Posted on November 15, 2009

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Ross Perot Pledges $6.1 Million to Army College

Texas billionaire and former presidential candidate Ross Perot has pledged $6.1 million to the Command and General Staff College Foundation to support programs at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, the Associated Press reports.

Army majors spend ten months at the school preparing for unit command or staff positions. Perot's pledge would help the Army expand its ethics training for officers while bolstering communication and cooperation between the military and government agencies such as the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and State Department. Among other things, the gift will support the Gen. Hugh Shelton Chair in Ethics and the Col. Arthur D. Simons Center for the Study of Interagency Cooperation, which works to improve interagency activities at the tactical and operational level.

The gift is part of the GCSC Foundation's five-year, $10.5 million campaign to support the college, which hopes to match it with proceeds from the sale of a commemorative coin series.

Perot, a 1953 U.S. Naval Academy graduate who served for four years before launching a career in business, has made other gifts to military academies, including one to establish a course on terrorism at West Point.

"This creates enormous momentum for us," retired Col. Robert Ulin, the CGSC Foundation's chief executive, said of Perot's gift. "It will...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."

Milburn, John. “Perot Pledges $6.1M to Army College in Kansas.” Associated Press 11/06/09.

Primary Subject: Education
Secondary Subject(s): Higher Education
Location(s): Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

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