Opportunities for ARSOF education at Fort Leavenworth.

For officers in Army special-operations forces, education opportunities in Intermediate Level Education, or ILE, at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., have never been greater.

Those opportunities include the SOF Studies Program, a SOF-specific ILE education track tailored for SOF field-grade officers; the Interagency Studies Program, a fully funded master's-degree program in interagency studies offered to selected ARSOF officers by the University of Kansas; new ways for officers to apply for the School of Advanced Military Studies, either before they arrive for ILE or after returning to the force; and the opportunity for five Special Forces warrant officers to attend ILE and some of the graduate-school programs each academic year.

This article will provide details and qualifications for each program, along with application information. While some of the programs are under development, all will be initiated by the start of academic year 2009 in August, and interested officers should begin early to prepare their applications.

SOF Studies Program. Resident ILE programs conducted by the services at Fort Leavenworth; Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.; the Naval War College, Newport, R.I.; and the Marine Command & Staff School, Quantico, Va., form the centerpiece of professional military education, or PME, for field-grade officers. With a large, experienced SOF faculty and a dedicated SOF curriculum that lasts several months, Fort Leavenworth has the most robust SOF-specific education track of any of the services' one-year ILE programs.

During the final months of the academic year, just prior to their return to the force, all Fort Leavenworth field-grade ILE students bound for SOF assignments participate in the 72-hour SOF-specific academic track. In each class, as many as 80 joint and ARSOF officers receive focused preparation for their future field-grade SOF assignments. The SOF-specific track includes updates on the component forces of the U.S. Special Operations Command, joint and service SOF doctrine, and secure video-teleconference updates on current operations from the theater special-operations commands.

The SOF Studies Program also incorporates seminar discussions with guest instructors who are interagency experts; a joint-planning-group exercise that simulates operations of a joint special-operations task force, or JSOTF, in coordination with a joint task force; and SOF historical case studies, many of which are mentored by SOF general officers or by current or recent JSOTF commanders who commanded during the operation under study. Recent guest mentors include Admiral Eric Olson, commander, USSOCOM; Lieutenant General Robert Wagner, former commander of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command; Major General Thomas Csrnko, commanding general of the JFK Special Warfare Center and School; Brigadier General Hector Pagan, commander of Special Operations Command-South, and numerous former JSOTF commanders. These officers spoke on current operations while mentoring students on SOF utilization in past operations and the road ahead for SOF.

Beginning in August 2009, the SOF Studies Program will be conducted in two parts: a pre-course that will provide students critical ARSOF updates prior to the beginning of the academic year, and a more advanced course taught during the latter part of the year that will feature the SOF case studies and sessions with guest mentors.