Brig. Gen. David Phillips remembers his classmates and instructors from the staff officer course he took in 2006 at Fort Gordon, Georgia.
Phillips, the program executive officer for Aviation, was the commencement speaker last week for the latest graduating class from the four-month staff officer course at the Command and General Staff School, Redstone Arsenal Satellite Campus. Nearly 60 field grade officers from throughout the Army received diplomas at the graduation Aug. 21 in Heiser Hall.
“It’s the course that sets the foundation for the second chapter of your career as an Army officer and as a major,” Phillips said. “And it gives you skills for the challenges ahead.”
When the school needed a commencement speaker, class member Maj. Sean McManus knew who to ask. McManus, a distinguished graduate, was an aviator in the Program Executive Office for Aviation from 2022-24. He emailed the general’s executive officer and coordinated getting Phillips. “He was kind enough to oblige,” said McManus, who is going to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, to become assistant product manager for the Ground Application Program Office in the Special Operations Command.
Maj. Corey King, also in PEO Aviation from 2022-24, was a superior graduate and he is going to Fort Moore, Georgia.
The distinguished honor graduate for the 16-week course was Maj. Jesse Hamilton, a contracting specialist, who will join the 918th Contracting Battalion of the 418th Contracting Support Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado.
“Fine course, good course,” Hamilton, 34, from Smithville, Missouri, said. “Very eye-opening on joint staff principles. And it was nice to be grounded back in the leadership doctrine that we all should know and love.”
Hamilton has been in the Army 11 years. He and his wife of 11 years, Deidra, have a daughter, Raelyn, 8, and a son, Zander, 3.
Distinguished graduates, representing the top 10% of the class, included McManus, Maj. Trent Zubasiak, Maj. Jane Bramel, Maj. Luke Eberle and Maj. Benjamin Young. Superior graduates, the top 30%, included King, Maj. Rich Moreno, Maj. Cliff Parry, Maj. Adam Farrar, Maj. Brian Harris, Maj. Paulina Reilly, Maj. Christian Crevar, Capt. Konrad Dalecki, Maj. Joshua Lindstrom, Maj. Erik Pfaff, Capt. Timothy Roseland and Maj. Jason Sayre.
The staff group leaders presented their class gift to Marvin Nickels, deputy director at the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The gift to the faculty was “We Fought Through,” a print by artist James Dietz, which depicts the heroic actions in the days following the 2nd Ranger companies’ historic scaling of the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc on D-Day.
The Command and General Staff School, at Fort Leavenworth, educates and develops leaders for full spectrum, joint, interagency and multinational operations. The Redstone Arsenal Satellite Campus opened in January 2010; and Joe Judge is the campus director. The other satellite campus is in Fort Belvoir.
Graduates of the Staff Officer Course, class 2024-002 include the following:
Staff Group Alpha: class leader Lt. Col. Matt Westhoff, Capt. Juan Ortega, Capt. Dustin Basinger, Capt. Sean Delorme, Maj. Luke Eberle, Maj. Jesse Hamilton, Maj. Jacques Kassa, Capt. Jeremy Kelly, Maj. Maks Maksimowski, Maj. Rich Moreno, Maj. Cliff Parry, Maj. Troy Preston, Capt. Amanda Pritt and Capt. Paul Shangkuan.
Staff Group Bravo: staff group leader Maj. Pat Wood, Maj. Mike Ashburn, Maj. Marissa Dominguez, Capt. Clark Eggen, Maj. Adam Farrar, Capt. Anthony Godwin, Maj. Brian Harris, Maj. Marshall Howell, Capt. Kevin Kulungowski, Maj. Sean McManus, Capt. Andrew Oddo, Maj. John Pyne, Maj. Paulina Reilly, Maj. J.P. Son, Maj. Jimmie Watson and Maj. Nate Wherley.
Staff Group Charlie: staff group leader Maj. Trent Kubasiak, Capt. Charles Boykin, Maj. Jane Bramel, Maj. Eric Coate, Maj. Christian Crevar, Capt. Konrad Dalecki, Maj. Tim Kloth, Capt. Theodore Landoe, Capt. Judy Gladys Leite, Capt. Hunter Nix, Maj. Robert A. Oliver, Capt. Caleb Ritchey, Maj. John Roberts, Maj. William Wallace, Capt. Rick Warren and Maj. Benjamin Young.
Staff Group Delta: staff group leader Lt. Col. Heather Pomerantz, Maj. Michael Baisa, Maj. Jody Bernard, Maj. Douglas Dorward, Capt. Lloyd Eads, Maj. Stephen Gentry, Maj. Corey King, Maj. Joshua Lindstrom, Maj. Owen Morris, Maj. Erik Pfaff, Maj. Emmanuel Rodriguez, Capt. Timothy Roseland and Maj. Jason Sayre.
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