Letter from the Provost
Col. Ethan J. Diven, U.S. Army
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Col. Ethan J. Diven, U.S. Army
Provost, Army University
CAC Deputy Commanding Officer–Education
Welcome to this edition of the Journal of Military Learning. It is my privilege to serve as the deputy commanding officer–education for the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Every day in this role, I see the profound impact that military education has on strengthening the Army Profession and delivering premium warfighting capability. This prestigious journal plays a vital part in these efforts, providing a peer-reviewed platform where educators, researchers, and military professionals share insights, lessons, and innovations that shape the future of America’s premier landpower institution.
The Army Profession is built on trust, ethical service, and the continual pursuit of excellence. Education reinforces these foundations by ensuring that our soldiers and Army civilian professionals develop the competence, character, and commitment necessary to lead and serve in complex and uncertain environments. In today’s era of strategic competition and technological change, education is more than a support function—it is a critical warfighting enabler. Leaders who can outthink, outlearn, and out-adapt adversaries give our forces an intellectual edge that enhances our physical and technological capabilities.
The Army University system was established to unify and modernize our vast learning enterprise, creating coherent educational pathways to develop and uplift every cohort—enlisted, warrant officer, officer, and civilian. Our mission is to prepare leaders who can succeed in large-scale combat operations and across the spectrum of competition while also serving as ethical stewards of the profession of arms. We pursue this mission through ambitious objectives: developing world-class faculty; professionalizing curriculum; expanding credentialing and degree opportunities; adopting nationally recognized academic standards; and implementing agile governance and assessment practices.
My aim is to blend the best of what has worked with emerging innovations. Our modernization efforts do not discard proven practices that remain valuable. Instead, we build on them, integrating the Army’s long-standing strengths in leader development, doctrine-based instruction, and practical application with cutting-edge methods drawn from the latest learning sciences. We combine proven approaches such as rigorous tactical decision exercises, graduate-level seminars, and insightful staff rides with new tools like immersive simulations, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and mobile-ready content. This blend ensures that we preserve the timeless wisdom of the profession while fully leveraging technology and innovation to meet the demands of modern warfare.
Educational transformation means minimizing lecture-centric instruction in favor of active, learner-centered engagement that cultivates critical thinking, rapid problem-solving, and collaborative decision-making. These are the same skills leaders must apply in combat environments, where information is incomplete, conditions change quickly, and the cost of error is high. By replicating Clausewitzian “fog” and “friction” in the classroom through realistic scenarios, peer-to-peer learning, and technology-enabled exercises, we strengthen the Army’s ability to achieve assigned missions in direct and measurable ways.
Faculty excellence remains essential to this endeavor. The most effective learning environments are constructed by instructors who combine subject mastery, deep professional experience, and refined skill in applying novel teaching techniques. We are investing in faculty development across the Total Army, ensuring our educators can employ new methods and technologies to deliver rigorous, relevant, and engaging instruction. This not only enhances student learning but also models the Army’s commitment to continual professional growth in keeping with the ideals of the Army Profession.
The Journal of Military Learning reflects these priorities by publishing relevant scholarship that links theory to practice, showcases successful instructional innovations, and examines how education can sharpen operational effectiveness. In this edition, you will find articles that explore diverse topics—from blending traditional field-based training with virtual simulations, to leveraging learning principles in leader development, to integrating new technologies into existing curricula without losing the depth and discipline of proven approaches. Each contribution strengthens our shared understanding of how to educate leaders for the challenges ahead.
I encourage you to engage with the ideas in this edition and consider how they might enhance your own instructional practices. Further, I invite you to contribute your own research and lessons learned to future issues of this journal. Together, we will continue to strengthen the Army Profession by reimagining education and ensuring that our learning enterprise remains the foundation of the Army’s ability to execute multidomain operations in expeditionary theaters.
Our people remain our most important competitive advantage. By combining the Army’s proven best practices with cutting-edge methods and technologies, we keep that advantage sharp, relevant, and ready. Learning matters—because winning matters.
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