In my role as the Army's Functional Chief for Army Civilian Logisticians--over 55,000 professionals around the world--I strive to "raise the bar" on the skills and professionalism of our civilian workforce. I also want to ensure our professionals get properly credentialed for these unique skill sets. Along these lines and through the great efforts of our Civilian Logistics Career Management Office (CLCMO), I'm proud to announce we have established the Army's "Master Logistician" Certificate Program and have received national accreditation by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). This great program, with ANSI's approval, raises the bar of professionalism for our Civilian Logisticians and provides the Army with professional multi-functional logisticians by documenting excellence in education, training, and career experience in support the Army's critical logistics missions.
This effort began in 2017, when I authorized the launch of the Army's Logistics Management Specialist Certificate Program in partnership with the University of Alabama, Huntsville. Given the great interest in the program, we re-engineered the intent and moved the program to Army Logistics University (ALU) in 2019, simultaneously pursuing ANSI certification. Along the way, we renamed the program to be the Army's "Master Logistician" Program which aligns with the capabilities the program is designed to deliver: multifunctional logisticians who are Masters in their craft. The program has three tiers, with training courses, years of experience requirements, and recommended education levels at the Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced Levels. Logisticians who earn a Master Logistician Certificate at the Advanced Level will be a member of the Army's Logistics Talent Pool and are eligible for Master Logistician designated positions across the Army enterprise IAW civilian personnel rules and regulations. We currently have careerists at all grade levels taking advantage of this great professional development opportunity.
So as you contemplate the question we all ask ourselves, "How can I be more successful in my career?" I encourage you to think about the proper mix of education, training, and experience, based on your personal preferences--the work you like to do! And remember, the most important person managing your career is you; remain committed, maintain your character, and strive to improve your competence. The Master Logistician certificate is a great way to get better and to stand out as selecting officials choose individuals for our most important jobs. Finally, if you are a career professional, you need to be a lifelong learner; don't fall into the trap of avoiding training opportunities due to ego or believing you are already the expert … the world is moving too fast not to learn!
I applaud professionals like Joe Mata, a senior Logistics Management Specialist in HQDA, with many years of experience as a logistician. In spite of already being one of the Army's premier logisticians, he just spent the last year working hard to meet all of the "Master Logistician" certificate requirements. He wanted to improve his skills and earn the formal credential. With all of his years of experience, you might ask: why did Joe work so hard to obtain this certificate? Joe will tell you, he believes that through continuous learning we can improve ourselves and the organizations that we are part of. He believes, as we all should, in lifelong learning, and mentors many careerists to improve themselves, so why shouldn't he? He completed cutting-edge classes at ALU, Defense Acquisition University, and online to earn the title Master Logistician, the highest tier in the three-tier program. Yet Joe is only the second person in the Army to earn the highest title. The Army needs more Master Logisticians, like Joe, who can expertly perform Army logistics in the future operating environment.
Today, the Army is over 55,000 Civilian Logisticians strong, the largest number of civilians in any of the Army's 31 career programs. We provide continuity, leadership, expertise, and depth. We execute daily logistics operations and support. We improve readiness, modernize Army equipment, and reform the Army so it continues to improve, delivering high readiness at optimal cost. Most of all, we are partners to those in uniform--always committed to supporting their missions, no matter where or when they are called to duty. We, as Army Civilians, serve those who serve our nation in uniform.
So what's next in our quest to continue raising the bar? We are looking for better ways to maintain our Master Logisticians, over time providing opportunities for continuous learning even after our professionals receive their certificate. And, we are exploring options to potentially develop a similar program for military logisticians.
Additional information on the Master Logistician Certificate Program and ANSI Accreditation, which is managed by Army's Civilian Logistics Career Management Office, CASCOM, Fort Lee, can be found at: https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/civilian-logistics-career-management-office-cp-131724/projects/os-0346-certificate-program.
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Bill Moore was appointed to the Senior Executive Service (SES) in October 2006 and is currently the HQDA Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G-4 (Tier 3), responsible for Army logistics plans, policy, and programs. In this role, he serves as the Army's leading expert and foremost authority in logistics.
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This article was published in the January-March 2020 issue of Army Sustainment.
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