Partners International Foundation

Through special arrangements with the United States Army Command and General Staff College, Members of the Healthy Africa Scenarios Exercise Community of Practice (COP) are invited to participate in a special course on Stability Operations executed by the prestigious United States Army Command and General Staff College.

This experimental venue allows COP members to fully participate LIVE in the class from wherever they are in the world using on-line technology.

A report was prepared examining the technologies used in this course.  From the Executive Summary…

This research report summarizes the learning and usability impact of four digital learning technologies used during two offerings (Fall 08 and Spring 09) of a new course in Stability Operations (SO) given at the US Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC). These technologies – Defense Connect Online (DCO), Active Worlds (AW), an electronic book (eBook), and an online discussion forum (Forum) – were incorporated into a complex blended learning environ­ment, taught by a live instructor at the College, where students taking the class were a mix of on-site and remote participants. SO requires Army personnel to lead and participate as members of joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational teams. The intent of the research is to provide empirical findings to assist in determining how application of these digital learning technologies influenced the learning experiences of students participating from a variety of locations and agencies

Full report (PDF, 700KB)

All participants will be given Course Completion Credit. This is an unprecedented opportunity for members of the COP to learn how U.S. Military planners operate in this environment as well as share their experiences and insights in a full, interactive, and live environment.

COURSE TITLE: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Department of Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Operations, Winter 2008

COURSE DESIGNATION: A523, ADVANCED STABILITY OPERATIONS

OVERVIEW: This course takes a holistic approach to Stability Operations (SO) critiquing key current and emerging national, regional, and organizational guidance with emphasis on U.S. whole-of-government planning. Included are some whole-of-community SO planning considerations particularly with regards to potential coalition and nongovernmental organization (NGO) partners. The evolving Interagency Management System (IN4S) and the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) will be incorporated to analyze the five pillars of the USG approach to SO and the associated US Army primary SO tasks: Security, Justice and Reconciliation, Humanitarian Assistance and Social Well-Being, Governance and Participation, and Economic Stabilization and Infrastructure. Concepts addressed/reinforced during the first half of the course are applied by means of virtual technology (Active Worlds) in the second half of the course. Students will form a notional Sudan Planning Team (SPT) in which they will role play as follows: (1) in- residence students as members of the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) planning staff; (2) U.S. interagency (and potential interagency) distance learners as Integration Planning Cell (IPC) members; (3) international in-residence and distance learners as coalition players. NGO partners participating as distance learners will constitute a fourth role-playing subset of the SPT. The SPT will be given a real- world stability operations planning problem to solve and present their proposed solution on the final day of the class. The course is open to U.S. and international students interested in broadening their knowledge base to better prepare them to deal with the complexities of SO planning in the contemporary operating environment.

COURSE OUTLINE:

1. A five-to-seven minute formal, individual presentation on an SO-related case study; delivered over Adobe Connect.
2. Group project: Role play as Stability Planning Group solving real-world SO planning problem; final product delivered in Active Worlds on final day of class.
3. Completion of a SO planning-related publication review; submitted electronically.
4. Completion of an Active Worlds practice problem; submitted electronically.
5. Class participation.