38 JPME Today / Augmenting Bloom in the Cognitive Domain JFQ 93, 2
nd
Quarter 2019
Augmenting Bloom for Education
in the Cognitive Domain
By Douglas E. Waters and Craig R. Bullis
T
he unclassified summary of
the 2018 National Defense
Strategy (NDS) concludes that
“to succeed in the emerging security
environment, our Department and
Joint Force will have to out-think, out-
maneuver, out-partner, and out-inno-
vate revisionist powers, rogue regimes,
terrorists, and other threat actors.”
1
In
describing the required lines of effort
to realize the strategy’s objectives, the
NDS states that professional military
education (PME) will have to be revi-
talized, with an emphasis on “intellec-
tual leadership” and “independence of
action.”
2
The NDS clearly emphasizes a
real need for future joint professionals
who possess sophisticated conceptual
skills and judgment; judgment is critical
because its exercise is a key character-
ization of any professional.
3
Truth be told, this NDS-directed
renaissance of thinking and judgment
within the joint force will require more
than a reinvigorated PME system, as a
systems-level analysis and approach will
be required to engage the entire career
life cycle of the joint professional. PME
is only one piece of this puzzle, and it
Douglas E. Waters is an Assistant Professor of Department of Defense Systems in the Department of
Command, Leadership, and Management at the U.S. Army War College. Dr. Craig R. Bullis is a Professor
of Management at the U.S. Army War College.
Marine Corps graduate (left) of Lance Corporal Leadership
and Ethics Seminar 01-18 accepts certificate of completion
from course director (middle) and her instructor (right), on
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, July 27, 2018
(U.S. Marine Corps/Brendan M. Mullin)
