FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) _ Texas billionaire and two-time
presidential candidate Ross Perot has pledged $6.1 million to a
private foundation to pay for programs at Fort Leavenworth's Command
and General Staff College.
Army majors spend 10 months at the school to prepare for unit
command or staff positions. The college also has educated more than
7,100 international officers who have gone on to lead their
militaries and, in some cases, nations.
Perot's pledge will help the Army expand ethics training for
officers and bolster communication and cooperation between the
military and government agencies, such as the FBI, Department of
Homeland Security and State Department. Several agency employees are
currently enrolled in the 10-month course of instruction.
He made the pledge after visiting the college's Lewis and Clark
Center late last month and discussing history with a class of
officers.
"That was the best part of the day,'' Perot said in telephone
interview Friday from his office in Texas. "They're doing a great
job, and I couldn't be more proud of them.''
The money will go to the nonprofit Command and General Staff College
Foundation, which is in midst of a five-year campaign to raise $10.5
million to support the college. Money raised will be matched with the
proceeds from the sale of a commemorative coin series honoring the
nation's five-star generals. The coin program must be authorized by
Congress and is expected to begin in 2013.
Robert Ulin, the foundation's chief executive and a retired Army
colonel, said Friday that Perot's pledge was "huge.''
"This creates enormous momentum for us,'' Ulin said "It will afford
us to fill all the gaps that exist at the college to ensure that the
officers there receive the best possible education. It will take it
to a whole new level.''
The money will go to the Col. Arthur D. Simons Center for the Study
of Interagency Cooperation and the Gen. Hugh Shelton Chair in Ethics.
Simons, a special forces officer, is noted for his rescue of
prisoners in Vietnam in 1970 and two of Perot's employees, who were
held prisoner in Iran in 1979.
Shelton is a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a
close friend of Perot's.
Perot, 79, graduated in 1953 from the U.S. Naval Academy and served
four years before beginning his business career. Perot said he had
made other gifts to the military academies over the years, including
money to establish a course on terrorism at West Point.
"What they do is very significant, what I do is insignificant,''
Perot said of his contributions. "This is just another instance.''
Brig. Gen. Edward Cardon, deputy commandant of the college, said the
interagency center and ethics professor were to areas that the Army
is focusing on in educating officers. The center will build on
strides that the college has made in recent years to enroll more
students from government agencies and improve those agencies'
cooperation with the military.
Ulin said the center would conduct research on improving interagency
activities at the tactical and operational level, which will be
helpful in current operations worldwide.
The foundation was established in 2005 to support the Army's efforts
to educate U.S. and international officers. Ulin said the purpose is
not to replace federal funding for the college, but to provide
additional resources to enhance learning and research by the nation's
military officers.
"This gives me the opportunity to give back to the young officers
who have give so much to us,'' Ulin said.
The foundation raised more than $4 million in its first three years
before Perot's pledge, most of it coming from civilians with no
military experience, Ulin said.
The foundation selected Perot to receive a distinguished leadership
award in 2010 for his public service before the businessman made his
pledge, Ulin said.
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On the Net:
Command and General Staff College Foundation:
http://www.cgscfoundation.org
