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United States Army Strategist
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<p>United States Army Strategist or Functional Area 59 or FA59 is a <a href="/facts/Structure_of_the_United_States_Army/doeftgPP">functional area</a> of the <a href="/facts/United_States_Army/WACWBEK9">United States Army</a>. While the U.S. military and Army has had strategic thinkers throughout its history, the United States Army's FA59 career field emerged in the late 1990's with its first cohort beginning duty in 2001, partially due to arguments made by <a href="/facts/John_Galvin_(general)/KP3wufqx">General John R. Galvin</a> in a 1989 article advocating for military strategists during a period of declining strategic expertise in the United States. Colonel (Ret.) Charles Moore stated that by 2010 the "return of the Army Strategist" was already reversing this decline. </p><p>U.S. Army Strategists have diverse backgrounds and advanced education which provide skills such as creative and critical thinking—allowing them to lead planning at organizations such as <a href="/facts/Combatant_commands/GhMUXheg">combatant commands</a> and multinational headquarters. Officers are selected from the Voluntary Transfer Incentive Program for the career field or are assessed through the FA59 Scholars Program (part of the U.S. Army HRC Broadening Opportunity Program). Strategists do not command but instead rotate through repeated strategic-level assignments to obtain the strategic planning and leadership abilities necessary for development and to promote “a deep understanding of national defense issues and processes”. </p><p>FA59 officers in 2021 serve in a wide variety of joint, intergovernmental, interagency, and multinational organizations. Assignments include service staffs, the <a href="/facts/Joint_Staff/Uvqu4MJ1">Joint Staff</a>, the <a href="/facts/Office_of_the_Secretary_of_Defense/W4tDcewJ">Office of the Secretary of Defense</a>, Corps Headquarters, Army Commands (e.g. Army Futures Command, Army Material Command, TRADOC), Army Service Component Commands, and combatant commands. Strategists serve as speechwriters, authors of key defense documents, operational planners, and in other key positions. According to Moore, "demand for Army strategists continues to increase". </p>