SMALL WARS JOURNAL
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Redress of Professional Military Education:
The Clarion Call
Charles D. Allen
Joint Force Quarterly has kindly granted Small Wars Journal permission to
publish this forthcoming JFQ article.
In 1908, the American short story writer O. Henry penned “The Clarion Call.” This title has
become synonymous with a powerful request for action or an irresistible mandate. As the Nation
looks to the institution of the U.S. Army during an era of persistent conflict and after 9 years of
war, it is time to recapture professional military education (PME) as part of our profession.
The Army is arguably the largest and best educational and training institution in the United
States. It has a strong, established educational program that seeks to provide the right Soldier
with the right education at the right time. Without doubt, even as we have fought two wars, there
have been laudable advances to include an expanded graduate school program, increased
numbers of international fellows at our schools, and an effort led by the Chief of Staff of the
Army to broaden the experiences of the officer corps with more opportunities to serve in think
tanks, interagency positions, and world-class universities.
For the officer corps, this PME program is ingrained from pre-commissioning through promotion
to general officer. Unfortunately, even with the advances mentioned above, what is presented in
official policy as an espoused value does not always translate into what is valued within the
Army in the real world. More importantly, the gap between espoused and enacted values is
significant and growing. Without action to arrest this trend, the Army risks the professional
development of its senior leaders as well as its competency as a force to meet the Nation’s needs
in the years ahead.
Developing promising senior and strategic leaders is an obligation of the military profession. At
a recent Military Education Coordination Council meeting in Washington, DC, several
uniformed members asked questions about the types of conflict that we should prepare our senior
officers for. In the contemporary operating environment, the focus has understandably been on
the curriculum within the colleges: what is taught, how it is delivered, and by whom (faculty) in
order to provide relevant education to senior officers. Two essays from the National War College
