U.S. Army Special Operations Command Department of Defense Civilians complete leadership training

By Mrs. Bonita Riddley (USASOC)October 8, 2019

The U.S Army Special Operations Command, in partnership with the Army Management Staff College (AMSC), recently hosted an Advance Course and an Intermediate Course at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, facilitated by a mobile training team (MTT).

Students from across the installation, to include USASOC, Forces Command, U.S. Army Reserve Command, Installation Management Command, and the Joint Special Operations Command attended the course.

Thirteen USASOC Civilians graduated from the Advanced Course, while thirty-three USASOC Civilians graduated from the Intermediate Course. The courses are part of the Civilian Education System (CES), under the executive direction of AMSC.

CES marks its success by its comparison to the Army's Professional Military Education (PME) system. Considered a PME companion system, CES prepares Army Civilians for leadership ranging from leading self to leading the enterprise.

Some of the PME equivalent courses to the Intermediate Course are the Captains Career Course, Warrant Officer Senior Course and the First Sergeant's Course. Likewise, some of the equivalent courses to the Advance Course are the Command & General Staff College, Warrant Officer Senior Staff Course, and Sergeant Majors Course.

"Training and development of the Army Civilian Corps is required to sustain a mission-ready Army," said Joanna Elliot, chief, USASOC Civilian Human Resources Division. "USASOC is confident that Civilians who attend CES are prepared to lead," Elliot added.

In addition to preparing Civilians for leadership roles, the MTT allows students to train without much disruption to their daily schedules.

"Many employees have personal or professional obligations after duty hours. The MTT afforded many of these students with the opportunity to meet professional goals while maintaining prior commitments," Elliot said.

USASOC's investment in the Civilian Corps benefits both the command and its employees.

"My command places value in its leaders, not only being technically proficient, but also having good "people skills,' said William Wallace, deputy director, for the USASOC Safety office, and graduate of the Advance Course.

"Another benefit from this course is what I bring back to my command and more specifically my directorate, valuable insight into what it takes to problem solve and what it takes to effectively manage a team, Wallace said."

Donald Garrett, capability analyst, USASOC Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate, and graduate of the Intermediate Course said," It allowed me to gain a perspective of situational understanding, increased my self-awareness, as well as gave me tools to build a high performing team."

CES courses provide multiple levels of Civilian leadership development that progress throughout the course of an individual's career. CES is a prerequisite for many competitive professional development programs and Civilian talent management opportunities.

USASOC has a total of 89 Advanced Course graduates and 203 Intermediate Course graduates.

The CES courses are offered year round. The fiscal year 2020 CES schedule has been released and seats are available at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. USASOC is also sponsoring another Intermediate Course MTT at Fort Bragg, March 9-27, 2020.

For those interested in attending CES courses, contact your human resources division The Advanced Course is available for Civilian employees from grades General Schedule (GS) 13-15, the Intermediate Course is available from grades (GS) 10-12, and the Basic Course is available for grades (GS) 9 and below. CES also includes several self-development courses for all grades. CES courses are available online through distant learning and face-to-face in resident at Fort Leavenworth.

-USASOC-

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