Teaching and Learning the Operational Art of War: An Appraisal of the School of Advanced Military Studies

If the US Army is to successfully design campaigns that link tactical battles and engagements to achieving strategic aims, staff officers and commanders must be educated in the theory, history, and techniques of operational art. The purpose of this monograph is to examine whether the current Army system of education, specifically the Advanced Military Studies Program (AMSP), is sufficiently accomplishing this mission. This topic is significant because the international environment and the Army have undergone important changes since the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) was founded in 1982. The current director of SAMS, Colonel Robin Swan, recognized this changed environment in his Director's Vision Statement in 1998, and initiated multiple changes to the curriculum. In conjunction with these changes, this monograph offers a critical appraisal of the school, its curriculum, and its methods of teaching. The bottom line is that the current initiatives at AMSP are an evolutionary step in the right direction. SAMS continues to fill a critical niche in the Army. However, as the Army executes its Transformation Strategy, it is important that SAMS and AMSP also transform. The original vision of SAMS must be melded with the new geopolitical environment and with advances in educational theory and techniques. In this way, SAMS will successfully achieve its goal of teaching and learning the operational art of war.