The Decision-Forcing Staff Ride

A decision-forcing staff ride is a type of decision-forcing case.  However, while most decision-forcing cases take place in a classroom, decision-forcing staff rides take place in the location where the protagonist was faced with the problem at the heart of the case.  That location could be an historic building, a scenic overlook, or a ship that has been turned into a museum.  In most instances, however, that place will be a battlefield that has been preserved.

A decision-forcing staff ride should not be confused with other activities that are also known as staff rides.  These include the staff rides (Stabs Reisen, literally "staff journeys") of the old (pre-1918) Prussian General Staff and the staff rides introduced by the US Army in the 1970s.  The former were visits to areas where the leadership of the General Staff thought it might want to deploy troops at some point in the future.  The latter can take a variety of forms, the most common of which are the guided tour ("This is where ...") and the onsite lecture.

For an excellent examination of the latter, please see Thomas Williams, "The Staff Ride:  Developing Historical Sense in Army Leaders", Journal of Leadership Studies, Volume 9, Number 2.

Helmuth von Moltke (1800-1891)

To reduce the confusion between decision-forcing staff rides and staff rides of other sorts, the Case Method Project of the Marine Corps University (which was in operation between 2007-2017) sometimes referred to the former as "Russell Rides."  This term of art is an homage to Major General John H. Russell, Jr., the 16th Commandant of the US Marine Corps and an enthusiast for the "applicatory method" of instruction.

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