The Basic Strategic Art Program (BSAP) is an academic program taught at the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a United States Army, U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle B ...

Carlisle Barracks Carlisle Barracks is a United States Army facility located in Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle post office address and with a portion in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The site of the U.S. Army War College, it is the nation's second-oldest active military ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The course was designed to support the educational requirements for Functional Area FA59 (FA59),

U.S. Army Strategist United States Army Strategist or Functional Area 59 or FA59 is a functional area of the United States Army. While the U.S. military and Army has had strategic thinkers throughout its history, the United States Army's FA59 career field emerged in ...

, formerly called Strategic Plans and Policy. The first course began in 2003 and the school continues to teach three 16-week courses per year. The course provides most new Army Strategists, who transition from a different U.S. Army basic branch, with a foundation in strategic theory and practice. It helps officers connect their early tactical experiences with the challenges of operating in the strategic environment. The course, which includes various staff rides and modules, is taught to rigorous academic standards. Failure to achieve these standards is cause for disenrollment from the program and removal from the functional area.

Origins

In September 2001, Army leaders in coordination with various senior service colleges such as the Army War College and

National Defense University National Defence (or Defense) University (or College) may refer to: :''Alphabetical by country'' University * Marshal Fahim National Defense University, Afghanistan * National Defense University (Azerbaijan) * People's Liberation Army National Defe ...

"convened a workshop to determine the competencies and educational requirements for Army strategists". The attendees identified the functional area's "skills, knowledge, and attributes" and designed the resulting BSAP course to support them. In January 2002, the Army G-3 directed the Commandant of the Army War College to develop a basic qualification course for Functional Area 59. The G-3 approved the BSAP concept in July 2002. The pilot course was conducted 16 June to 17 September 2003, graduating seven in its plankholder class. By 2006, the course grew to two classes per year and by 2008 had grown to three classes per year. Its first civilian interagency graduate in 2009 marked an effort to diversify the course. A 2010 analysis by the BSAP Director at the time, LTC Charles P. Moore, noted that U.S. Army strategists, in a relatively new career field at the time, had dissimilar experiences and a "degraded sense of identity and commonality" because not all new 59s were able to attend BSAP. Moore stated that, "In time, all strategists will share a common BSAP experience, strengthening their commonality and collective identity" although noting that BSAP cannot accomplish the latter alone.

Purpose

According to the U.S. Army War College's Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations,

BSAP provides officers newly designated into Functional Area (FA) 59 (Strategist) an introduction to strategy and to the unique skills, knowledge, and behaviors that provide the foundation for their progressive development as Army strategists. BSAP also creates a shared common foundational experience for Army strategists, acculturates officers to the functional area, and assists graduates in the creation of their FA59 self-identity as part of a network of Army FA59 strategists.

Curriculum

Faculty from across the U.S. Army War College support BSAP, which also draws from world class academic and professional guest speakers and lecturers. There are three 16-week courses annually, Jan–Apr, May–Aug, and Sep–Dec. The course includes staff rides or visits, including a trip to

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to visit U.S. government interagency organizations. There is a staff ride of U.S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign at the conclusion of the course. Students share experiences with those of the Advanced Strategic Art Program, the U.S. Army War College resident program, and other Senior Service Colleges. In 2018, the BSAP curriculum comprised the following six modules: strategic theory, strategic art, national security decision-making, contemporary strategic challenges, institutional strategy and planning, and joint and Army planning. Using the graduate seminar method, the course combines history, theory, exercises, guest lectures, and staff rides to develop a 'rich professional perspective on policy, strategy, and doctrine.

Modules

The first BSAP module is ''Strategic Theory'', which allows students to "evaluate doctrine and strategy". Students consider military classics by authors such as

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu (; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) may have been a Chinese General, military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the au ...

and

Clausewitz Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz ( , ; born Carl Philipp Gottlieb Clauswitz; 1 July 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral" (in modern terms meaning psychological) and political aspe ...

. The course also considers modern strategic theory related to service and joint doctrine as well as strategic culture and practical application of theory. In the ''Strategic Art'' module, students study campaigns including the

Peloponnesian Wars The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided ...

and Global War on Terrorism. Topics of discussion include: "strategy and policy match, theories of victory, mirror imaging, civil-military relations, pre-war plans and wartime realities, and coalition warfare". The ''National Security and Decision-making'' module focuses on

decision-making In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the Cognition, cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be ...

and organization within the

executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

of the

U.S. government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executi ...

