Look forward to working together with class 001-09 for the next 15 weeks. I appreciate everyones leadership and participation in the staff group duty positions. Please see the following 2 items which are open for discussion:
ITEM #1
A few of you have mentioned that you are interested in coordinating the reading assignments. One option is to assign each reading to volunteers who will read the passage carefully (in detail) and report back to the group with an outline of the reading in a word document. We need to establish rules such as:
1. Participation encouraged and is established up front so that assignments can be made.
2. Outline is due at least the day before (24 hours before due date). For example, if the reading is for a class on Wed, then summary must be available on Tuesday. One option is to use the class established 3 groups to divide up the readings.
ITEM #2
Some people have expressed having a class quiet time early in the morning for student reading time. Is there any opposition to having class room quiet time until 0745?
I look forward to your comments.
v/r,
LTC Margaret Yacovone
Student Saff Group Leader
CGSS, ILE Group SG 29B
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Welcome to our BLOG Site
All,
Welcome to the official Blog site for Staff Group 29B. We are a group of professional military officers attending Intermediate Level Education (ILE) at Fort Belvoir, VA. We will use this site to share our thoughts and ideas. We welcome your comments. Comments posted on Staff Group 29B's Blogsite are moderated and will be approved only if they are on-topic and not abusive.
Thank you,
Mike Mismash
MAJ, EN
ILE, Ft. Belvoir, Class 29B
"The views expressed in this blog are those of that particular author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government".
Welcome to the official Blog site for Staff Group 29B. We are a group of professional military officers attending Intermediate Level Education (ILE) at Fort Belvoir, VA. We will use this site to share our thoughts and ideas. We welcome your comments. Comments posted on Staff Group 29B's Blogsite are moderated and will be approved only if they are on-topic and not abusive.
Thank you,
Mike Mismash
MAJ, EN
ILE, Ft. Belvoir, Class 29B
"The views expressed in this blog are those of that particular author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government".
All,
Welcome to the official Blog site for Staff Group 29B. We are a group of professional military officers attending Intermediate Level Education (ILE) at Fort Belvoir, VA. We will use this site to share our thoughts and ideas. We welcome your comments. Comments posted on Staff Group 29B's Blogsite are moderated and will be approved only if they are on-topic and not abusive.
Thank you,
Mike Mismash
MAJ, EN
ILE, Ft. Belvoir, Class 29B
"The views expressed in this blog are those of that particular author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government".
Welcome to the official Blog site for Staff Group 29B. We are a group of professional military officers attending Intermediate Level Education (ILE) at Fort Belvoir, VA. We will use this site to share our thoughts and ideas. We welcome your comments. Comments posted on Staff Group 29B's Blogsite are moderated and will be approved only if they are on-topic and not abusive.
Thank you,
Mike Mismash
MAJ, EN
ILE, Ft. Belvoir, Class 29B
"The views expressed in this blog are those of that particular author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government".
second try
My name is Major Eric hartunian, Student, Command and General Staff College, ILE, Ft Belvoir, VA
This is my second attemt at blogging. I have been in the Army for fifteen years, and am looking forward to at least another ten. I am formerly an FA officer, and now work in strategic plans. I deployed during 2006 to work with Kurdish border forces on the Iran-Iraq border. I enjoy reading my classmates posts, and hope to learn much from their experiences.
This blog is an interesting avenue to share experience and opinions that we may not get enough time to do during class.
Thanks,
Eric Hartunian
The views expressed in this blog are those of the auther and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the US Government.
This is my second attemt at blogging. I have been in the Army for fifteen years, and am looking forward to at least another ten. I am formerly an FA officer, and now work in strategic plans. I deployed during 2006 to work with Kurdish border forces on the Iran-Iraq border. I enjoy reading my classmates posts, and hope to learn much from their experiences.
This blog is an interesting avenue to share experience and opinions that we may not get enough time to do during class.
Thanks,
Eric Hartunian
The views expressed in this blog are those of the auther and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the US Government.
