Command and General Staff College Foundation News - 12

FEATURE

International Hall of Fame
welcomes four inductees
Christopher Burnett, Fort Leavenworth Lamp
Four international graduates of the Command and
General Staff College became members of the International
Hall of Fame in a March 16 ceremony at the Lewis and Clark
Center.
The induction brings the number of leaders who have been
honored in the IHOF to 270 from the nearly 8,000 international
officers who have graduated from CGSC. Maj. Gen. John Kem,
provost of Army University and deputy commandant of CGSC,
noted the success of international officers at the college.
"We've been fortunate to host international students here
since 1894. It is important
to point out that these
officers were very high
achievers before attending
Elzbieta Buk
CGSC. We have simply
speaks on
augmented their talents
behalf of
her father,
and took advantage
the late
of the ambassadorial
Commander
of the Polish
contributions
their
Land Forces
presence
has.
The
Lt. Gen.
Tadeusz Buk,
exchange of knowledge
Command
and ability, throughout
and General
this history is amazing,"
Staff College
class of 1999,
Kem said.
who was
Kem said members of
being inducted into the
the IHOF are "an elite
International
group from among an
Hall of Fame.
elite group" for having
achieved the most senior
positions of leadership in
their countries. He noted
that more than half of the
college's international
graduates
achieved
general officer rank. He
then introduced the four
international honorees:
Maj. Gen. Arthur Gawn of New Zealand, Lt. Gen. Tadeusz Buk
of Poland, Gen. Alberto Jose Mejia Ferrero of Colombia and
Brig. Gen. David Jones of Belize.
Gawn began his career when he enlisted in the New Zealand
Army in 1978 and undertook initial officer training at the Officer
Cadet School, in Portsea, Australia. He graduated into the Royal
New Zealand Infantry Regiment as a second lieutenant in 1980.
12 - CGSC FOUNDATION NEWS

Gawn held regimental appointments, saw operational service
and served in many staff assignments. As a general officer, he
commanded New Zealand's 3rd Land Force Group, the Land
Component within Joint Forces Headquarters and assumed
the position of deputy chief of staff. Gawn was appointed
joint forces commander in 2011 during operations while based
in Santici Camp, Bosnia, and as part of the United Nations
Transitional Authority mission to Timor-Leste.
Gawn graduated from the Command and General Staff
Officer Course in 1996. He is one of 43 New Zealand graduates
since 1944 and is one of five who reached the rank of general
officer.
Gawn was not able to attend the ceremony. New Zealand
Maj. Iain Hill, a student in the 2017 CGSOC class, accepted the
honor on Gawn's behalf. Hill relayed the general's gratitude and
appreciation for being recognized by the IHOF.
Buk is the first IHOF member from Poland and the first
inducted from the CGSOC class of 1999. His multi-national
command assignments included Multinational Division CentralSouth in Iraq in 2004 and 2007, and Combined Security
Transition Command-Afghanistan in 2006. He was promoted
to major general in 2007 and appointed the commander of the
Polish Land Forces in 2009. Buk died April 10, 2010, in a plane
crash near Smolensk, Russia, en route to the commemoration of
the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre.
Making remarks on behalf of her late father, Elzbieta Buk
said she was only four years old when her father attended
CGSC. She said her father was very proud of being a CGSC
graduate, and she thanked the IHOF for her entire family.
"He was a hard-working man," Elzbieta Buk said.
Mejia has served as the commander of the Colombian
National Army since 2015. He has served as commander of
special forces and infantry battalions, director of the Colombian
Infantry School, commander of infantry brigades, an air assault
division, and the Joint Special Operations Command. Mejia
holds several national and international distinctions. Among
these are the Order of San Carlos and the Special Operations
Medal from the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command.
In his remarks, Mejia said the lessons about building a
professional army learned in CGSC classrooms are continually
reinforced during his career. He cited the inherent challenges of
transitioning a national army from a militia to a structured force.
"Professionalism strengthens civil and military institutions
that respect democracy," he said. "I am honored to be here with
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