The Antietam Institute offers 2-day leadership seminars on the historic battlegrounds of the Maryland Campaign of 1862. Seminars are custom-built for military and professional groups seeking a unique growth opportunity for their leadership teams.
The staff ride – the central component of the leadership seminar – is a historical study of the Campaign or specific battle, which includes a systematic preliminary study, an extensive visit to campaign sites, and follow-up discussion to integrate lessons in leadership derived from each.
These are immersive educational tours traditionally used by military units to study past battles, but have great value for any team looking to ramp-up their leadership skills.
Staff rides are a persuasive method of conveying the lessons of the past to the present-day leadership for current application. These exercises bring to life, on the very terrain where historic encounters took place, examples of leadership, communications, decision-making, and the human endeavor that are as applicable today as they were then.
They require active participation and consist of a three-phase exercise: a preliminary study, a field phase, and integration. Each group member assumes the role of a leader participating in the battle, which allows them to better understand tactical decisions made from their perspective.
For further information and to begin planning your organization’s Leadership Seminar, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Institute Executive Director Chris Vincent.
Seminar resources
Coming to a future Antietam Institue Leadsership Seminar? Here are some materials to help you prepare:
Battle of Antietam Staff Ride Guide (CMH Pub 35–3–1)
The Ballard Staff Ride Guide is intended as a quick read (with decent maps) for participants to get a feel for what happened at Antietam and for the bigger picture of the Maryland Campaign.
Antietam Battlefield Staff Ride (Antietam Institute)
The Institute’s Antietam Battlefield Staff Ride presentation provides information on orders and objectives – it’s a deeper dive into understanding why certain decisions were made on the field. This works well if you plan to devote classroom time to Antietam before your visit.
Antietam Staff Ride Leadership Biographies (Antietam Institute)
This contains one-page ‘bio’s’ on 34 major leaders on the field, with a selection of quotes to provide a glimpse into their character/personalities. Some groups assign a bio to each student so that they can share insight on that particular individual at the appropriate spot on the field.
Past seminars
Leaders from Kodiak Solutions, LLC hit the field for two days of intensive leadership study with Institute facilitators to prepare for the next growth phase of their business. Charged with providing high-value business solutions daily, and under pressure as the catalyst for their company’s growth, they found plenty of parallels between the challenges leaders faced in the Maryland Campaign of 1862 and their own. The group gleaned valuable insights from the field and strengthened bonds with their colleagues whom they normally only see remotely.
Read about one of our Leadership Seminars with members of the Michigan National Guard at Echoes of the Past: NCO Staff Ride to Antietam National Battlefield
(U.S. Army National Guard photo by Daniel Garas)