FORT RUCKER, Ala. - Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, commanding general of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, visited Fort Rucker May 12-14 to participate in an Army forum, and interact with Soldiers at the Warrant Office Career College and around the installation.
He oversees the Command and General Staff College as well as 17 other schools, centers and training programs located throughout the nation.
Caslen was promoted to his current rank and position in March.
Included in his visit were a Flight School XXI command brief, breakfast with Aviation Captains Career Course students and a tour of Warrior Hall Simulation Complex. In an interview, Caslen reflected on the learning he saw going on at Fort Rucker.
"I'm very impressed with Fort Rucker," he said. "I'm very impressed with the leadership of Fort Rucker. I had some opportunity to be with some of the students and was incredibly impressed with what they're doing, their depth of knowledge, and the learning they're doing. I went through some of the simulations this morning and absolutely had a great time."
"When you stop and think about what they're doing for the simulations and how much flying and training is occurring at significantly reduced expenses, it's pretty amazing. I had a great time," Caslen said.
He talked about new technology and its impact on the education of Soldiers.
"One of the things that old people like us are wrestling with is trying to understand how this new generation learns, because they don't learn like I learned. The way I learned is someone stood up there on a platform and had a slide and with a pointer, and they walked you down the slide. Nowadays they call it 'death by PowerPoint'. But that really turns this generation off, and it really ought to," Caslen said.
To put value in the learning requires gaming and simulation, he said.
"Some of the tremendous lessons that are learned downrange can be exported almost within a matter of hours or even days, and you can pull that back here, put it into some sort of simulation module, whether it's on an iPhone application, or whether you go up to Fort Monroe, (Va.), in what we call the (Joint Training Counter-IED Operations Integration Center) into a box and you're sitting there 360 degrees in the exact same terrain, and the exact same battle space that recently took place," Caslen said.
The point is for Soldiers to stay current, he said.
"You can study it. You can analyze it. You can see what worked, what didn't work, not to Monday morning quarterback it, but really to take some of the experiences, to stay current with those experiences, understand the doctrine you're being taught and the tactics, techniques and procedures and see how they're being applied on the battlefield," Caslen said.
He said the burden on educators is earning the right to provide instructional opportunities that are meaningful and value-added to students professionally and personally. This includes utilizing technology that keeps them relevant to the warfight.
"These are the type of simulations and gaming and that sort of learning environment this generation responds to," Caslen said. "This is an amazing generation. It's just an honor for an old guy like me to be hanging around them because of their tremendous service."
He encouraged Soldiers to reflect on their experiences in an operational environment, an important part of leader development. He also emphasized the importance of spending time with Family.
"All of that comes together at once right here at Fort Rucker. You get a chance to reflect. You get some outstanding training. You learn professional military education, and you get a chance to kind of put your life back in balance and reconnect with your Family again," Caslen said.
Col. Mark Jones, Warrant Officer Career College commandant, met with Caslen during his first visit to the installation last week.
"He had a lot of good things to say about (the post)," Jones said. "It was a first-impression meeting. He said a lot of important things and he said he was very impressed with what we're doing here. He said he wanted to help in any way he could."
(Editor's note: Army Flier Staff Writer Russell Sellers contributed to this article.)
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