No abstract

Outcomes for a staff ride to a Missouri Civil War battlefield by enlisted personnel and officers of the Army Reserve were evaluated. As expected, enlisted personnel and junior officers were much less likely to have participated in a staff ride previously. Nearly all soldiers expressed an interest in going on another all-ranks staff ride, and a statistically significant gain was achieved in expressed interest in American Civil War history. Most personnel agreed or strongly agreed with the concept of an all-ranks staff ride. There were few differences among officers and enlisted personnel in the success of the outcomes evaluated. However, learning seemed to be maximal among those with an intermediate level of previous staff ride experience.

U.S. Army field grade officers who had attended two military schools evaluated two learning environments. For a majority of variables studied, the subjects reported higher satisfaction with institutional support at Fort Leavenworth as opposed to the other site. Satisfaction with that institutional report was strongly related to satisfaction with lodging used (hotels), quality of instruction, and the culture of an active duty installation. Most of the subjects (72-82%) expressed a preference for attending the Command and General Staff College course at Fort Leavenworth, if given a choice.

A 2003 comparative study on learning environments at two military officer training sites was replicated using different methodology. Satisfaction with learning environment and with administrative inprocessing was higher at Fort Leavenworth than at Fort Dix. Most students expressed a preference for Fort Leavenworth. Satisfaction with institutional support and educational facilities appears to influence perceived satisfaction with a learning environment and with preference for training sites among senior military officers.