The Army University: Educating Leaders to Win in a Complex World

We must continue to educate and develop soldiers and civilians to grow the intellectual capacity to understand the complex contemporary security environment to better lead Army, joint, interagency, and multinational taskforces and teams. Therefore, we will reinvest and transform our institutional educational programs for officers and noncommissioned officers in order to prepare for the complex future security environment. --Secretary of the Army John McHugh Beginning this year, the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) is reorganizing the Army's professional military education programs into a university system to increase academic rigor, to create greater opportunities for accreditation, and to enhance the quality of the force. The Army University aligns the commissioned officer, warrant officer, noncommissioned officer, and civilian education programs across TRADOC under a single academic structure with a consistent brand name. This alignment streamlines academic governance, reduces stovepipes, facilitates accreditation of educational programs, and provides the opportunity to propagate best practices rapidly throughout the force. This effort is the first major innovation of the Army's Force 2025 and Beyond initiative. (1) It is also a visible statement that the Army is making a greater investment in our soldiers through improved education to increase their competence, enhance their character, and strengthen their commitment to the Army. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We are executing this change because our current system is inadequate for addressing the growing complexity, volatility, and uncertainty of the twenty-first century security environment, as outlined in the recently published U.S. Army Operating Concept: Win in a Complex World. Winning in the future will require innovative, adaptive leaders and cohesive teams who thrive in those complex and uncertain environments. (2) Preparing leaders with the right skill sets to meet the complex world of tomorrow demands change today. The students in our schools today will be leading our Army tomorrow. The command sergeants major of that future force are already filling the seats of our basic leadership courses as young corporals and sergeants. The brigade commanders of the Army of 2025 enter the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College this year. Building the right educational architecture for them and their peers is the most significant investment we can make to build the Army our nation needs for 2025 and beyond. Within TRADOC, the Army's colleges, institutes, schools, and training centers currently provide high-quality education and training to soldiers and civilians worldwide. However, this system is not optimal for developing the critical and creative thinkers the Army will require in the future. If not upgraded, it will gradually become less efficient and less capable of delivering the kind of educational experience our force must have to meet the challenges of the future. Defining the Problem Five underlying factors currently inhibit the Army educational enterprise from realizing its full potential. Industrial Age legacy. The previous professional military education system emerged more than a century ago when requirements for military leaders were very different. Consistent with the mass-production, industrial mindset of the time, the Army developed an assembly-line approach to education that focused on conforming to established procedures based around branch-specific expertise. Army education has evolved in its approach as it has incorporated new learning techniques appropriate for the challenges of emerging operational complexity. However, it still remains unduly constrained by a structural approach to its curriculum development process and a teaching methodology that is too rigid. It does not effectively cultivate or promote the kind of creative thinking and mental agility necessary to overcome the challenges of the future operational environment. …