Free to Speak
It is interesting to hear my peers discuss how creative thinking is not always welcomed at the tactical level. Specifically, voicing how to accomplish some task or mission is not always appreciated. In some case, unless the commander is physically absent, those in positions lower in the chain on the battlefield cannot make the calls. In my current tour, I have been perched at the HQDA level in very secure surroundings (thank you soldiers forward), and it seems to me from this vantage point, officers throughout all ranks feel quite free and entitled to voice their opinions to those beyond their daily chain of command. I am constantly reading articles written by CPTS, MAJs, LTCs and beyond about how the Army should reorganize to address current threats, how Task Force X is tackling economic development in its AOR in Iraq, why the U.S. Army should invest more in biometrics, etc. Officers are being published everywhere I look and not just in military journals. It is not unusual to hear an officer say, "I am going to be submitting my article to Joint Forces Quarterly" or to see young field grade officers invited to D.C. to share their ideas from a paper they wrote at CGSC. Just today a CPT shared with me his blog that he created for a major news corporation while he was deployed in Iraq. True to my Army upbringing, my first question was, "were you told to do it or did you do it on your own?" I appreciate that much of what I read and hear, to include this CPTs blog, are not outlets to complain or insist that the Army has it all wrong (though those exist). In most cases, soldiers are sharing their stories or offerring suggestions about areas they genuinely care about improving.
Major Sam Reyna
Student
Command and General Staff College
ILE, Ft. Belvoir, VA
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government
Major Sam Reyna
Student
Command and General Staff College
ILE, Ft. Belvoir, VA
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government
Blog requirement
All,
My name is MAJ Eric Hartunian, student, Command and General Staff College, ILE, Ft Belvoir, VA.
This is my first blog entry. Looking forward to reading the rest of the team's posts. I am a former FA officer turned strategic plans. I am comming to CGSC from the Naval Postgraduate School in Ca. I have been in the Army for fifteen years, and looking forward to serving for at least another ten years. I've deployed once, and had a good experience in Iraq working with Kurds on the Iranian border. While I enjoy the academic environment, I am looking forward to getting back to a regular unit again. I hope this blog will be a good avenue for my classmates to exchange ideas and previous experiences.
Thanks,
Eric
The views expressed in this blog are those of the auther and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the US Government.
My name is MAJ Eric Hartunian, student, Command and General Staff College, ILE, Ft Belvoir, VA.
This is my first blog entry. Looking forward to reading the rest of the team's posts. I am a former FA officer turned strategic plans. I am comming to CGSC from the Naval Postgraduate School in Ca. I have been in the Army for fifteen years, and looking forward to serving for at least another ten years. I've deployed once, and had a good experience in Iraq working with Kurds on the Iranian border. While I enjoy the academic environment, I am looking forward to getting back to a regular unit again. I hope this blog will be a good avenue for my classmates to exchange ideas and previous experiences.
Thanks,
Eric
The views expressed in this blog are those of the auther and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the US Government.
Glad to be here (II)
Hello everyone,I'm glad to be here at Fort Belvoir with everybody in SG 29B! Honestly, its great to be back in the States, as my family and I are currently living in Germany, and I haven't spent any significant period of time back in the States in quite awhile. Although I really miss my family right now (my wife and I are the proud parents of two 8-month olds), I know that I will have a tremendous opportunity to apply what I learn in ILE at Fort Belvoir to my future military career.
Insofar as my future is concerned, I'm hoping to return to Germany and assume a Key Developmental position upon completion of this course. I am also hoping to finish my MA in Counseling Psychology within the next 4 years and eventually compete for a Professor of Military Science position at a major university, where I can also work towards a Doctorate in Psychology. After I leave the military, I would still like to work with servicemembers (specifically those working through different levels of PTSD) in the future.
Well, that's all for now...
Nathaniel J. Orlowski
MAJ, FA
ILE-CC (Command and General Staff College), Fort Belvoir, SG29B
"The views expressed in this BLOG are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government."
Insofar as my future is concerned, I'm hoping to return to Germany and assume a Key Developmental position upon completion of this course. I am also hoping to finish my MA in Counseling Psychology within the next 4 years and eventually compete for a Professor of Military Science position at a major university, where I can also work towards a Doctorate in Psychology. After I leave the military, I would still like to work with servicemembers (specifically those working through different levels of PTSD) in the future.
Well, that's all for now...
Nathaniel J. Orlowski
MAJ, FA
ILE-CC (Command and General Staff College), Fort Belvoir, SG29B
"The views expressed in this BLOG are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government."
