Writer / Matt Keating
Photography Provided
Colonel Timothy Stoner of Zionsville graduated from the United States Army War College on July 28 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with a Master of Science in Strategic Studies degree.
Tim spent a grueling 27 months to earn the degree.
“The War College is the highest level of officer education across each of the Armed Services,” he says. “Each service has own War College, and you receive a Master of Science in Strategic Studies. I was proud, but candidly more relieved that it was done.”
To attend the War College, the officer must be nominated. It is not an applicant process. Tim attended both virtually and on-campus.
“The [Department of the Army] holds a board every year to look at the upcoming senior military advisors who are either a lieutenant colonel or colonel, and selects the candidates they perceive to become potential generals in the Army,” he says. “You must have completed the War College before being considered to become a general officer. The two-year journey starts with an orientation phase at the War College in residence, followed by one year of online studies, followed by another two-week residence at the completion of year one. Then another year online and a culminating capstone phase at the War College in residence, and graduation.”
Tim’s wife, Tiffany, says she couldn’t be prouder of him.
“Tim missed out on a great deal of activities with the family while he was studying for War College and maintaining a full-time job with PricewaterhouseCoopers,” Tiffany says. “We were not only proud at graduation, but genuinely relieved that he could get back to a normal routine. We’ve done more together since he graduated than we had in the last two years. Even on vacations, he missed going to the beach and relaxing to study.”
Tim says that at the graduation ceremony, Susan Eisenhower, one of the surviving granddaughters of President Dwight Eisenhower, addressed the audience with a speech about her failures with Russian relations, the importance of psychology in the military, and issues of environmental awareness.
“The Susan Eisenhower graduation address, delivery, timeliness, and relevance to current events and geopolitical environment could not have had greater impact with the audience,” he says.
Tiffany also enjoyed the speech.
“I was genuinely surprised to hear how important she believes psychology and the mental health of the soldier is,” Tiffany says. “Quite frankly, it was a notion her grandfather solidified into her thinking.”
During the last week of War College, Colonel Timothy Stoner nominated several clients to attend as guests, several of which were local to Zionsville.
“The final week of the second-year residence phase involves inviting up to 70 civilian corporate leaders to join the War College students in what is called the Commandant’s National Security Program,” Tim says. “I nominated five clients and all five were accepted from around the nation. The Indiana clients included Elevance Health and Indiana Farmers Insurance. I’m in the client service business and many consultancies can entertain mutual clients, take them golfing, to a Colts game, dinner, etcetera, but my idea to invite them was to provide a unique experience that no other consulting organization could provide.”
Tiffany says Tim has had many accomplishments over the years.
“Tim defines the Army’s motto of ‘Be All You Can Be,’” Tiffany says. “I met my husband when he was in the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Ball State University. Without question, the Army has had a significant influence on our marriage, family and our lives. I watched him graduate from Airborne and Air Assault schools. I hardly recognized him when he graduated from Ranger School. Then after we were married, we moved to Alabama for flight school, where he learned to fly Huey and Blackhawk helicopters. There isn’t very much Tim hasn’t done in the military – and his fruit salad [i.e., awards on his dress uniform] shows it.”