, including real-world

case studies A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular fi ...

and a trip to Washington D.C. for U.S. government interagency visits including the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

, and others. In the ''Contemporary Strategic Challenges'' module, students learn about homeland security as well as conduct regional studies related to Northeast Asia, Southwest Asia, Western Hemisphere, and Europe. The ''Institutional Strategy'' module centers on the U.S. Army related to resources, force management, readiness, and transformation. In the ''Joint and Army Planning'' module, students learn about campaign planning with U.S. Army forces and landpower in a broader strategic context.

Reading List

* ''Accidental Guerilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One'', David Kilcullen * ''American Civil - Military Relations'', Edited by Suzanne C. Nielsen and Don M. Snider * ''American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings'', Allan C. Cigler * ''American Way of War'', Russell F. Weigley * ''And Keep Moving On'',

Mark Grimsley Mark Grimsley (born October 8, 1959, Ahoskie, North Carolina, United States) is an American professor of History at Ohio State University. His 1995 book, ''The Hard Hand of War: Union Military Policy Toward Southern Civilians 1861-1865'', earned ...

Art of War ''The Art of War'' is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the late Spring and Autumn period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is compose ...

by Sun Tzu, trans. by Samuel Griffith * ''Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking'', M Neil Browne and Stuart Keeley * ''Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War'', Robert A. Pape * ''Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It'',

James Q. Wilson James Quinn Wilson (May 27, 1931 – March 2, 2012) was an American political scientist and an authority on public administration. Most of his career was spent as a professor at UCLA and Harvard University. He was the chairman of the Council of ...

* ''Carrying the War to the Enemy: American Operational Art to 1945'', Michael R. Matheny * ''Cobra II'', Michael Gordon and

Bernard Trainor Bernard E. Trainor (September 2, 1928 – June 2, 2018) was an American journalist and a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general. He served in the Marine Corps for 39 years in both staff and command capacities. After retiring from the Mari ...

* '' Congress: The Electoral Connection'', David Mayhew * ''Centers of Gravity and Critical Vulnerabilities, Perspectives on Warfighting'', Dr. Joseph Strange * ''Confederate War'',

Gary W. Gallagher Gary William Gallagher (born October 8, 1950) is an American historian specializing in the history of the American Civil War. Gallagher in 2024 was the John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virg ...

* ''Conflict After the Cold War'',

Richard K. Betts Richard Kevin Betts (born August 15, 1947) is an American political scientist and international relations scholar who centers on U.S. foreign policy. He is the Leo A. Shifrin Professor of War and Peace Studies Emeritus in the Department of Polit ...

* ''Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare'', Daniel Marston and Carter Malkasian * ''Dereliction of Duty'', H.R. McMaster * ''

Elements of Style ''The Elements of Style'' (also called ''Strunk & White)'' is a style guide for formal grammar used in American English writing. The first publishing was written by William Strunk Jr. in 1918, and published by Harcourt in 1920, comprising eight ...

'',

William Strunk William Strunk Jr. (July 1, 1869 – September 26, 1946) was an American professor of English at Cornell University and the author of ''The Elements of Style'' (1918). After his former student E. B. White revised and extended the book, ''The E ...

and E.B. White * ''Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis'',

Graham T. Allison Graham Tillett Allison Jr. (born March 23, 1940) is an American political scientist and the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is known for his contributions in the late 19 ...

and

Philip Zelikow Philip David Zelikow (; born 21 September 1954) is an American diplomat and international relations scholar. He has worked as the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Vi ...

* ''Fighting Talk: Forty Maxims on War, Peace, and Strategy'', Colin S. Gray * ''Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871'', Geoffery Wawro * ''Grand Strategies in War and Peace'' edited by

Paul Kennedy Paul Michael Kennedy (born 17 June 1945) is a British historian specialising in the history of international relations, economic power and grand strategy. He is on the editorial board of numerous scholarly journals and writes for ''The New Y ...

* ''Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', Edward N. Luttwak * ''Great Civil War: A Military and Political History 1861–1865'', Russell F. Weigley * ''Landmark Thucydides'' R.B. Stassler * ''

The Lexus and the Olive Tree ''The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization'' is a 1999 book by Thomas L. Friedman that posits that the world is currently undergoing two struggles: the drive for prosperity and development, symbolized by the Lexus LS, and the de ...

