I enlisted in the US Army after graduating from high school. Eleven months later I was commissioned a 2d Lt in the Signal Corps (I suppose the Army saw some innate leadership talent in me even though I was only 19 at the time; I think my seven years in the Boy Scouts helped).
After 4.5 years of active duty with the Signal Corps and tours in Germany and Korea, I left the military and returned to my hometown to find a job and begin work on my college degree. I started full-time at the local community college and worked full time in a bank. During this period I also joined the Pennsylvania National Guard (109th Field Artillery) where I served as the Battalion Communications Officer. The extra income was helpful.
After two years and an associate degree in hand, I reentered active military service and joined the Marine Corps Officer Aviation Program. This program took folks with less than a 4-year degree and “promised” to send you back to school to complete an undergraduate degree. [What the recruiter failed to make clear was that you had to be a “regular” officer to be eligible; achieving regular status was not automatic but based on a competitive selection process].
I completed Marine Corps Officer Candidate
School
...and the Marine Officer Basic School
.
I then attended Naval flight training
where I flew the T-34
and T-28
training aircraft.
I elected to transition into helicopters and received my “wings” about 12 months after starting the program.
Once I joined the active Marine aviation
community, I flew primarily the Boeing H-46 helicopter
.
When I was promoted to Captain. I then returned to Naval flight
school as a flight instructor with HT-8 where we flew the Bell Jet
Ranger
.
I quickly rose to Chief Standardization Officer. In this role I managed the entire flight training curriculum for the primary helicopter pipeline. I also administered the annual flight evaluation required for all instructor pilots as well as trained new instructor pilots in the squadron. I hold a commercial pilot rating-instrument, in fixed wing and helicopters as well as a Certified Flight Instructor rating. However, I am no longer current.
Following a great three-year tour in the flight
training command, my family and I transferred to Iwakuni, Japan
(about 30 miles south of Hiroshima where I served as the head of our
base search and rescue unit
+
.
We specialized in helicopter rescues at night over water. Imagine
what it’s like on the inside of a basketball. That is what it is
like flying over the ocean at night... it's like there is no
horizon. Then imagine trying to pluck someone floating in the water
to safety. That was our challenge and what we trained constantly
for.
Although my primary military occupation was as a helicopter pilot (with a little over 3,000 hours in both fixed winged and rotary aircraft, that is not what gets one promoted), most of my career involved various management and staff positions in increasingly complex assignments. During my military career I served 1 year in Korea, 3 years in Iwakuni, Japan, 1 year on Okinawa, 2 years in Germany, 4 years in Pensacola, FL, and tours on the West Coast and Quantico, VA (where we stayed and made our permanent home from 1984 to September 2012).
I completed my BBA at Cal State Fullerton, MBA
at the University of West Florida, and my doctorate in management
with NOVA Southeastern University, all while on active duty with the
military. NOVA might be a good option for anyone considering a
doctoral program after finishing your Keller program. See more info
at
.
After leaving the Marine Corps in 1990, I went
directly into academia. My first teaching post was with a small
college in TN—Lincoln Memorial University (about 1800 students then
.
While at LMU my family remained in Virginia. I stayed only two years
and then joined the management faculty at George Mason University in
Virginia
.
After another great year, I left and joined the management
department at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA in 1993
.
In 1996 I came to Keller Graduate School and left in 2008. At Keller
I wore many hats: Associate Dean for the College of Business &
Management, MHRM Program Director, Curriculum Manager, and senior
faculty member.
I am currently a Professor of Civilian Leadership Development at the Army Management Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS. We recently relocated here from Fort Belvoir, VA. My main hobby is amateur radio (N3AF). I try to stay in shape by actively walking and some modest work in the gym. I used to be a big time runner, but had to stop when lower back problems started to become more frequent. I play golf when time permits. As for my family, my wife and I are married 42 years in March 2013. We have two grown children. Our daughter has two of her own and lives in Leesburg, VA. Our son lives in Miami and has two small children.
For those of you interested, my current contact information is available from the Army Signal Corps OCS Association archivist.