PT Time
I believe physical fitness is the most important thing we, as soldiers, do on a daily basis. Since our staff group starts working at 0800 each morning I have been doing PT in the afternoon. Therefore this blog requirement is standing between me and working out so I will conclude the blog post haste and move to the gym. Thanks for reading.
Major Doug Legan
Student
Command and General Staff College, ILE
Ft. Belvoir, VA
"The views expressed in this "insert type" are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government."
Major Doug Legan
Student
Command and General Staff College, ILE
Ft. Belvoir, VA
"The views expressed in this "insert type" are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government."
Can I Just Sit Quietly and Learn?
Apparently not...
Some people thrive in an interactive learning environment...I do not. I am not criticizing or objecting to the format used in the classroom, however, I personnally learn better through visual more than audio. Maybe I have been conditioned through the Public School systems and/or previous military training that were not interactive, to sit quietly in class and listen. I catch myself at times being more preoccupied with trying to interact and expand and/or counter another students comments, that I miss the majority of what was said.
Major David Settje
Student
Command and General Staff College, ILE
Ft. Belvoir, VA
"The views expressed in this forum are those of the author and do not reflect the offical policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government."
Some people thrive in an interactive learning environment...I do not. I am not criticizing or objecting to the format used in the classroom, however, I personnally learn better through visual more than audio. Maybe I have been conditioned through the Public School systems and/or previous military training that were not interactive, to sit quietly in class and listen. I catch myself at times being more preoccupied with trying to interact and expand and/or counter another students comments, that I miss the majority of what was said.
Major David Settje
Student
Command and General Staff College, ILE
Ft. Belvoir, VA
"The views expressed in this forum are those of the author and do not reflect the offical policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government."
Military Technology and Doctrine Development
I am a student in the US Army Intermediate Level Education. One of the discussion topics today was whether Army doctrine has sufficiently kept up with technological advancements in military weaponry. Typically, technology progresses much faster than the doctrine writers can draft and publish guidance on the proper and legal uses of the weaponry. One problem doctrine writers face is drafting guidance that complies with national and international law. Often the new technology has not been contemplated by lawmakers or interpreted by any federal or international court system under current law. Drafting current doctrine that clearly complies with the law becomes nearly impossible.
One example of this involves the use of lasers in combat for the specific purpose of blinding the enemy. The issues become whether it is possible under existing international law to use these types of lasers in this manner and if so, when is such a use legal? Under international law, all can agree that any given use of a weapon may not be designed to cause unnecessary suffering. At first glance, it would seem that blinding the enemy is much more humane than killing the enemy. However, under current tribunal interpretation of the law, weapons designed to specifically inflict long-term suffering (like exploding glass shards) are considered in violation of the law. No international tribunal has examined this question as it relates to blinding lasers, making it very difficult for doctrine writers to create proper and legal uses of the weapon. Therefore, one reason doctrine has not kept pace with new military technology is because the law does not address and cannot be applied to the new technology.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the US Government.
MAJ Kelli Petersen, Student
Command and General Staff College, ILE
Fort Belvoir, VA
One example of this involves the use of lasers in combat for the specific purpose of blinding the enemy. The issues become whether it is possible under existing international law to use these types of lasers in this manner and if so, when is such a use legal? Under international law, all can agree that any given use of a weapon may not be designed to cause unnecessary suffering. At first glance, it would seem that blinding the enemy is much more humane than killing the enemy. However, under current tribunal interpretation of the law, weapons designed to specifically inflict long-term suffering (like exploding glass shards) are considered in violation of the law. No international tribunal has examined this question as it relates to blinding lasers, making it very difficult for doctrine writers to create proper and legal uses of the weapon. Therefore, one reason doctrine has not kept pace with new military technology is because the law does not address and cannot be applied to the new technology.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the US Government.
MAJ Kelli Petersen, Student
Command and General Staff College, ILE
Fort Belvoir, VA
Introduction
Class
I appreciate the opportunity to be here and learn from each of you. I trust the next several months will be an excellent learning experience. Have an excellent inaugural weekend.
In my time in the Army I have had the opportunity to bear witness to many successes and failures of the United States Army. Without quesiton, our ability to change to meet a changing battlefield and our ability to train and mentor our junior leaders has been a success.
