Fueling the Force: Exploring Leader Priorities

Abstract

Army Majors are organizational-level leaders with the responsibility for planning, organizing and leading large unit formations, working on high level staffs and running the Army day to day. “Fuel Priorities” is an experiential learning exercise designed to examine their critical thinking and decision-making and communication skills in a deceptively familiar setting. Conducted early in their academic year at the Command & General Staff College, the exercise provides a common frame of reference for further lessons in critical thinking, while preparing them for a difficult staff planning exercise at the end of the year. This paper describes the CGSC experience with incorporating a “bite-sized” practical exercise into the professional military decision-making curriculum at CGSC with some thoughts on the generalizability of the insights.