LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – In an engagement with future military leaders, Army Lt. Gen. Jon Stubbs and Command Sgt. Maj. James Brian Kendrick visited Command and General Staff Officer Course students Feb. 28.

According to the school’s website, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., educates field-grade officers in the course to be “agile, innovative and adaptive leaders in increasingly complex and uncertain environments.”

Stubbs told a class of about 50 students that adaptive leaders are essential to success on the modern battlefield, where change is the only constant.

He emphasized the ability to adapt quickly is crucial for leaders and Soldiers to stay ahead of emerging threats and achieve their mission.

The CGSOC provides master’s-level instruction to nearly 5,000 U.S. Army majors, sister service members, and international personnel annually in three ways: the resident course at Fort Leavenworth, three satellite and hybrid campuses, or a distance learning program.

During his time with the class, Stubbs emphasized the need for optimism and faith in one another to win the fight.

“Confront the brutal truth through enduring optimism and faith in each other You are the future, and we are going to win our battles together,” Stubbs said.” Observe, participate, build relationships, and go back to your states as more experienced officers.”

Students seemed to agree about the course’s impact.

“The exposure to planning and thinking at higher echelons, especially at the division and corps level, was incredibly impactful,” said Army Maj. Danny R. Canlas, an Alaska National Guard infantry and logistics officer.

“Alaska is a large state with a smaller force structure,” said Canlas. “Other than a combat training center or warfighter exercise, it’s hard to train at those higher echelons, especially due to the geographic separation from our division-aligned states. So, it was great to expose myself to a higher level of planning.”

Other students appreciated the integration of partner nations and sister services.

“The integration of officers from sister services and international partner nations provides a dialogue that builds perspective and knowledge invaluable to the professional development of ARNG officers,” said Army Maj. Giovanni Monsanto. “We will be able to better serve in the State Partnership Program and have a baseline of understanding to communicate with non-ARNG units in deployed environments.”

The Command and General Staff School is the largest of four academic schools within the Command and General Staff College system. Its mission is to educate field grade officers to be agile, innovative and adaptive leaders who communicate effectively, think critically and can build and lead organizations under mission command in Unified Land Operations.