Photo By Curtis Keester | Soon to be graduates to the U.S. Army War College’s Distance Education Program show...... read more read more
Smiles, laughs, high-fives, hugs, and posing for photos showed the enthusiasm when new graduates of the U.S. Army War College’s Distance Education Class of 2016 emerged triumphant from two years’ of relentless studies. They walked one by one across the Wheelock Bandstand to be congratulated by the dean, provost, commandant, and graduation speaker Lt. Gen. Timothy J. Kadavy, director of the Army National Guard.
Friends, family and professional colleagues assembled on Carlisle Barracks’ historic parade field to watch and cheer as the senior officers of the US Army and sister Services, and selected federal civilians joined the long line of distinguished men and women to graduate from the U.S. Army War College, among them Eisenhower, Bradley and Schwarzkopf.
“What a superb day, and not just in terms of the weather. It’s a great day because of the significance of the achievements of these students over a demanding 27-month journey here at the Army War College. They have earned this day,” said Commandant Maj. Gen. Bill Rapp as he introduced Lt. Gen. Kadavy.
“You are ready to move out,” Kadavy said to the student body. “Whether or not you realize it, you’ve made a transformation from a proven, highly successful tactical leader to someone who can step up, step in and provide sound advice to our most senior strategic leaders both civilian and military.”
You’ll be counted upon to help shape the immediate and long-term future of the United States military, said Kadavy. Have the courage to effect change when change is needed, and to grow and evolve as you move forward. The nation needs you to be ready and to evolve to meet the ever changing challenges facing our all-volunteer force, he said.
Our Army needs leaders of character who will be able to adapt and overcome in an ever-changing world, he said. “Combat experience alone will not ensure success. Leaders of character will.”
“You’ve been thoroughly tested and found completely worthy of the moniker, “Graduate of the U.S. Army War College” and, indeed, we are proud of each and every one of you,” he said in closing.
“It’s worth the effort, at the nadir of my physical and mental energy during this course -- with two brand new babies, working around the Pentagon, and having to do forums and [write] papers. At the darkest pit there’s a light, and that light is the day you graduate,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Pickle Jr., the deputy chief of training for the U.S. Army National Guard.
“This was definitely a capstone educational event for me personally, not just for my professional career, but as a personal goal, wanting to come to the Carlisle Barracks and be a War College student and a War College graduate,” said Pickle. “I feel like I can retire now.”
Pickle and others will return to worldwide assignments where they’ve already been applying war college insights on the job as they worked through the two-year curriculum -- about strategic leadership, decision-making, planning, international relations, and defense management, among the range of topics. They will work in state Guard units across the nation, Army and Reserve organizations, in Cyber Command, Medical units, Corps of Engineers, Acquisition, Intelligence, Logistics, Infantry, Armor and others.
“It was a fantastic experience, said Colin Bosse. “I was a little apprehensive, knowing that I was going to be one of the first congressional staffers to take the course, but once we got into the material and working with our classmates it was very collaborative. And, the instructors were extremely helpful and would take time to help you learn in a way that anybody could grasp,” he said. One of three congressional staffers in the class, Bosse works on the House Arms Services Committee.
“It took a lot of grit, passion and perseverance to get through this course.” said Army Lt. Col. Anna Haberzettl, the training and education coordinator in the Peace Operations Division at the Peacekeeping & Stability Operations Institute here at the U.S. Army War College. “It really elevated my level of thinking,” she said, noting that she’d applied these deeper thinking skills in her work projects. “While we were learning joint operations planning, we were instructing [that topic] in Morocco to Moroccans and other international officers.”
The graduating class of 2016 includes 47 Army, 134 Army National Guard, 146 Army Reserve, 1 Navy, 14 Marine, and 5 Air Force officers. Also included are 15 senior civilians from a broad range of federal service agencies along with 3 international fellows from Kosovo, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
Iowa’s Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Tim Orr is a 2003 graduate who returned to Carlisle Barracks to congratulate two Iowa Guard officers, Lt. Col. David Updegraff and Lt. Col. Mark Coble, as well as the Kosovo officer. Brig. Gen. Zhavit Gashi is the first distance education graduate from Kosovo.
“I think the baseline of education has allowed me to move forward as a leader in the Iowa National Guard,” said Orr about his own Army War College education. “It prepared me for future assignments I didn’t know I was going to have. To be the adjutant general of the state of Iowa is an honor …. It prepared me for disasters. It prepared me for the war,” said Orr.
“We’re a profession of arms and the War College is a way for us to continue our professionalism and take our leaders to the next level. That’s education, that’s training, that’s mentorship – and that’s done here at Carlisle and I don’t think it can be done any better at the Army War College.
Lt. Col. Dirk Christian was awarded the AWC Foundation Best Personal Experience Monograph Writing Award for his research paper, “Operation ENDURING HARVEST: Developing the Laghman Province Agribusiness Campaign Plan,” completed with the mentorship of Project Adviser Col. Charles Grindle.
| Date Taken: | 07.22.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.22.2017 13:57 |
| Story ID: | 224329 |
| Location: | CARLISLE BARRACKS, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 161 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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