Military Review English Edition November December 2016 | Page 86

are America’s “boots on the ground” senior
leaders in the middle of rapidly changing
environments. Army officers must have the
intellectual agility not only to survive, but to
thrive in such environments.3
How then should we think about the challenge of
identifying and cultivating that sort of intellectual agility
in our officers? A close examination of the careers of four
legendary strategic leaders provides some insight into the
type of developmental experiences and career paths that
have the potential to enhance the development of strategic fluency.

officer. As a lieutenant colonel, he served as an instructor
at the Army War College, and then as assistant commandant at Fort Benning’s Infantry School, where he
demanded students engage in a disciplined and rigorous
program of reading history and discussing tactics. These
measures, along with structured reflection, we would argue, are foundational to strategic development. Marshall
studied history, tactics, and strategy, but he was not
burdened by an unbroken line of tactical assignments.
Indeed, he was stationed in the Philippines twice before
attaining the rank of brigadier general. He served as aide-

Paradigms
Worthy of
Emulation
An analysis
of the early careers of Marshall,
Eisenhower,
Schwarzkopf, and
Powell reveals a set
of paradigms for
strategic preparation
that are worthy of
emulation. Each
of these leaders
garnered remarkable
experience from the
point of commissioning through their
service as colonels.
These experiences
do not reveal a single
silver bullet to address strategic leader development.
However, their distinguished careers clearly illustrate that
the combination of diverse experiences and rich educational opportunities develops intellectual agility over time
and optimizes otherwise uneven transitions to strategic
leadership. We suggest there are no less than four career
paths worth considering for refining this transition:
teach er, organizer, commander, and communicator.
Gen. George C. Marshall—the teacher. This great
strategic leader was afforded the time to read, reflect, and
teach throughout the course of his eclectic early career.
Marshall’s experience as an apprentice to senior leaders
gave him a richer perspective as a junior and midgrade
84

Chief of Staff of the United States Army George C. Marshall (left) confers with Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson 21 December 1941 in
Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Army)

de-camp to the former Army chief of staff at the Presidio
in San Francisco, Gen. J. Franklin Bell, when Bell commanded the Department of the West. Then, he transitioned with Bell to Governor’s Island in New York City to
guide the mobilization effort for World War I (while Bell
commanded the Department of the East). Marshall was
a planner for and then aide to Gen. John Pershing while
Pershing was the commander of American Expeditionary
Forces, and then he transitioned to the Army staff when
November-December 2016  MILITARY REVIEW