ABSTRACT
The United States (US) Army has long used staff rides – planned learning events at historical sites – to educate current and future officers on leadership, decision making, strategy, and military tactics. Staff rides are more than guided tours of historical battlefields; they are dynamic pedagogical tools that let students research characters, assume their persona, discuss the various options or moral quandaries commanders at the time faced, and orient them to the importance of complex terrain and topography. A staff ride includes three phases: preliminary study, field study, and integration. The preliminary study phase prepares the students for the visit though a mix of lectures, individual study, and group discussion. The integration phase is a "formal or informal opportunity for students and instructors to reflect jointly upon their experience". The theoretical and methodological foundation for the staff ride is grounded in experiential learning theory.
