Brig. Gen. John S. Kem, Provost of the Army University and Assistant Commandant of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, recognized 35 faculty members with 44 writing awards for their published scholarly works during a ceremony at the Lewis and Clark Center May 23 at 2 p.m.
"Publishing is a forcing function to improve thinking and make my arguments more concise," said Lt. Col. Brian Steed one of three faculty members to receive the top award in this Golden Pen ceremony. "It is also a way to insert ideas into the broader discussion."
Steed teaches electives on Middle East history and on the roots and conduct of the Global War on Terrorism. He says he has to maintain currency with the issues as they evolve to understand not just what is happening today, but how these events tie back into previous eras. "From where or from what did these problems grow? What were the decisive and critical moments in history that shaped the current events as we see them?" asked Steed. "That takes research to understand."
Fellow Golden Pen awardee Dr. Jon House echoes those sentiments. "No one can be an effective teacher without remaining intellectually active, and that means constantly learning and re-thinking my subject," he said. "I do my research and writing on my off time, but that learning informs everything I do in the classroom. My reading and writing constantly provide examples for class discussions. This is why civilian colleges place such emphasis on publication--it is essential to good education."
The Golden Pen recognizes books or book length works but each of the top awardees also received honors on other categories. Golden Pen awardee Dr. John Curatola explains, "Writing is a "muscle" like anything else. Writing is a skill that atrophies if not utilized, just like your biceps. Writing smaller works not only exercises the "writing muscle" but also trains you to be a more concise and direct writer. This is very helpful when trying to write a larger treatise. Also, writing smaller articles allows you to get into a given topic, enjoy the research and writing, and then moving on to another topic. Writing a book is more like a marathon-it requires long-term attention and interest.
House amplifies the importance of conciseness, "Being able to write a succinct, tight summary or analysis is a real life skill. Various people (Blaise Pascal, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson) have been credited with saying words to the effect of "I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one"--in other words, it was easier to just ramble on than to organize your thoughts, write an outline, and then carefully craft a short, pithy statement. In a military staff," he said, "No superior wants to read five pages of verbiage when the subject could be covered in two paragraphs. Instructors need to model this approach in their own writing, so they can help students write more clearly and succinctly. For example, I advise wordy students to eliminate most adverbs."
One of the objectives of the Golden Pen program is to encourage faculty members to write for scholarly media. Curatola advises "Make writing part of your daily or weekly schedule and have a place established to write and be alone. Also have your available resources (notes, archival materials, secondary sources, etc.) at this location so you can validate and cross reference your materials and ensure your scholarship is accurate." He continues, "Plan to write, outline and refine ideas. Have intermediate goals as you go along. Also, don't be afraid to put your idea out there. If you can find the references to back up your argument, then start putting the proverbial "pen to paper."
House adds, "Tailor your piece to your audience. When writing for a journal, read several articles by that journal, as well as the journal's instructions to potential authors: Write the correct length, use the correct format for references/endnotes, provide illustrations if possible, etc.--in other words, make publication easy for the journal or publisher and eliminate obvious reasons for an editor to reject your submission." He also said, "If your manuscript includes large numbers of quotations and endnotes/ footnotes, paraphrase those quotations, putting things into your own words and saving direct quotation for truly important, perfectly-expressed ideas. The reader probably wants to know what you think, not what Clausewitz thought."
Summing up his writing experience, Steed said "I have published at every rank from first lieutenant until the present with articles, book reviews, and books. Some of the best stuff was published earlier in my life. Knowing that helps me value the contributions of other thinkers and writers regardless of rank or experience. Ideas are not defined by any discriminatory factor of the author," he said. "They are either good or not all on their own. The more I research and write, hopefully the better I think and the more effectively I communicate those thoughts."
Dr. Dave Anderson said "Write, we all have something to share. Do not be intimidated by the publication process. It's not as hard as you think. Just find a researchable topic that interests you--one you can get passionate about--that adds to the body of academic and professional knowledge. The rest will take care of itself. There will always be venues for relevant messages."
Anderson received his 20th Silver Pen award during the ceremony. "I feel a professional obligation to contribute to the body of knowledge," he said. "Research and publishing helps me further develop in my field. It nurtures the development of professional expertise, it helps maintain and/or advance currency and relevancy in my academic field. I enjoy the research process...scratching the itch of intellectual curiosity, possibly promoting some professional debate among colleagues at other institutions and in the operational force."
The Golden Pen program recognizes faculty members for their professional writing. The program is a peer-to-peer recognition with administration of the program and review of submissions conducted by volunteers from the college faculty."
According to William Pugh, program coordinator, 50 volunteers from the CGSC faculty and staff serve on three committees that nominate authors to receive Golden Pen awards. The Deputy Commandant is the approval authority for the awards. Procedures are laid out in a memorandum published by the program coordinator ahead of each meeting of the Golden Pen Award board. Military and Defense civilians employed by CGSC and its affiliated schools and satellite campuses, members of The Army School System battalion and adjunct faculty of CGSC (designated in writing) are eligible to participate in the program.
Awards are given in three levels: Gold, Silver and Bronze. Gold is given for a book or book-length series of articles. Silver is awarded for a chapter of a book, an article, and/or stand-alone monograph that is not part of a degree awarding program. The Bronze Award is given for a short article, undocumented article, encyclopedia article, book review, op-ed piece or letter to the editor, or a body of work consisting of no more than five publications. Eight faculty members received awards in more than one category.
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