Command and General Staff Officer Education for the 21st Century Examining the German Model

Major Luke G. Grossman USAF

• Publisher: Lucknow Books
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781786250476
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European History
• Index: History

Education has been the foundational cornerstone to every profession and continues to be so in the 21st Century. As a profession, the military is obligated to conduct not only training but also education of the keepers of the profession, the officer corps. Since the rise of large military bodies enabled by the levee en masse and industrialization, armies have required educated officers skilled in both command and staff functions. The Prussian-German model of staff officer education embodied in the Kriegsakademie of the Nineteenth and first half of the Twentieth Century's, was highly regarded and much copied. The education officer received at the Kriegsakademie directly contributed to an efficiently organized and employed Prussian-German Army at the tactical and operational levels. The investment in Kriegsakademie officer education paid huge dividends at Gravelotte-St Privat and Sedan 1870, Tannenberg 1914, Battle of Poland 1939, and the Battle of France 1940, critical first battles.With the rearming of Germany in 1955 came the need for the fledgling Bundeswehr to educate general staff officers. This need was met by establishing the Führungsakademie (German Armed Forces Command and Staff College). The Führungsakademie was created with the same time honored principles that had served general staff officer training previously: careful selection of the most highly qualified and promising officers and a broad based education rigorously applied. However, little information on the current Führungsakademie Education System is available in the English language. This monograph attempts to address this void. The author conducted research and interviews with the faculty, staff, and students at the Führungsakademie in Hamburg, Germany in order to understand and assess the education given to German general staff officer aspirants. The central general staff officer's education course is the National General/Admiral Staff Officers Course.

CHAPTER ONE — INTRODUCTION

With the age of industrialization and the birth of modern warfare came an increased requirement for officers educated in the profession of arms. Officers who received their commissions by virtue of their societal positions with no further specialized education were on the decrease. This new requirement for officers with specialized military education spread across countries and learned professionals soon populated both staff and command positions. By the mid 1800’s, Prussia had established the Great General Staff as well as troop staff positions. Officers who had been carefully selected and rigorously educated at the Kriegsakademie populated these positions. Much importance and indeed responsibility was placed on the graduates of the Kriegsakademie both in Berlin and in the field forces.{1}

Germanic success in many “first battles” at the tactical and operational level points to the importance and strength of the general staff system and its supporting foundation of the Kriegsakademie. The victories at Gravelotte-St Privat and Sedan 1870, Tannenberg 1914, Battle of Poland 1939, and the Battle of France 1940 are tangible evidence of the success of German armies at the operational level, armies staffed and commanded by Kriegsakademie graduates.

The changes facing Prussian-German military in the century between 1840-1940 were dynamic to say the least. The advances in transportation, communications, weapons, tactics, economics and politics where among the challenges to be faced and conquered. The staff officer education enabled officers to think about, learn about, and in many cases successfully take advantage of the daunting changes that the military was to experience.

The importance of professionally educated officers was not lost on the new Bundeswehr. The institution that would become the present Führungsakademie was established in 1957. The new Führungsakademie founded on several key elements that were key to pervious Prussian-German military staff officer education. These key elements were the selection of highly qualified officers with proven abilities in troop command and of impeccable character, the teaching of a balanced curriculum containing both general and military specific topics combined in a rigorous and multi-venue educational environment.{2} He resulting product was to be an officer thoroughly educated for both command and staff duties in ever more responsible positions.

Like the Prussian-German military of the aforementioned century the American military faces many new and rapidly developing technologies and ever changing geopolitical environments. The need for highly erudite officers—thoroughly educated in theory, history, geopolitics, economics and joint service doctrine—to meet the challenges of the 21st Century is a certainty according to former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Henry R. Shelton. {3}

This monograph will investigate the current German Führungsakademie Educational System.{4} Beginning with the historical overview of the Prussian-German Staff Officer education the reader will be familiarized with establishment of professional military education in the form of the Kriegsakademie, the German officer education up until the end of World War II, and the founding of the Führungsakademie. Following this, the main emphasis of the monograph is presented in the form of a detailed investigation of the current Führungsakademie Education System. This investigation includes the key elements of student selection, curriculum, educational methodology, faculty, and post education concepts.

In an attempt to measure the merit of the Führungsakademie Educational System, an evaluation methodology was derived using standards established by the United States Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. The standards formulated in order to provide a basis of evaluation are detailed. In the following chapter, these standards are applied to the Führungsakademie in order to determine the Führungsakademie Educational System strengths and weaknesses. This analysis then establishes the foundation for the final chapter where recommendations for the improvement of American intermediate level professional military education are included. No comparison with existing US military educations systems will be made as this comparative analysis lays outside the scope and focus of this paper.

The US military and the US Army should carefully analyze the goals of its future officer professional education system. The increasingly popular proposals to move away from generalist officer education at the intermediate level towards specialist training may not achieve the desired abilities for its officers. The complexity of future system of systems will require officers who understand how to integrate, control, and lead diverse and multifaceted organizations. This investigation of the Führungsakademie Education System may provide a better understanding of that system’s strengths and serve as an important counterbalance against the move towards specialization of officer education. This counterpoint maybe an essential element as Department of Defense (DOD) and the respective services decide how best to modify American professional military education to meet the demands of the 21st Century.

