This monograph determines if the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) is educating officers as tactical decision makers who can think. It establishes a framework for what is important for tactical decision making. The four elements of the framework include the principles of war, tactical decision making, building experience and mental agility. This framework is developed from researching current Army doctrine and military theory to demonstrate their contemporary relevance to tactical decision making. After establishing the current and historical significance of these elements to tactical decision making, they are used as criteria to evaluate the core tactics program of instruction (POI) at CGSC. The assessment is derived from data obtained from interviews with the faculty and staff, from the Center for Army Tactics (CTAC), and a review of CGSC students issue material from the core tactics POI. This data is compared against the research from the framework to determine if CGSC is teaching what is important to tactical decision making. This monograph concludes that the principles of war, tactical decision making, building experience and mental agility are prominent aspects of tactical decision making. They are essential for officers that must think about the diverse challenges facing the Army. The assessment of the core tactics POI concludes that these four essential aspects of tactical decision making are not integrated in the core tactics POI taught at CGSC.

ADA 262560 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)