Photo By Lt. Col. Patty Brewer | Lt. Col. James Michael Guelcher, Command Judge Advocate for the 352 Civil Affairs...... read more read more
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CARLISLE BARRACKS, Pennsylvania – After two years of study, Col. Jeremy Alan Crist, Col. Gene Del Bianco, Lt. Col. Dennis H. Greco, and Lt. Col. James Michael Guelcher graduated today from the U.S. Army War College Distance Learning Class of 2015. The graduates crossed the stage and received their diplomas to the cheers of friends and Family.
Brigadier General Alan L. Stolte, commander of the 352 Civil Affairs Command, a U.S. Army Reserve unit located at Fort Meade, Md., attended the graduation. As an alumnus of the U.S. Army War College, Class of 2005, Stolte welcomed the opportunity to return.
“It’s great to be back at Carlisle Barracks here today,” Stolte said. “I have many fond memories from my time at the Army War College.”
Stolte offered his congratulations to the graduating officers and set the stage for future expectations. Stolte explained that Crist, Del Bianco, Greco, and Guelcher have now transitioned from the tactical level to the operational and strategic level.
“Our graduating officers will now take on more responsibility in the U.S. Army and I challenge each of them to lead from the front and apply what they have learned at the AWC,” Stolte said. “They will be among tomorrow’s leaders.”
As CACOM Soldiers, Crist, Del Bianco, Greco, and Guelcher are positioned to apply lessons learned during this rigorous course. Crist, the 352nd’s Operations Team Chief, started his military career with his 1993 commissioning from the U.S. Military Academy. Del Bianco is a Functional Specialty Team Chief with twenty-five years of service starting with his 1990 Officer Candidate School commissioning. Both Soldiers are experienced civil affairs officers with numerous tours and training, including Airborne School, the Civil Affairs Qualification Course, Intermediate Level Education-Common Course, and Advanced Joint Professional Military Education.
Greco, just completed two years as commander of the 437th Civil Affairs Battalion, a U.S. Army Reserve unit located in Fort Story, Va. Greco is now assigned to the CACOM as a plans officer for a Civil Affairs Planning Team. He is responsible for planning and coordinating civil affairs and civil military operations within a joint staff.
Guelcher, Command Judge Advocate for the CACOM, received his ROTC commission in 1988 at Gannon University in Erie, Pa. During his career, Guelcher attended the Combined Armed Staff and Service School, Command and General Staff College, and received a Master of Laws degree from the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Va.
Crist, Del Bianco, Greco and Guelcher received Masters of Strategic Studies degrees along with 360 classmates which included officers from the U.S. Army Reserve, Army National Guard, U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Marine Corps and international officers from Armenia, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, Slovakia, Spain, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The process started in 2013 when Crist, Del Bianco, Greco and Guelcher were selected to attend the U.S. Army War College Distance Learning. The two-year distance learning program was a combination of resident and online courses. Online courses started soon after student selection and ended with a two-week residence course in 2014. A second year of online courses culminated in a final two-week residence course prior to graduation.
The Army War College website states that the Department of Distance Education seeks to educate and develop leaders for service at the strategic level while advancing knowledge in the global application of landpower. Distance Learning leverages technology to bring together instructors and students from around the world and has a different dynamic from the typical Army War College resident course.
“During my two years at the War College, I continued to be impressed by the faculty’s diligence and dedication in responding to students,” Del Bianco said.
The online classes had 22 seminars with 20 students per seminar. Students utilized Blackboard, an online training tool employed by the U.S. military, to conduct collaboration sessions. A team leader was chosen for each forum which might have multiple collaboration sessions within a week.
“A little more challenging than having everyone sit in a room and just work together,” Crist said. But the results were the same quality as those developed by resident War College students.
The Army War College estimates that distance learning participants have 15-hours per week in coursework so students have to be committed and determined to take on the challenge.
“The balance can be difficult, but the distance program allows a certain amount of flexibility,” Guelcher said. “Family vacations had to be scheduled around course deadlines, but the key was to remain connected with family while maintaining USAR obligations and war college studies.”
Crist was on his third deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom during most of the first year. After his 12-hour shift he sat down for a couple of hours of homework every night.
“There were less distractions. I didn’t have to juggle reserves and civilian job and family,” Crist said. “I was kind of the captive audience.”
War College topics blended history, strategy, and contemporary security issues with current Department of Defense planning doctrine and theater assessments.
“Being historically minded, I appreciated the study of past campaigns as a starting point in understanding the challenges facing contemporary military planners in today’s volatile and uncertain security situation, ” Guelcher said.
Crist witnessed his lessons becoming a reality as the ISIS crisis unfolded. His three-star headquarters transformed and created crisis action plans from the campaign plans.
“I had a better understanding of what was driving the process and how the organization was shaping based on national policies,” Crist said.
Today, Crist, Del Bianco, Greco, and Guelcher completed their training on strategic leadership and received their Army War College diplomas. However, as General David G. Perkins, commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, stated during his remarks, the next phase in the graduates’ career will not be graded by Army War College academic professionals, but by Soldiers. Soldiers are the final judge on the competencies of leadership.
The graduation is a time for Crist, Del Bianco, Greco, and Guelcher to reflect on decades of service and the challenges that remain. The personal satisfaction from being a citizen-Soldier is enhanced by the sense of accomplishment. Today, these officers attained a level of success in the profession of arms to which many aspire but few achieve; graduation from the U.S. Army War College.
If you missed the graduation, a recording of the ceremony is available at www.youtube.com/usarmywarcollege. Ceremony photo, including stage photos of every graduating student, can be found at www.facebook.com/usawc.
| Date Taken: | 07.24.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2015 02:02 |
| Story ID: | 171091 |
| Location: | CARLISLE BARRACKS, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Hometown: | BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, US |
| Hometown: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 676 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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