MCTP team uses staff ride to strengthen doctrinal coaching for warfighter exercises

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Mission Command Training Program Operations Group Juliet personnel examined leadership, intelligence and civil considerations d… FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Mission Command Training Program Operations Group Juliet personnel examined leadership, intelligence and civil considerations during the Battle of Westport Staff Ride Oct. 1-2 to strengthen the doctrinal coaching they provide during Warfighter Exercises. Conducted by the Army University Press Staff Ride Team, the two-day program used Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s 1864 Missouri Expedition to explore how terrain, competing priorities and relationships with civilian populations influenced operational and tactical decisions. Lt. Col. Cliff Harris, an MCTP special operations scenario planner, said the experience will help the group provide more informed feedback to special operations and conventional Army units as they build integration, interoperability and interdependence during exercises.

“The staff ride … was an excellent opportunity for us to study and assess the operational and tactical decision-making on both sides of the conflict from their physical vantage points,” Harris said. “Also, getting the team out of the office, into the classroom, and onto the battlefield, gave us an opportunity to reinforce relationships and unit cohesion.” Army University Press historian Gary Linhart led the three phases of the staff ride: preliminary study, field study, and integration. Linhart said staff rides enhance professional military education, providing a three-dimensional classroom to analyze