School of Advanced Military Studies Graduates Next Generation of Leaders

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kansas - The U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies held a graduation and academic honors ceremony to recognize its 42nd cohort May 22, 2025, at the Lewis & Clark Center on Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

The school, which “converts intellectual power into combat power,” granted master’s degrees to 129 students representing the total Army, the joint force, 11 allied partner nations, and several federal agencies.

Guest speaker Lt. Gen. Milford H. Beagle, Jr., Commanding General of the Combined Arms Center and Commandant of Command and General Staff College, graduated from SAMS in 2003.

He emphasized the complex challenges that come with a rapidly changing operational environment yet assured the graduates they are now prepared for what comes next.

“I have not met a planner yet, produced through SAMS, who would cringe at any of those problem sets. Thou shall not say that’s a wicked problem without bringing a wicked solution,” Beagle said.

His words of wisdom, taped under each graduate’s seat, touched on three points and concluded with a challenge.

“Leadership is not a position. It is not a rank. It is not a title. It is a choice. Make an impact. Make a difference. Every single day,” Beagle said.

In his remarks, Col. Dwight Domengeaux Jr, director, SAMS emphasized the graduates will help commanders in the operational force to understand, visualize, describe, direct, lead, and assess operations in a complex environment, and create war-winning solutions, today and into the future.

“The academic year 2025 SAMS graduates from each of the school’s three programs are warrior scholars, preparing to meet the highest priority security needs of our nation and those of our allies,” he said.

Academic rigor and student performance are prioritized at SAMS, demonstrated by highlighting the top 30% among the master’s level programs: Advanced Military Studies and the Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies programs.

Awards were presented for outstanding achievements in the areas of superior leadership, physical fitness, writing, academic excellence, and more.

The 2025 Lt. Col. Michael “Scott” Flurry Award recipient, Maj. Ronald “Ty” Brackin was honored to be selected for the award, reflecting that it would not have been possible without his classmates.

“Our seminar really came together to support and push each other, and my selection is as much a reflection of our seminar as it is anything,” he said. “We all worked hard to make ourselves and our classmates better this year and I am continuously impressed by the men and women representing all of the military branches and interagency partners here at SAMS.

Other awards included the Iron Award, the Iron OPT Award, the Maj. Gen. Edwin Harding Faculty and Student Awards, the Interagency Writing Award, Class Monograph Awards, and the Col. Thomas Felts Leadership Award.

When he enrolled, Maj. Khalid Rodriguez expected to gain tools and methodologies to lead planning teams more effectively.

“The reality of the program not only met but exceeded those expectations,” he said. “The depth of the curriculum, the quality of the tools provided, and the opportunity to put theory into practice far surpassed my initial expectations.”

His role as class leader enhanced his overall experience.

“I applied and further refined critical leadership attributes I developed during my key developmental assignments—specifically, team building, integration, ruthless prioritization, and creating and sustaining effective processes,” Rodriguez said.

The Engagements lead, Maj. Claire Brindle, would encourage Soldiers thinking about SAMS to apply.

“This year was probably one of the most transformative of my career thus far,” she shared. “This program equipped me with intellectual tools and operational frameworks necessary to think critically and creatively, plan effectively, and contribute meaningfully at the operational level.”

In addition to the master’s degrees granted in person, nine officers were recognized for completing a doctoral program at an U.S. university through the Advanced Strategic Planning & Policy Program, which was founded by Gen. Raymond T. Odierno in 2012.

About SAMS

SAMS, a part of the Command and General Staff College, educates select armed forces, interagency and allied members to become critical and creative thinkers, agile and adaptive leaders, and skilled practitioners in doctrine and operational art. The goal of SAMS is to enable senior leaders to drive the operations process to achieve favorable strategic, operational, and tactical outcomes.

ASMP is a graduate-level, 11-month program designed for majors, junior lieutenant colonels, select senior warrant officers, and international officers of the armed forces. The program is intended to develop effective planners who engage and enable senior leaders’ understanding of the operational environment further enabling them to visualize and describe viable solutions to complex operational problems.

ASLSP is a graduate-level, 24-month, senior level Army War College program. It is designed to develop theater-level senior leaders and general staff officers for positions of significant responsibility.

ASP3 is a doctoral-level program for select- field grade officers. Officers attend universities of their choice while developing them into strategic leaders through a combination of practical experience, and senior-level professional military education.

Photos of the ceremony can be viewed on the Command and General Staff College Flickr account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usacgsc/albums

To view the ceremony, visit The Army University’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ArmyUniversity