Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army Command and Staff College's and the Army War College's implementation of recommendations in the Panel on Military Education's April 1989 report aimed at improving Department of Defense professional military education programs.
GAO found that the Army Command and Staff College, an intermediate school: (1) reported that it took action to implement or partially implement 29 out of 31 recommendations; (2) had no plans to implement the remaining two recommendations dealing with performing a feasibility study to establish a faculty exchange program or using the officers' performance report as a measure of overall performance; and (3) was already required by the Army to use training reports when measuring student achievements. GAO also found that the War College, a senior school: (1) reported that it took action to implement or partially implement 29 out of 31 recommendations; (2) like the intermediate school, did not implement the recommendations calling for a feasibility study to establish a faculty exchange program or using the officers' performance report as a measure of overall performance; (3) did not plan to establish a distinguished graduate program to rank each student; and (4) believed that it should judge students against established standards, not each other, since it taught students to cooperate and work to achieve a common objective.
