Leadership course educates and inspires Fort Novosel civilians

By Brittany Trumbull, Fort Novosel Public AffairsOctober 29, 2024

Fort Novosel civilian employees complete the first CES Intermediate Course held on the installation Oct. 25.
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Jeff Roth, Office of the Garrison Commander administrative officer, presents his capstone to the CES Intermediate Course on Fort Novosel Oct. 24.
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Fort Novosel civilian employees engage in lessons during the first CES Intermediate Course held on the installation Oct. 24.
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Group lessons and activities are hung on the classroom walls during the first CES Intermediate Course held on Fort Novosel Oct. 25.
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Ronda Dorsey and Evelyn Burns, Intermediate Course instructors, participate in class discussions during the CES Intermediate Course on Fort Novosel Oct. 24.
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FORT NOVOSEL, Ala.-- A 4-person Mobile Education Team from the Army Management Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. traveled to Fort Novosel, Ala. in Oct. to lead the in-person portion of the Army Civilian Education System (CES) Intermediate course.

CES is a progressive and sequential leader-development program that provides enhanced educational opportunities for Army Civilians throughout their careers. All civilian employees are required to take the initial Foundation course followed by the Basic Course (GS-01 to 09), Intermediate Course (GS-10 to 12), and Advanced Course (GS-13 to 15).

Until 2020, the CES courses were primarily taught in person at Fort Leavenworth According to Evelyn Burns, intermediate course instructor.

“We used to do only 4 or 5 a year,” said Burns, “now we are doing about 18 Mobile Education Teams per year. We still offer the virtual class, but it is harder to get into because space is limited. The older model, taught primarily at Fort Leavenworth, is in the same format as our Mobile Education Teams. Students, however, are required to go TDY for 3 weeks which increases the cost and ultimately inconveniences more civilian employees in the process.”

That cost is not paid for by the organization, it is centrally funded and paid for by Army Civilian Career Management Activity.

The current course is 3 weeks long, 1 week virtual and 2 weeks in-person. Each week has a unique focus starting with self-awareness, team building, and improving the organization-completing the mission.

Chris Mendez, Fort Novosel Public Affairs community relations officer, completed the course on Oct. 25 and said that he found the in-person portion to be invaluable.

“Being able to meet in person the last 2 weeks really brought it all together,” said Mendez. “A lot of the curriculum was about professional relationships and how you interact with your leaders and your subordinates and the people on your team. Seeing the other class members made such a difference. Being able to feel the pulse of the class and work alongside different personalities was important, it’s hard to get the sense of someone’s passion about what they do over the internet.”

The Mobile Education Teams are sent out to different installations but had not yet taught CES Intermediate on Fort Novosel. According to Burns, once the local directors mentioned the need, the team at Fort Leavenworth was eager to make it happen.

Mendez found value in having a class full of employees from the same installation. “It was key to be here on post with folks from Fort Novosel in-person,” he said. “It was an asset to have the mobile team here. We all understand the culture and how things are run at Fort Novosel. If we were to send 3-4 people off to Kansas to take this leadership course that would be helpful to a few organizations. But here, we had almost 40 people on this post lit with a fire to get out there and be a strong leader, taking this knowledge to their office. There is power in numbers.”

After 3 weeks of coursework, all 34 members graduated Oct. 25 on Fort Novosel.

“We are here to encourage aspiring leaders,” said Burns. “Everyone is a leader and can gain something out of it. I’m kind of biased but I think this is an exceptional course for leaders.”

To see more photos of the CES Intermediate Course on Fort Novosel head to the FLICKR album https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBPE5n.