[This article was first published in Army Sustainment Professional Bulletin, which was then called Army Logistician, volume 2, number 6 (November–December 1970), pages 23–25, 44. The text, including any biographical note, is reproduced as faithfully as possible to enable searchability. To view any images and charts in the article, refer to the issue itself, available on DVIDS and the bulletin’s archives at asu.army.mil/alog/.]

THIS IS A SUCCESS STORY! Not a story of a single individual’s success — the rags to riches sort — but it is the story of how people with potential are given the opportunity to develop rewarding careers in a variety of technical and professional areas.

The U.S. Army Materiel Command (USAMC) has developed and implemented, within Department of the Army guidelines, a specialized recruiting and training program for career interns who will become the future replacements for key personnel in 14 professional and technical career fields (see chart). There are 43,000 key management and technical employees identified within these fields in USAMC. A critical need exists for interns who can be trained and developed to fill these important positions as vacancies occur.

While results are the obvious measure of success, the real success story lies in the direct involvement of top management, the active management of various career field programs by functional executives, and the extensive teamwork developed between staff and line, headquarters and field, and among functional, administrative, and professional education personnel.

The large number of recruits entering the program reflects USAMC top management’s efforts to attract a continuous flow of new talent into the various fields. It also reflects positive action in response to the directive of the Army Chief of Staff that the input of young, highly qualified career interns be given priority support with earmarked spaces and funds.

The emphasis on a continuing input of young college-caliber career interns reflects USAMC’s awareness of the need for improving the quality of its aging workforce. Like the military academies that provide a continuous flow of young leadership to the Armed Forces in war or peace, depression or prosperity, the annual input of career interns continues even in periods of austerity and reduction-in-force. Career interns are a necessary investment in the continuing competence and viability of the USAMC civilian workforce.

A highly coordinated, commandwide effort to recruit and select career interns is under the technical direction of the USAMC civilian personnel officer. There are five USAMC field recruiting offices, called Technical Placement Offices, located in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Davenport, Denver, and San Francisco. Technical placement officers are responsible for coordinating the intern recruiting program throughout their geographic area of from 7 to 13 states. This coordination eliminates duplication of effort among USAMC installations and provides coverage at the lowest cost. Territorial assignments of the technical placement officers are shown on the map. The technical placement officers monitor recruitment and selection of career interns and their assignments upon completion of training.

A technical placement officer visits each USAMC installation within his area on a regular basis to discuss with the commander and key members of his staff problems relevant to the career intern program. Such visits help to insure uniform quality selection of career interns and promote the team effort required for a successful program. Technical placement officers train installation representatives in the principles and practices of personnel interviewing, assessment, and selection.

Executive Direction

Department of the Army civilian personnel regulations covering the career management and direction of the 14 civilian career fields provide for intensive personnel management of key positions in the various career fields. Career program managers are designated at USAMC headquarters for each civilian career program to provide the necessary executive direction. With few exceptions, these career program managers are at the deputy commanding general or directorate level of the major functional element that has the greatest requirement for personnel in that particular career field. For example, the USAMC comptroller is the career program manager for the comptroller career field. Each career program manager receives administrative support and advice from the USAMC civilian personnel officer and functional support from career manager counterparts at major subcommands, installations, and activities.

The primary objective of career management programs is to provide highest quality personnel for present and future staffing needs and to provide visible career opportunities that will attract, develop, advance, and retain a highly qualified and mobile workforce in key occupational areas.

There are several essential elements that contribute to the successful operation of a career management program. One element is the planned recruiting of a sufficient number of young, highly qualified personnel to replace losses that occur in the workforce. Another key element is to provide the training needed by personnel in the career programs at the various grade levels and development stages. An effective career planning and appraisal system is another important element in building a quality workforce. A placement system that insures an avenue for career advancement to those who excel is another major facet of career management that attracts and retains high-quality personnel.

Career Intern Selection

Career intern recruitment and selection follows the principle of considering the best qualified candidates from all sources — both from within and outside USAMC. Selections are based on learning ability, past performance, and potential for career advancement.

The computation of the number of career interns needed each year is determined by the number of anticipated losses expected to occur in each career field. Retirements, resignations, transfers, and other personnel turnovers are projected on the basis of past experience with consideration given to long-term trends. Personnel gains and losses resulting from anticipated expansions, retrenchments, mission changes, and projected workload are also considered. Based on these considerations, USAMC field installations annually report their needs for career interns to headquarters, USAMC, through civilian personnel channels. Personnel and functional specialists at USAMC analyze these needs. This analysis aids the appropriate career program manager in making the final decision on the number of interns to be recruited.

Coordinated Training Program

Once career interns are selected, training becomes the focal point of the program. The U.S. Army Logistics Management Center (USALMC), Fort Lee, Virginia, is the executive agent for the USAMC civilian personnel officer in developing and improving career intern training programs. The director of intern training, USALMC, develops uniform programs of instruction for each career field. Effectiveness of all off-the-job career intern training programs in use at the various training sites is reviewed by the director of intern training. A uniform indoctrination course for all career interns is developed by the director of intern training and conducted at the training sites.

The training site civilian personnel officer is responsible for the day-to-day supervision of intern training. He receives advice and guidance on academic matters from the director of intern training. The career intern is informed of the training site to which he will be assigned at the time of his selection. He is also informed at that time of the location of his permanent duty station once he completes his internship. Thus, mobility is built into the career intern program at the very start.

A career intern’s training does not end with the completion of his internship. Career intern training is an integral part of a larger developmental program designed to provide the careerist with the skill, knowledge, and ability he will need to function at the higher management levels of the U.S. Army Materiel Command, the Department or the Army, or the Department of Defense.

When the internship is completed, the careerist emerges at the journeyman level, usually a GS-9 or GS-11. The careerist then competes with other employees for advancement based on merit. For most vacancies at the GS-11 level, the competition is among employees of the installation. At the GS-12 level, competition broadens and is among eligible employees on a USAMC-wide basis. At the GS-13 level, and higher, competition is among all eligible personnel in the Department of the Army. For positions at GS-14 and GS-15 in the procurement career field, competition is on a Department of Defense-wide basis.

Individual Development

The best and most capable careerists are selected for advanced long-term study assignments on the basis of career development needs. Rotational job assignments are also arranged as an important element of an individual’s development.

Thus, in the U.S. Army Materiel Command, a planned career intern training program is available to those who can meet the requirements. The successful career intern can look forward to responsible positions with opportunities for challenging work assignments and future career growth.

The career intern program insures the USAMC functional manager of a source for well-trained and high-potential employees who can help him meet his mission requirements. The program also insures top management of the U.S. Army Materiel Command and the military services of high quality replacements for key executive personnel over the years to come.

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Mr. Timothy J. Danaher was chief of the Career Management and Development Branch, Civilian Personnel Division, USAMC. As such, he was responsible for recruitment, training, development, and future assignments of career interns. Mr. Danaher had 27 years experience in personnel work, held a master’s degree in sociology, and had been a lecturer at several universities, including George Washington and American Universities in Washington, D.C.