Writing and Publishing at the School of Advanced Military Studies

When Colonel Huba Wass de Czege, the principle author of AirLand Battle, started the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) in 1983, he created a new type of military education. Assuming that officers had been sufficiently educated in doctrine and larger functions of the Army at the Command and General Staff School, he sought to give them a deeper education that would equip them to push against the bounds of military knowledge, to enable them to reshape themselves and the Army to meet the unforeseen challenges of the future.

Since then, SAMS has educated students to learn from the past and apply military developments to succeed in future wars. When new students come into Muir Hall, two glass cases displaying published works of faculty members confront them—and signal they are entering an environment that takes writing and publishing seriously. No matter which program a student enrolls in, SAMS provides a graduate-level educational program and students are expected to arrive with an appropriate level of writing skills. Still, the faculty and leadership of SAMS recognize that our students are military officers or professionals from the interagency, not academics, and most students need practice, refinement, and mentoring to enable them to become more skilled writers.

SAMS consists of the three programs, the Advanced Military Studies Program (AMSP), the Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies Program (ASLSP), and the Advanced Strategic Planning and Policy Program (ASP3). Student are accepted into AMSP, the main program at SAMS, only after passing a rigorous application process. The MILPER message usually comes out in July. Applications are accepted from July into early September. Aspiring “Jedi Knights” are tested on their understating of doctrine, understanding of the world at large, and ability to write a coherent response to a question based on a real-world scenario. Their record is examined, and each is individually interviewed in September and October. Those accepted are notified by November. While most come directly after completing the Command and General Staff Officer Course, others come from sister services, the Interagency, or are field selected. Students for ASLSP—the Marshall Scholars—are assigned by HRC from those selected to attend senior service college, with most expressing a strong desire to come to SAMS. ASP3 students—the Goodpaster Scholars—undergo an intensive process to assess their fitness for completion of a doctorate.

At SAMS, writing is a foundational part of the learning process. Writing forces students to fully understand their topic, to organize that understanding into a coherent narrative, and clearly express that understanding using the written word. SAMS graduates have a long tradition of continued involvement in intellectual discourse through publication in military and academic journals, producing what the Harding Project describes as “ideas to be shared outside of the rigidly hierarchical silos characteristic of military organizations.” SAMS students share their ideas and activities through such social media sites as https://linktr.ee/us.sams.

A cornerstone of the SAMS education is the requirement for each student to research and write a monograph of approximately 10,000 words. These monographs focus on the operational level of war for traditional SAMS students or on a strategic topic for War College-level students. The topic is chosen in consultation with a faculty member, who then guides the student through the process of researching and writing. Working in small cohorts under a faculty member, students learn from each other as they read and critique each other’s writings in an academic setting. Equally important is the one-on-one mentoring they receive from the faculty. The monograph director ensures each monograph meets the standards for publication.

While the monograph is the major written assignment, it is far from the only writing students do. The intensity of the monograph process, especially the relationship with the monograph director, ensures students become more careful and precise writers. Students write several papers throughout the curriculum, which are evaluated by both their seminar leader—a colonel and graduate of SAMS’ War College-level program—and a civilian faculty member, who holds a Ph.D. Students who fail to meet the standard are mentored on what needs to improve and then must re-write and resubmit the work.

SAMS also offers an even more intensive program for those who want to earn doctorates. These Goodpaster Scholars learn to write both professionally and academically. In addition to their graduate studies, these officers must write point papers and an essay, with twelve lessons specifically on writing for general officers.

Most faculty members have experience writing for publication, enabling them to identify papers and monographs for revision and publication. Students are advised as to the appropriate journal or other media most appropriate for publishing their work. While each monograph is “published” in that it is available online to researchers through the Combined Arms Research Library (CARL), many students seek more formal publication. Faculty members mentor students on turning monographs into articles for publication. Sometimes several monographs on a related topic are published as a single edited volume. In this endeavor, Army University Press has been a willing partner. However, opportunities to publish abound not only within the Army and larger Joint system, but also in peer-reviewed academic journals.

With the increased interest in publishing through initiatives such as the Harding Project, SAMS is well positioned to enable officers to continue to meet the challenge.

SAMS 2023 Publications

Student: How to Keep Changing an Army Adjusting Modernization in the Age of Loitering Munitions By: MAJ Ryan Orsini

Student: Tanks in the Surf: Maintaining the Joint Combined Arms Landing Team By: MAJ Mathew Graham

Student: Greener Pastures Can the Implementation of Self- determination Theory Improve the Army Talent Management System? By: MAJ Catherine Cline

Student: ASP3 Goodpaster Scholar, LTC Sam Rosenberg, out of the University of Texas Austin advocates that on the ground military advisors “will, in other words, help bring about the war’s endgame: a free Ukraine integrated into the institutions at the foundation of Europe.” Read his latest piece in Foreign Affairs.

Student: AMSP student, Maj. Sally Williamson (AUS), explores how “comedy is more than just a tool for transformational leadership, it is a part of the organization’s social and culture.”

Student: 2023 MacArthur award winning article, “Four Minutes to Make a Leader,” by Maj. James Cowen (UK) recently published in the September-October 2023 edition of Military Review. Maj.Cowen discusses transformational leadership through personal reflection on his own career.

Student: In the May-June 2023 edition of Military Review, LTC Mike Soyka, ASLSP, discusses organizational leadership, change, and the need for systemic methods of understanding required to adjust organizational culture in the long term.

Alumni: What does the kitchen have to do with AirLand Battle? AMSP alumni Maj. Chris Adams (UK).

Alumni: "Logistics in the Indo-Pacific: Setting the theater for a conflict over Taiwan" COL Gabe Pryor.

Faculty: Writing for the Modern War Institute, Dr. James Greer and COL(R) Kevin Benson argue for clarity, adaptability, and the ability to embrace emerging capabilities as they consider what the Army’s future operating concept should look like. Read “War in 2050: The Army’s Operating Concept After Next.”

Faculty: COL Morgado and Dr. Greer highlight the value of the SAMS institution and on-going efforts by the program in support of Security Assistance Group-Ukraine:

Barry M. Stentiford, a professor of History at SAMS, holds a PhD in Military History from the University of Alabama, a BS in History from the College of Great Falls, an MA in American History from the University of Montana, and a Masters of Strategic Studies from the US Army War College. He wrote Army Expansions: Expanding the Regular Army during War (Combat Studies Institute, 2021); Success in the Shadows: Operation Enduring Freedom—Philippines (Combat Studies Institute Press, 2018); The Richardson Light Guard of Wakefield Massachusetts (McFarland, 2012); Tuskegee Airmen (Greenwood, 2011); and The American Home Guard (Texas A&M Press, 2002). He co-edited The Jim Crow Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2008), and Jim Crow: A Historical Encyclopedia of the American Mosaic (Greenwood, 2014). Dr. Stentiford served in the United States Air Force, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve, retiring with the rank of colonel.