Global War on Terror and Army Officer Military Education

摘要

Officer Professional Military Education (PME) has been a part of Army officer development since 1794. Today the Army dedicates between 2.5 and 3 years to Army resourced education for each successful career officer. This investment is huge and sets the Army and the Department of Defense apart from most of their counterparts in the civilian world. Unfortunately, history and current trends have demonstrated that the Army's selfless culture has struggled to meet long term educational goals during periods of high operational demand like the present. This paper will examine the impact of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) on officer PME. Specifically, it will demonstrate that current Army officer culture and PME policies may not be effectively guiding the Army toward its officer education strategic objectives. It order to change the culture, the Army must consider the potential benefits of modifying current policy in order to influence behavior. Several policy and curriculum modification recommendations are provided as a means to reverse the identified trend and resultant concerns.