Conversely, our Army continues to fail in many regards. One of our greates failures as an Army in recent times, is our continued violations of Operational Security (OPSEC). We continue to allow our enemies to continue to monitor our TTP's, doctrine and technological processes.
Major Ryan Armstrong
Student
Command and General Staff College
ILE
Fort Belvoir, VA
Seminar 29B
"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government."
I appreciate the opportunity to be here and learn from each of you. I trust the next several months will be an excellent learning experience. Have an excellent inaugural weekend.
In my time in the Army I have had the opportunity to bear witness to many successes and failures of the United States Army. Without quesiton, our ability to change to meet a changing battlefield and our ability to train and mentor our junior leaders has been a success.
Conversely, our Army continues to fail in many regards. One of our greates failures as an Army in recent times, is our continued violations of Operational Security (OPSEC). We continue to allow our enemies to continue to monitor our TTP's, doctrine and technological processes.
Major Ryan Armstrong
Student
Command and General Staff College
ILE
Fort Belvoir, VA
Seminar 29B
"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government."
Glad to be at ILE
Hello everyone,
I'm glad to be here at Fort Belvoir with everybody in SG 29B! Honestly, its great to be back in the States, as my family and I are currently living in Germany, and I haven't spent any significant period of time back in the States in quite awhile. Although I really miss my family right now (my wife and I are the proud parents of two 8-month olds), I know that I will have a tremendous opportunity to apply what I learn in ILE at Fort Belvoir to my future military career.
Insofar as my future is concerned, I'm hoping to return to Germany and assume a Key Developmental position upon completion of this course. I am also hoping to finish my MA in Counseling Psychology within the next 4 years and eventually compete for a Professor of Military Science position at a major university, where I can also work towards a Doctorate in Psychology. After I leave the military, I would still like to work with servicemembers (specifically those working through different levels of PTSD) in the future.
Well, that's all for now...
Nathaniel J. Orlowski
MAJ, FA
ILE-CC (Command and General Staff College), Fort Belvoir, SG29B
"The views expressed in this BLOG are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government"
I'm glad to be here at Fort Belvoir with everybody in SG 29B! Honestly, its great to be back in the States, as my family and I are currently living in Germany, and I haven't spent any significant period of time back in the States in quite awhile. Although I really miss my family right now (my wife and I are the proud parents of two 8-month olds), I know that I will have a tremendous opportunity to apply what I learn in ILE at Fort Belvoir to my future military career.
Insofar as my future is concerned, I'm hoping to return to Germany and assume a Key Developmental position upon completion of this course. I am also hoping to finish my MA in Counseling Psychology within the next 4 years and eventually compete for a Professor of Military Science position at a major university, where I can also work towards a Doctorate in Psychology. After I leave the military, I would still like to work with servicemembers (specifically those working through different levels of PTSD) in the future.
Well, that's all for now...
Nathaniel J. Orlowski
MAJ, FA
ILE-CC (Command and General Staff College), Fort Belvoir, SG29B
"The views expressed in this BLOG are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government"
ILE
During my tour in Iraq, my battalion lost three Soldiers during a night mounted movement. The vehicle which the Soldiers were riding in rolled into a canal. The Soldiers subsequently died. After the incident, the unit completed an AAR. The AAR showed a couple of techniques that could have made this incident avoidable. First, provide an individual SCUBA type tank to each Soldier. Second, came about an invention which allowed the doors of the vehicle to be unlocked and opened from the outside. Although this invention was not available when our Soldiers lost their lives, it is common to see the invention on the majority of the vehicles in theater now.
"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government".
CPT Michael Astin
Student
Command and General Staff School
Fort Belvoir, Virginia
"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government".
CPT Michael Astin
Student
Command and General Staff School
Fort Belvoir, Virginia
Different Views of War
The question often arises, "How can so many Soldiers come out of Iraq with a different perspective of the war?" The answer I often repond with is that your view of the war, whether it be in Iraq or Afghanistan will depend upon your location, your job and most importantly your experiences in theater. Soldiers working with Iraqis in one part of the country may feel nothing but complete frustration, while soldiers elsewhere may just need to step back as Iraqis take the lead. Same mission, different results, different perceptions of success and failure. A soldier in Tal Afar will have a differnet view from one in Baghdad or Basra. Even more, the Corps Staff Officer will have a differnet perspective on the success of the war than a Infantry Team Leader.
who does have the best perspective? Is it MTT Teams, Ground Commanders, door kickers or the logisticians?
