[Task & Purpose] The military history curriculum at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College (CGSC) will be gutted in the 2019 academic year. The school’s leadership has chosen to shift away from the strategic, operational, and tactical lessons of the Vietnam War, and the complexities of military innovation in the interwar period. Next year, a substantial chunk of the military history curriculum will be reduced to make room for more tactical wargames.
This change is ironic, given the Army’s reverence for its traditions and heraldry. It is also ironic, given the stature and respect accorded the military history instructors at CGSC by students and faculty alike. Among the many departments at CGSC (Leadership, Tactics, etc.), the Department of Military History is held in the highest regard among students. This statement is offered based upon anecdotal evidence, and numerous discussions with fellow students during the 2018 academic year. In fact, the soon to be defunct military history curriculum at CGSC is so good, Marine Corps Command and Staff College reportedly plan to teach most of it to Marine Corps majors in Quantico. |