'',

Thomas L. Friedman Thomas Loren Friedman ( ; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for ''The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global ...

* ''Making of Peace: Rulers, States, and the Aftermath of War'',

Williamson Murray Williamson "Wick" Murray (November 23, 1941 – August 1, 2023) was an American historian and author. He authored numerous works on history and strategic studies, and served as an editor on other projects extensively. He was professor emeritus o ...

'' * ''Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War'', Williamson Murray,

MacGregor Knox MacGregor Knox is an American historian of 20th-century Europe, and was from 1994 to 2010 the Stevenson Professor of International History at the London School of Economics. He is the son of the British-born classical scholar and historian Bernar ...

,'' Alvin Bernstein * ''Modern Strategy'', Colin S. Gray *

Obama's Wars ''Obama's Wars'' is a 2010 book written by Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist Bob Woodward. The book was published by Simon & Schuster and released on September 27, 2010. It focuses on the internal debates and divisions within the ...

'',

Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the honorific title of associate editor though the Post no longer employs ...

* ''On Point: US Army in

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

'', Gregory Fontenot, E.J. Degen, David Tohn * ''On Point II : the United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom, May 2003 – Jan 2005 : Transition to the New Campaign'', Donald P. Wright * ''

On War ''Vom Kriege'' () is a book on war and military strategy by Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), written mostly after the Napoleonic wars, between 1816 and 1830, and published posthumously by his wife Marie von Brühl in 1832. It ...

'',

* ''Paths of Heaven, Evolution of Airpower Theory'', Phillip S. Meilinger * ''Patterns of War Since the Eighteenth Century'', Larry H. Addington * ''Peace to End all Peace: The

Fall of the Ottoman Empire The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) was a period of history of the Ottoman Empire beginning with the Young Turk Revolution and ultimately ending with the empire's dissolution and the founding of the modern state of Turkey. The ...

and the Creation of the Modern Middle East'',

David Fromkin David Henry Fromkin (August 27, 1932 June 11, 2017) was an American historian, best known for his interpretive account of the Middle East, '' A Peace to End All Peace'' (1989), in which he recounts the role European powers played between 1914 a ...

* ''

Plan of Attack ''Plan of Attack'' is a 2004 book by the American author and investigative reporter Bob Woodward. It was promoted as "a behind-the-scenes account of how and why President eorge W.Bush decided to go to war against Iraq". The book's chief content ...

'',

* ''Selected Military Writings of Mao Tse-Tung'',

Mao Tse-tung Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 and led the countr ...

* ''Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War'',

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (born December 11, 1940) is a retired American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread (band), Bread, which reached the top of the musical ch ...

* ''Strategy and Power in Russia 1600–1914'', William C. Fuller, Jr. * ''Strategy in the Contemporary World'', John Baylis, James Wirtz,

Eliot Cohen Eliot Asher Cohen (born April 3, 1956) is an American political scientist. He was a counselor in the United States Department of State under Condoleezza Rice from 2007 to 2009. In 2019, Cohen was named the 9th Dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of ...

, Colin Gray * ''Supreme Command'', Eliot A. Cohen * ''Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decisionmakers'', Neustadt and May * ''This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War'', James McPherson * ''The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggles for Iraq, from George Bush to Barack Obama'', Gordon and Trainor * ''

The Tragedy of Great Power Politics ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'',

John Mearsheimer John Joseph Mearsheimer (; born December 14, 1947) is an American political scientist and international relations scholar. He is R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in the University of Chicago. Mearsheimer is best known for dev ...

* ''Transformation of War'', Martin Van Creveld * ''Transforming an Army at War: Designing the Modular Force, 1993–2005'', William M. Donnelly * ''War, Peace and International Relations: An Introduction to Strategic History'', Colin S. Gray * ''War Within: A Secret White House History 2006–2008'',

* ''Why the Allies Won'', Richard J. Overy

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

Basic Strategic Art Program official siteThe Strategic Plans and Policy Officer in the Modular Division
-- ''Military Review''
What’s the Matter with Being a Strategist?
-- ''Parameters''
What’s the Matter with Being a Strategist (Now)?
-- ''Parameters'' Military education and training in the United States United States Army War College