Command and General Staff College graduates ILE Class

By Joseph Smallwood, CGSC Public AffairsDecember 12, 2008

Chiarelli guest speaker at CGSC Graduation
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

(FORT LEAVENWORTH, KS) The Combined Arms Center's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth conducted graduation ceremonies for nearly 300 officers attending the Intermediate Level Education program on Dec 12 at 10 a.m. in Eisenhower Auditorium of the Lewis and Clark Center. Guest speaker was Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.

In his address to the students, Chiarelli focused on the need for collaboration between the organizations represented in the graduating class. "I see collaboration as the most powerful tool we can bring to the fight," he said.

To bridge the conventional warfare of yesterday with the full-spectrum operations of today and tomorrow, he challenged students to remain mentally and emotionally agile by leveraging emerging technologies and mediums. "Like Patton and Eisenhower were before you, be pioneers of original and creative thought," he said. As an intellectual agent for change, the Combined Arms Center and CGSC were commended repeatedly by Chiarelli in his remarks for both the quality of new doctrine and agility of student graduates.

Special honors were awarded to 11 students, including recipients of the course's most prestigious honors: Major Joseph A. Jackson, the General George C. Marshall Award; and Australian Major Richard Mogg, the General Dwight D. Eisenhower Award.

The 10-month Intermediate Level Education course is designed to develop warfighting and adaptive leadership skills necessary for military officers to be proficient in full spectrum operations. There were about 250 U.S. and 41 international officers who graduated during the ceremony.

For more information about the ceremony, including a full listing of award recipients, please visit the CGSC Class 08-02 Website at http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/index.asp or call CGSC Public Affairs at 913-684-3097, email LEAVCGSCPAO@conus.army.mil.