Captain Daniel Sukman
Student, Command and General Staff College
ILE Ft. Belvoir Staff Group 29B
"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government"
who does have the best perspective? Is it MTT Teams, Ground Commanders, door kickers or the logisticians?
Captain Daniel Sukman
Student, Command and General Staff College
ILE Ft. Belvoir Staff Group 29B
"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government"
ILE as a Professional Development Tool III
I would like to thank MAJ Mismash for taking the initiative and responsibility for leading the effort to get this blog up and running for our staff group. As I am a complete neophyte blogger, his assistance in both setting up the site and walking me through the process was invaluable. Thank goodness there are folks like Mike to pick up the slack for technically challenged individuals like myself.
Regarding ILE value in professional Army officer's development I would state that the value of the course curriculum, while of utility, takes a back seat to the value of interfacing with peers from across the Army (and potentially other services.) I greatly benefit from the shared perspectives of the other 15 members of my staff group. Collectively, they possess well over a century of military experience, ard more recently over 30 deployments to IZ and AF. The value of their insights, unique perspectives and individual analysis cannot be replicated outside of a small group environment.
We all hailed from different backgrounds and perform different functions within the service, yet we each have experiences and perspectives that can benefit the other members of our small group. We can all reasonably expect to deploy at least once, likely more times, in the foreseeable future. Within each group it is reasonable to assume that another member of the group has experienced a location, environment, situation or unit that we will encounter in the future. The experiences of the other members of our group can and will assist us in preparing for these challenges.
Major John Cantwell.
Student
Command and General Staff College
ILE, Ft. Belvoir, VA
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
Regarding ILE value in professional Army officer's development I would state that the value of the course curriculum, while of utility, takes a back seat to the value of interfacing with peers from across the Army (and potentially other services.) I greatly benefit from the shared perspectives of the other 15 members of my staff group. Collectively, they possess well over a century of military experience, ard more recently over 30 deployments to IZ and AF. The value of their insights, unique perspectives and individual analysis cannot be replicated outside of a small group environment.
We all hailed from different backgrounds and perform different functions within the service, yet we each have experiences and perspectives that can benefit the other members of our small group. We can all reasonably expect to deploy at least once, likely more times, in the foreseeable future. Within each group it is reasonable to assume that another member of the group has experienced a location, environment, situation or unit that we will encounter in the future. The experiences of the other members of our group can and will assist us in preparing for these challenges.
Major John Cantwell.
Student
Command and General Staff College
ILE, Ft. Belvoir, VA
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
Neo-Blogger
I have served in the US Army for over 15 years. Four years of this service has been as an enlisted soldier, the remainder as a commissioned officer. Nearly all of my service in the Army has been as an Infantryman. I have served in positions from rifleman to company commander to brigade and battalion staff postions. As an infantry soldier I feel that I have had the opportunity to experience the very cutting edge of what the Army is about. Having the operational context of my infantry experience allows me to see the rest of the Army through a very funtional perspective with an emphasis on operations.
MAJ Ron Schow, Student, Command and General Staff College, ILE, FT Belvoir, Staff Group 29B
"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the offical policy or position of the Dept of the Army, Dept of Defense or the US Government."
MAJ Ron Schow, Student, Command and General Staff College, ILE, FT Belvoir, Staff Group 29B
"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the offical policy or position of the Dept of the Army, Dept of Defense or the US Government."
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Welcome to 29B's Blog Site
All,
Welcome to the official Blog site for Staff Group 29B. We are a group of professional military officers attending Intermediate Level Education (ILE) at Fort Belvoir, VA.
We will use this site to share our thoughts and ideas. We welcome your comments. Comments posted on Staff Group 29B's Blogsite are moderated and will be approved only if they are on-topic and not abusive. - Thank you
We will use this site to share our thoughts and ideas. We welcome your comments. Comments posted on Staff Group 29B's Blogsite are moderated and will be approved only if they are on-topic and not abusive. - Thank you
Mike Mismash
MAJ, EN
ILE, Ft. Belvoir, Class 29B
"The views expressed in this blog are those of that particular author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government".
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