closer to their home station, according to campus director Mary Goodwin.

Maj. John McGee, 35, from Muncy, Pa., and Maj. Jim Ianitelli, 34, from Clinton Township, Mich., both traveled from Detroit Arsenal where they're assigned to Mine Resistant Ambush Protected or MRAP.

"It was a very good course," McGee said, "gave a good in-depth overview of joint and Army operations and prepared us for the next 10 years of military service."

Said Ianitelli, "It was an excellent course. It was put together very well. It brought together a very diverse group from across the Army. We were able to learn from each other. I think it's really great that we bring all these field grade officers together for a course like this. By bringing everyone together like this we were able to learn as much from each other as we did from the curriculum -- very beneficial."

Col. Drew Meyerowich, director of the Command and General Staff School, received the class gift, a print of the Don Stivers' lithograph "A Time to Heal." It depicted two World War II medics treating Germans as well as Americans wounded in a battle. Their dilemma, which actually occurred during the war, was part of the leadership and ethics discussion during the course. The medics chose to violate their commander's order not to treat enemy wounded.

The class gift was presented by student leaders Maj. Mike Pagel of staff group Alpha, Lt. Col. David Song of staff group Bravo, Lt. Col. Patrick Birchfield of staff group Charlie and Maj. Ronny Bigham of staff group Delta.

The Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., educates and develops leaders for full spectrum joint, interagency and multinational operations. The Redstone Arsenal Satellite Campus began in January 2010.

Graduates of the Command and General Staff Officer Course class of 2013 03 included the following:

Staff group Alpha: Maj. Mike Pagel, Maj. Timothy Bennett, Maj. Forrest Black, Maj. Jonathan Brown, Maj. Alexander Chavez, Maj. Kristopher Christl, Maj. Jason Critzer, Maj. Joe Davis, Maj. Ryan Godbee, Maj. Jim Ianitelli, Maj. Sara Kimsey, Maj. Marilyn Macalos, Maj. Andrew Marsh, Maj. John McGee, Maj. Curt Schultheis and Maj. Brock Benedict.

Staff group Bravo: Lt. Col. David Song, Maj. David Bergmann, Maj. Voyed Couey, Maj. Scott Davis, Maj. Jeffrey Dupree, Maj. Haneda Garner, Maj. Matthew Gill, Maj. Timothy Hines, Maj. Philip Johnson, Maj. Curtis Madsen, Maj. Ray McCulloch, Maj. Bradley Shearer, Maj. Susan Spiak, Maj. Christopher Thomas and Maj. Philip Royer.

Staff group Charlie: Lt. Col. Neil Morey, Lt. Col. Patrick Birchfield, Maj. Timothy Bracken, Maj. Evan Chung, Maj. Jennie Conion, Maj. Justin Daubert, Maj. Mark Folkerts, Maj. Renina Miller, Maj. John Nelson, Maj. Aaron Sarver, Maj. Spencer Timmons, Maj. Mark Wimmer, Maj. Kevin /Murnyack and Maj. Chad Watts.

Staff group Delta: Maj. Ronny Bigham, Maj. Marshall Cooper, Maj. Jennifer Cummings, Chaplain (Maj.) J. Nathan Kline, Maj. Eric Kuenke, Maj. Clayton Manning, Maj. Scott McCullough, Maj. Liliu Moody, Maj. Brian Moran, Maj. Daniel Ostrowski, Maj. Drenna Thompson, Maj. Robert L. Tindall, Maj. Milton R. Ware, Maj. Scott Weeman, Maj. David Williams and Maj. James A. Watts.