The Combat Studies Institute Staff Ride Team leads staff rides for the Combined Arms Center (CAC), TRADOC, and the US Army as a whole. Our staff rides follow the three phased approach of preliminary study, field study, and integration as outlined in The Staff Ride. The Staff Ride Team has a selection of 50+ staff rides that the team can conduct for Army organizations upon request. Most of our offerings are within the continental United States, though occasionally we travel overseas.

Visit our FAQs at the bottom of the home page for more information on how we conduct our staff rides.

The map depicts staff rides that the Combat Studies Institute can conduct on request using internal resources. Visit our publications page for the staff rides that have downloadable handbooks.

Click on the button below to display the complete list of available staff rides or zoom in on the map below and click on a marker. Red markers correspond to the American Revolution. Blue markers correspond to the American Civil War. Yellow markers Correspond to American Indian Wars. Green markers represent other staff rides that do not fit into the previous categories.

Staff Ride Program Offerings

The Staff Ride Team endeavors to build new traditional (or “ground”) staff rides every year. We program our staff ride builds 3-5 years into the future and balance our builds between traditional staff rides and virtual staff rides. Depending on priorities, we do not necessarily build a new traditional staff ride every year. Staff ride builds come from three sources: CAC/AU directives, internally, and requests from the field. The Staff Ride Team Chief recommends the order and priority of staff ride builds through the chain of command for approval.

Building a staff ride is a lengthy project that involves building products for all three phases of the staff ride and includes historical and doctrinal research, writing and editing, creating visual aids, and visits to the actual terrain. The Staff Ride Team is prohibited from travelling to combat zones or imminent danger areas. The development timeline can last from a few months to a year, or longer, depending on the size and scope of the staff ride. We also balance the development process with the other facets of our mission: conducting staff rides, assisting units, and in teaching CGSOC electives.

Army organizations that request our assistance in building a new staff ride are required to assist in the process, either through subject matter expertise on a given doctrinal theme or through travel funding. Requesting organizations should be aware that all requests are subject to the approval of the Army University chain of command and your development request will be programmed into our project list, which may be a year into the future. If you are interested in having us build a staff ride, please click on the request form link or contact us for more information.