The imperative now more than in the past to successfully win “first battles” is loud and clear. There may not be a second battle given the speed, lethality, and cost of future military operations. Thus, America must have the best educational system in place to contribute its share of producing results—victories in our “first battles.” By carefully investigating the Führungsakademie Educational System insight into ways to better educate those officers who will lead in command and staff positions and increase the likelihood of success in the next “first battles” will be gained.

CHAPTER TWO — THE PRUSSIAN-GERMAN GENERAL STAFF OFFICER EDUCATION SYSTEM HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

To understand more clearly the present day Führungsakademie Education System certain knowledge of the history of Prussian-German staff officer education is helpful. With this in mind, this chapter is dedicated first to an overview of the history of the staff officer education before World War II. Following this, the present Führungsakademie history is reviewed in order to set the context of the current Führungsakademie Educational System.

The beginnings of staff officer education in Prussia date to 1765 with the establishment of the Academie des Nobles.{5} Frederick II (the Great) saw the need to educate the officers who advised him on military matters. The limited nature of staff officer duties and requirements in the Prussian Army for the next nearly forty years saw little educational development despite the formation of this school. By 1801, Napoleon era warfare had demonstrated that war had become more complex. Permanent staffs were now an essential requirement to handle both everyday staff duties as well as assist the commander during battle. The need for well-trained staff officers became apparent in the Prussian Army as well. To that

End, General Gerhard Johann Scharnhorst established the forerunner of what would become the Kriegsakademie, the Militärische Gesellschaft (military society) in July 1801. {6} This organization was formed by officers interested in the reform of the Prussian Army. By 1804, the Academy for Young Officers was opened.{7} Scharnhorst’s goal for the school was to provide a broad education to officers who were en route to both the newly formed General Staff as well as troop officers. A critical need had arisen in Scharnhorst’s eyes; that of providing highly skilled officers as advisors to the less than competent commanders.{8} The defeat of Prussia by Napoleon at the battles of Jena/Auerstädt in 1806 again focused the need for dedicated staff officers thoroughly educated in military art and science.

This need brought about the establishment of an institution that would endure for nearly one hundred and fifty years. On 15 October 1810, the Allgemeine Kriegsschule (General War School) began classes for staff officers.{9} The establishment of student selection standards and a broad based curriculum were foundations that Prussian-German staff officer education would retain up until the present time.{10} During the first several decades of the General War School’s existence, such luminaries as Carl von Clausewitz served on the faculty. {11} By 1823, the school was conducting a three-year long course, a standard that lasted until the First World War.

The final victory against Napoleon and the subsiding of the military reform movement brought a decreased interest in and attendance at the Allgemeine Kriegsschule in the remaining years of the first half of the Nineteenth Century. However, the school gained a new prominence under the direction of General Eduard von Peucker who directed a number of curricular reforms.{12} It was Peuker’s idea that the school becomes “not just a professional school, but a university, the seat of higher military learning that would originate new ideas and spread them throughout the army.”{13} These changes brought both an increased prestige and increased respect for the school. To herald these changes, the school was renamed the Kriegsakademie in 1859.{14}

By 1871, the contributions of trained staff officers to the victories over Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1870/71) had established the value of the Kriegsakademie within the Prussian-German Army. The capabilities of the general staff officer that aided the victories on the battlefield were directly tied to the Kriegsakademie. Several key elements helped the Kriegsakademie achieve its desired goal of preparing highly skilled staff officers well versed in the art and science of war.

First was the selection of officers to attend the Kriegsakademie. An officer desiring to attend the Kriegsakademie was required to obtain an endorsement from his regimental or battalion commander attesting to the aspirant’s demonstrated capabilities.{15} After obtaining this endorsement, the applicant was required to successfully pass an academic examination covering a wide variety of subjects.{16} The results of the test in conjunction with the commander recommendation were used to select the officers who would be admitted to the Kriegsakademie. By the early 1900’s, only twenty percent of the 800 applicants were selected for admission to the Kriegsakademie.{17} As author Martin van Creveld puts it, the Kriegsakademie “was able to attract the crème de la crème.”{18} This exacting selection process continued throughout the Kriegsakademie’s existence and remains a key element in the Führungsakademie system.

The second key element in the Kriegsakademie’s success was its curriculum. While Peucker’s goal of making the Kriegsakademie into a university that would raise the intellectual level of the army as a whole was not to be realized, the ability to provide a solid education to future staff officers was. This education was significantly broader than the training of purely military tactics, techniques, and procedures. The tension to train tacticians and managers versus educate leaders with a deep understanding of the both the art and science of war remai...

Table of contents

• Title page
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Abstract
• CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER TWO - THE PRUSSIAN-GERMAN GENERAL STAFF OFFICER EDUCATION SYSTEM HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
• CHAPTER THREE - CURRENT FÜHRUNGSAKADEMIE EDUCATION SYSTEM
• CHAPTER FOUR - EDUCATION SYSTEM EVALUATION METHODOLOGY
• CHAPTER FIVE - FÜHRUNGSAKADEMIE EDUCATION SYSTEM EVALUATION
• CHAPTER SIX - CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
• APPENDIX 1 - Kriegsakademie Curriculum Comparison
• APPENDIX 2 - Führungsakademie Questionnaire
• APPENDIX 3 - Führungsakademie Army Student Trip Summary
• APPENDIX 4
• APPENDIX 5
• BIBLIOGRAPHY