The Aug. 18 graduation for the Staff Officer Course of the Command and General Staff School represented the last for the outgoing Redstone campus director.
Clay Newton is retiring Aug. 31 after eight years at the helm.
Newton, 65, from Howell, Michigan, retired from the Army as a colonel in 2010 and served 13 years as a civilian with the school, the past eight as campus director. Altogether he culminates 38 years of service.
“After serving as both a faculty member teaching logistics and the service as campus director for the last eight years, it’s really been a privilege and an honor to be part of an organization that’s had such an impact on the careers of over 2,000 Army officers over that eight years,” Newton said. “After retiring from active duty in 2010, I was searching for a way that I could give back to the Army in some way and serving with the Command and General Staff School has been an honor and has been professionally rewarding being around young, energetic and enthusiastic officers from across all branches of the Army. So, today as I start my retirement, I depart knowing that the Army is in good hands.”
Newton is retiring to York, Pennsylvania, where he owns a home. He and his wife of 41 years, Debbie, have two daughters – Lindsay of Montrose, West Virginia, and Emily Gerlach of Lancaster, Pennsylvania – and a son, Matthew, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Joe Judge, also a retired colonel, succeeds him as the campus director. Judge has been with the Redstone school since it opened 13 years ago and was among the professors of the joint interagency multinational operations department.
“Up until now, I’ve been mentoring students and loving it,” Judge said. “Now I get a chance to help mentor professors as they mentor students.”
The newest top graduate from the Staff Officer Course is back home in Clarksville, Tennessee, in time for his wedding anniversary and his son’s birthday.
Capt. John Lamey was the distinguished honor graduate from the Command and General Staff School’s Staff Officer Course class 2023-002. Fifty-four field grade officers, plus one civilian, from throughout the Army graduated from the 16-week course in the Aug. 18 morning ceremony before faculty, friends and family members.
A military police officer, Lamey is assistant professor of military science at Austin Peay State University in nearby Clarksville. He has been in the Army 10 years and returns to Austin Peay for his third academic year. He expects to receive his next duty assignment in 2024.
Lamey, 32, from Eagan, Minnesota, and his wife, Rachel, will celebrate their ninth anniversary on Aug. 30. Their son, Jacob, 3, will turn 4 in September.
“It was a good broadening experience for me,” he said of the course. “I feel it filled a lot of knowledge gaps that I had in terms of multinational joint operations and prepared me to return to the force as an organizational leader.”
The other distinguished graduates, top 10% of the class, included Maj. Stacey Bateman, Maj. Kyle Carberry, Maj. Nathan Riehl and Maj. Kyle Holtkamp.
Commencement speaker Maj. Gen. David Wilson, commander of the Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island, Illinois, congratulated all the graduates and described the significance of their achievement.
“I know what you’ve accomplished in this course wasn’t easy, but it was a necessary achievement for your career success,” Wilson said.
The Command and General Staff School, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, educates and develops leaders for full spectrum, joint, interagency and multinational operations. The Redstone Arsenal Satellite Campus opened in January 2010. The other satellite campus is in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Graduates of the Staff Officer Course, class 2023-002, include the following:
Staff Group Alpha: class leader Lt. Col. Tyson Sjulin, staff group leader Maj. Kevin Coble, Maj. Yezan Alserhan, Maj. Christopher Bennett, Maj. Joshua Brandon, Dr. Juanetta Brent, Capt. Frantz Dorsainvil, Maj. Richard Geiger, Capt. John Lamey, Maj. Kevin McFerrin, Capt. Ronald Ramsey, Maj. Tia Rhodes, Maj. Erik Robertson, Maj. Katherine Schnepper
Staff Group Bravo: staff group leader Lt. Col. Casey Danielson, Maj. John Burke, Capt. William Comstock, Maj. Mark Espiritu, Maj. Joshua Goetting, Maj. Brian Marquez, Maj. Susan Mason, Capt. Carlos Melendez, Maj. Bradley Olsen, Maj. Sean Quinn, Maj. Timothy Ray, Maj. Trevor Roberts, Maj. Demetrius Threadgill
Staff Group Charlie: staff group leader Maj. Stacey Bateman, Maj. Gbenga Adigun, Maj. William Bland, Maj. Kyle Carberry, Maj. Sean Gates, Maj. Brendan Georgas, Capt. Michael Hileman, Maj. Michelle Liebel-Salopek, Capt. Hector Mendez, Maj. Daniel Rendleman, Maj. Nathan Riehl, Maj. Joseph Robinson, Maj. Lindsay Roman, Maj. Bill Zarwolo, Maj. James Ziwak
Staff Group Delta: staff group leader Maj. Hannah Purkey, Maj. Popi Begum, Capt. Lee Hilpert, Maj. Charles Hodge, Maj. Kyle Holtkamp, Maj. Matthew Huff, Capt. Nigens Metellus, Maj. Simina Moldovan, Capt. Rodnerus Palmer, Maj. Godfrey Pestana, Maj. Zachary Slone, Capt. Melody Thompson, Maj. Anthony Threet
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