Editor's Note
There is so much more to candidate Stone's stellar career than he has written above that we could not help but list some of his many accomplishments. Candidate Stone truly represents the best of breed of Army Signal Corps and U.S. Military Officers:
Education
|
1990 |
Nova Southeastern University,
Fort Lauderdale, FL, Doctor of Business Administration. |
|
1980 |
University of West Florida,
Pensacola, FL, Master of Business Administration |
|
1979 |
California State University,
Fullerton, CA, Bachelor of Business Administration |
|
|
Missouri State University,
Arlington, VA, Graduate Certificate, Defense and Strategic
Studies |
|
2011 |
University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, VA, Graduate Certificate, Leadership
|
Academic Experience
Professor, Civilian Leader Development
U.S. Army Management Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, KS
Associate Dean of the College of Business and
Management, Academic Affairs
DeVry University
Program Director MHRM Program and Curriculum Manager
Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University
Senior Faculty
Keller Graduate School of Management, DeVry University
Visiting Assistant Professor
James Madison University
Adjunct Professor (full-time)
George Mason University,
Chairman
Lincoln Memorial University
Lecturer (part-time)
University of Maryland, Overseas Programs, Iwakuni, Japan.
Senior Flight Instructor
Naval Flight Training School
Member, Secretary of the Navy Discharge Review Board and Director, Complaints Review Board
Director, Command Club Management System, U.S. Marine Corps
Director, Search & Rescue Helicopter Division, U.S. Marine Corps
Chief Standardization Officer and Flight Instructor, U.S. Naval Flight School
Administrative Officer, U.S. Marine Corps
Scholarship
Dissertation:
"The Relationship
between Managers' Perceptions of Their Own Leadership Style and
Their Attitudes Toward Personal Computers," 1990.
Stone, R.A.
(1990). Leadership Style and Managers' Attitudes Toward Using
Personal Computers: A Field Study.
Psychological
Reports, 67, 915-922.
Stone, R. A.
(1993). A SPSS/PC+ Program Listing for Scoring the Leader
Behavior Analysis II (LBAII) Scale.
Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53,
915-922.
Stone, R. A. (1994).
Leadership and Information Systems: A Literature Review.
Computers in Human
Behavior, 10(4), 559-568.
Stone, R. A. (1994). AIDS in
the Workplace: An Executive Update.
Academy of Management
Executive, 8(3), 52-62.
Stone, R. A. (1995). Workplace
Homicide: A Time for Action.
Business Horizons,
38(2) 63-70.
Stone, R. A. (1995). The
Business Strategy Game: Faculty Experiences and Student Perceptions.
The Journal of
Management Education, 19(2), 281-290.
Stone, R. A., & Hayes,
R. (1995). Developing Policies Addressing Workplace Violence.
Employment Relations
Today, 22(3), 25-37.
Stone, R. A. (1996). "Mission
Statements Revisited,"
SAM: Advanced Management Journal, 61(1),
31-37.
Stone, R. A. (1996). "A Survey
of Small Business Exposure to Workplace Violence: An Exploratory
Study," Journal of
Applied Management and Entrepreneurship. 3(1),
16-27.
Stone, R. A. (2004).
“Escalation of Commitment and the V-22 Osprey: A Case Study.”
Unpublished.
Stone, R. A., & Spurgeon, K. (2010, March).
Change Management Knowledge: Evidence from a Survey of Senior Army
Civilian Leaders. MWR
Perspectives.
Stone, R. A. (2011, May-Jun). The Army Out of Balance. Army Sustainment Magazine (Available online)
Case Studies
"Rocky Mountain Helicopters,
Inc." case study in Thompson & Strickland's
Strategic Management (8th ed.) 1995, 767-789.
"Nintendo vs. SEGA (B): The
Video Game Wars." case study in Pearce and Robinson's
Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control
(6th ed.). 1997, pp. 28-1 to28-13.
Professional Conference Papers & Presentations
Stone, R. A.
"Workplace Violence: A Focus on Homicide at Work," Fifteenth
Annual Southern Industrial Relations and Human Resource Conference,
West Virginia University,
October, 1994.
Stone, R. A.
"The Extent of Workplace Violence in Small Business,"
Sixteenth Annual
Southern Industrial Relations and Human Resource Conference, Troy
State University Montgomery, Montgomery, AL, October 6, 1995.
Stone, R. A., & Hayes, R.
"Designing An Appropriate Workplace Violence Policy,"
Sixteenth Annual
Southern Industrial Relations and Human Resource Conference, Troy
State University Montgomery, Montgomery, AL, October 6, 1995.
Stone, R. A., & Overbye, D.
“Developing and Implementing a Process for Continuous Development
and Improvement of Graduate Programs: A Case Study,” 106th
Annual Meeting of the North Central Association, Chicago, IL, April
1, 2001.
Book
Leban, W., & Stone, R. (2008). Managing Organizational Change (2e). John Wiley & Sons. [Book no longer published after my co-author's death]
Book Chapters
Stone, R. (2012). “Change Management: Implementation, Integration & Maintenance (Chapter 9).” In Michael J. Kavanagh & M. Thite (Eds.). Human Resources Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Directions (2e). Sage Publishing.
