Originally presented as: Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kansas State University, 2008.

Combat leadership in the AEF: a tale of Alvin and Charles -- "To be instructed in the dark art and mystery of managing men" -- Small-unit leadership in the Old Army -- "We find ourselves in need of a vast army of officers" -- The stateside selection and training of officers -- "By improvised and uncoordinated means" -- Officer selection and training in 1918 -- "Ninety-day wonders" and "jumped-up sergeants" -- Stateside mobilization and the challenges of small-unit leadership -- "My God! This is Kitchener's army all over again" -- Leader training in the American Expeditionary Forces in France -- "Gone blooey" -- The AEF's systems for addressing officer incompetence and inefficiency -- Noncoms, doughboys and the Sam Brownes -- The relations between the leader and the led in the US Army -- Combat physics and the ugly realities of attritional warfare -- The school of hard knocks -- Combat leadership and the attritional battlefield -- Conclusions: A tale of George and Henry -- Appendix: Organization of AEF infantry rifle companies and platoons.