International Flag Ceremony opens CGSC Academic Year 2020

The Command and General Staff College opened Academic Year 2020 with the International Flag Ceremony for Command and General Staff Officers Course 2020 on Aug. 5 at 9:30. The ceremony features posting of the national colors of 89 nations that comprise this year’s international military student cohort.

This year’s group of 114 international military students (some countries have multiple participants) includes the first officer from Fiji to attend the course. The Republic of Fiji is an archipelago in the South Pacific consisting of more than 300 islands. Its major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, contain most of the population of more than 900,000, and Suva, the capital city, is on Viti Levu. The U.S. has had diplomatic relations with Fiji since 1971. Additionally, Fiji is a regular participant in U.S. Indo-Pacific Command sponsored workshops on topics including humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, maritime security, peacekeeping, and international humanitarian law.

International military education at Fort Leavenworth began in 1894. Since then, more than 8,000 international military students from 166 countries have attended classes alongside their United States counterparts. CGSC’s international graduates have been extremely successful in their military careers, with nearly half achieving general officer rank.

The international military students of the Class of 2020 join nearly 1,000 United States Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard officers for the 10-month class that graduates in June 2020. In addition, 21 senior civilian employees from Army commands and other U.S. government agencies will attend the class.

The Army Command and General Staff Officers Course is a rigorous 10-month program of masters-level study that educates mid-career officers to be agile, innovative, and adaptive leaders within increasingly complex and uncertain environments. The Command and General Staff College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission to award a master’s degree.

CGSOC Class 2020 Membership
• Active Duty U.S. Army – 793
• U.S. Army National Guard – 38
• U.S. Army Reserve – 38
• U.S. Air Force – 79
• U.S. Navy – 21
• U.S. Marine Corps – 28
• U.S. Coast Guard – 1
• U.S. Government Civilian Employees – 21
• International Military Students – 114
Total – 1133

For more photos from the ceremony see the album on the CGSC Foundation Flickr site.

Watch the video of the complete ceremony below.