Date of Award

Fall 10-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

School of Public Service

Program/Concentration

Public Administration and Policy

Committee Director

Adam Eckerd

Committee Member

Gail Nicula

Committee Member

Aaron Karp

Abstract

Civilian control over the military, according to Samuel Huntington’s theory of objective control, is maintained through a clear delineation between the professional spheres of military operators and civilian policymakers. This study investigates whether the curriculum of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) has expanded the boundaries of military competence into the domain of civilian policy formulation between 1975 and 2025. Employing a constructivist instrumental case study design grounded in historical institutionalism, this research analyzes archival data, including accreditation self studies, course catalogs, and instructional memoranda from the Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library. The study utilizes theory of objective control as the primary lens to assess professional boundaries, specifically examining shifts in the curriculum.

The analysis identifies two critical junctures that altered the institutional trajectory of CGSC: the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986, which mandated joint professional military education, and the 2003 Army Training and Leader Development Panel Officer Study (ATLDPOS), which universalized participation. While these reforms enhanced joint interoperability and addressed career development concerns, the findings reveal a concurrent and significant migration of instructional content into areas objective control reserves as civilian competencies. By 2025, the CGSOC curriculum requires field-grade officers to engage in practical exercises involving the formulation of national security strategy, the consideration of economic instruments of power, and the analysis of interagency policy processes. These activities, which Joint Publication 3-0 explicitly reserves for the President and Secretary of Defense, suggest a professional drift where mid-career officers are trained to operate as strategic integrators rather than tactical practitioners.

The study concludes that this curricular evolution represents a potential breach of professional separation according to objective control. According to the theory, educating officers in the mechanics of grand strategy and policy formulation risks fostering a culture that may erode democratic accountability and blur the distinct roles of the military and civilian sectors. These findings, according to objective control, underscore the necessity for civilian leaders to reassert oversight over professional military education to ensure that the military remains a subordinate instrument of policy.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/fjhn-hg65

ISBN

9798173762498

ORCID

0000-0001-9497-9042

Download

Share

COinS