Command and General Staff College Foundation News Spring 2020 - 27

PHOTO BY MARK H. WIGGINS

Ten Years Ago...
From left, Foundation CEO Bob Ulin, Fort Leavenworth
Commander/CGSC Commandant Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen,
Jr., Foundation Chairman Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Arter, Ross
Perot, Foundation President Hyrum Smith, and the Chief
Operating Officer of the Simons Center, Maj. Gen. (Ret.)
Ray Barrett, cut the ribbon for the opening of the Col. Arthur
D. Simons Center for the Study of Interagency Cooperation,
April 21, 2010.

Colonel Arthur
David "Bull" Simons
June 14, 1918 - May 21, 1979

Colonel Arthur (Bull) Simons was a U.S. Army Special Forces
colonel best known for leading the Son Tay raid, an attempted
rescue of U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War from
a North Vietnamese prison at Son Tay in 1970.
Simons' Army career spanned 30 years and three wars
and his personal leadership and courage in the Ranger and
Special Forces community are the proverbial stuff of legend.
Colonel Simons retired from the Army on July 31, 1971, but
in late 1978, Mr. Ross Perot requested Simons' assistance
to help free two of his employees who were arrested and
imprisoned in Iran. Simons organized a rescue mission and
ultimately freed the two men, fleeing across the mountains into
Turkey, returning to the United States in February 1979. Three
months later, while on vacation in Vail, Colorado, Colonel
Simons died of heart complications at the age of 60.

InterAgency Journal 11-1 is online at
http://thesimonscenter.org/iaj-11-1-2020

Mr. Perot never forgot Colonel Simons' efforts to free his
employees. In 2009 when offered the opportunity to have
a newly established center for the study of interagency
cooperation named in his honor, Mr. Perot chose instead to
honor the memory of Colonel Bull Simons.

www.cgscfoundation.org | CGSC FOUNDATION NEWS - 27

PHOTO COURTESY PEROT SYSTEMS

19 pandemic, we remain committed to serving the U.S.
Army Command and Staff College and building a body
of interagency knowledge through our publications. The
Center-sponsored academic awards for the graduating
classes of the Command and General Staff Officers Course
and the School for Advanced Military Studies (SAMS)
will still be proffered, and there will be new opportunities
for interns and fellows in the near future. As we always
have, the Simons Center accepts submissions for all of our
publication series all throughout the year, and inquiries can
be directed to editor@TheSimonsCenter.org.
COVID-19 may have altered the way the Simons Center
operates for a time, but it has not changed our mission. If
anything, the pandemic highlights the importance of our
mission to better facilitate interagency cooperation through
the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and best practices.
"We believe it's important to maintain scholarship in the
area of interagency cooperation," said Ulin recently. "Just
look at the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The
interagency, intergovernmental, and international solutions
being developed will bring the world back from the brink
of this disaster."
For ten years, the Simons Center has operated with a
vision established by Bob Ulin and Foundation Trustee
Mark "Ranger" Jones and supported by Ross Perot. "Frankly
the mission they initially established for the Center was to
only operate for five years," said Cox. "We have proudly
exceeded that initial mandate and believe the mission of
the Simons Center is still very relevant and viable in the
current operational environment of the nation. Here's to ten
more years."
For more information about the Simons Center visit
www.simonscenter.org.
http://www.simonscenter.org http://thesimonscenter.org/iaj-11-1-2020
Command and General Staff College Foundation News Spring 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Command and General Staff College Foundation News Spring 2020
