Experience Matters

Major Donald Vandergriff (U.S. Army retired) is an award-winning teacher, writer, and lecturer who specializes in military leadership education and training. He served 24 years as a Marine, Tennessee Army National Guard enlisted, and U.S. Army Armor officer. After retiring from the U.S. Army, he worked for their Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC) Forward with a focus on leader and soldier development. He has also been a consultant and guest speaker at NATO, the U.S. Military Academy, and several law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Baltimore Police Department.

Vandergriff is the author or editor or contributed to 15 books and over 150 articles dealing with leadership. His book, Adopting Mission Command: Developing Leaders for a Superior Command Culture, has been widely praised by a range of experts in military leadership. Vandergriff has twice been recognized as Teacher of the Year for the Army ROTC at the National and Regional levels. Thanks to his methodology and direction, the Army ROTC program at Georgetown University grew in rank from 241 to become the top ranked program in the nation in only three years. In 2015, Vandergriff designed, wrote, and executed the Program of Instruction (POI) for the Adaptive Soldier and Leader Training and Education (ASLTE) programs at Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Roles

Vandergriff has acted as a consultant to the Chief of Staff of the Army’s Strategic Initiative Group (SIG) as well as to the Commander of the Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence, the Commander of the U.S. Army Cadet Command, and the U.S. Military Academy. His methodology, Outcomes-Based Learning (OBL), was placed in the 2020 USMC Strategy and Campaign Plans and employed by the U.S. Marine Corps. Vandergriff’s work on mission command (Adaptive Leadership Training) is currently being used by the Ukrainian and Taiwanese Armies.

Award Winning Teacher, Speaker and Author

Upon retirement in June 2005, Don was awarded the Legion of Merit for his contribution to the US Army (a rare award for retired Majors). He has also been awarded the Military Order of Saint Maurice Award for impacting U.S. Army infantry learnings over the last 20 years, Association of the U.S. Infantry, 2021; Honorary PhD from The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, London, U.K., 2013; Brigade Instructor of the Year Award, 2004; Colonel Leo A. Codd ROTC Instructor of the Year Award, 2003; Military Order of Saint George Award, Armor/Cavalry Association, Placed 3rd three years in a roll for AUSA Institute of Land Warfare Writing Contest (2010-2012); Won the New York Military Symposium Military History Book of the year 2002; BA in Education, University of Tennessee; MA in Land Warfare with an emphasis in German Military History, American Military University; volunteer (Revolutionary and Civil Wars) tour guide for the Culpeper Battlefield Tours

Gallery

Snapshots from Donald E. Vandergriff’s impactful journey.

Contact Us

Reach out to Donald E. Vandergriff directly.