Last year Command Sgt. Maj. Rory Malloy, commandant of the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, responded to some issues that were occurring within the Army with respect to NCO Academies. There had been some instances of misconduct that many believed were due to a lack of knowledge by the individuals selected to be the commandant as to the duties, responsibilities and command authority of that position. The response was to create a course of instruction that would bridge the gap in knowledge to prevent similar instances of misconduct by future commandants.
Conducted in September, the initial 40-hour, 5-day pilot course covered 15 different topic areas: The Authorities of an Enlisted Commandant, Joint Ethics, Lines of Command/Support, Training Management, Inventory Management/Property Accountability, Budget Management, Academy Manning, Course Administrative Requirements, Instructor Development program, Civilian Personnel Management System, Student records, Learning Theories and Styles, Law for Leaders, Registrar, and Accreditation. Now with a few tweaks here and there by the staff at USASMA the Commandants Pre-Command Course is now ready to launch.
"The first class is scheduled for March 9 through 16," said Command Sgt. Maj. Paris Williams, director of the Staff and Faculty Directorate at USASMA and whose job it is to manage the course. "We have 13 commandants coming to the first class."
Malloy said the course will be open to commandants from all of the courses, Advanced Leader Course, Senior Leader Course and the Warrior Leader Course.
"This course is designed to bring the sergeants major into those unique positions where they are actually executing command-type leadership -- a relationship that is not traditionally associated with being an NCO. They can go through their whole career and not ever be put into a position where they have to act similar to a commander and making the decisions like managing a budget, personnel, legal aspects, joint ethics, a whole gambit of things," Malloy said. "So with the Commandants Pre-Command Course we are trying to prepare them for the amount of responsibility they are about to take on. Also to assist them in the decisions they will make and letting them know there is a reach back capability for assistance if needed."
Williams said information and feedback gathered from the pilot course helped to validate the way ahead.
"Based on the AAR (after action review) comments and the feedback from the students, this is a valuable and needed course. There are some unique responsibilities NCO commandants have and oftentimes they do not understand the scope or breadth of duties until they get into the job," he said. "You don't understand budgeting and funding, and there are some key elements and components of command that are typically tied to an officer, not an NCO."
In attending the initial 5-day, 40-hour pilot class, the students found they needed more time to be able to delve deeper into ethical and legal issues. Many times their discussions took them beyond the scheduled 8-hour class day and well into the evening.
Williams said the pilot showed the value of including joint ethics and legal issues in the curriculum as most of the feedback they got said the students found that portion to be key parts of instruction which needed to be expanded upon. To loosen things up a bit and to allow for more classroom dialogue and group dynamics, USASMA added an additional two days to the course.
"No change to the curriculum, structure or delivery, we just put more time allowed into the course to allow for the students to get after some of the ethical topics," Williams said.
The course is currently being managed and funded by USASMA until such time it is approved and funded. Once it is approved, HRC will take over the management of the course, Williams said, and selected commandants will go to the pre-command course first at Fort Leavenworth and then will come to USASMA to attend the Commandants Pre-Command Course.
"So right now all current and incoming commandants are invited to attend this course," he said. "In the future the CSL will select those new incoming commandants and HRC will then coordinate them to come to the school."
USASMA plans on conducting the course quarterly.
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