PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. -- The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) notified the U.S. Army Armament Graduate School (AGS) on March 17 that it passed a significant milestone by attaining the status of “Candidate for Accreditation,” while inviting the school to prepare for a final evaluation in 2026-27.
The U.S. Army Armaments Graduate School (AGS) offers a unique and vital educational experience, providing the world's only graduate-level curriculum dedicated to armaments engineering. This specialized program directly supports and enhances the expertise of the workforce at the U.S. Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Armaments Center, the heart of weapons and ammunition development for America's armed forces.
Since its first graduating class in 2015, AGS has granted 41 Masters in Armament Engineering certificates and two Doctor of Philosophy in Armament Engineering certificates.
If accreditation is attained, the 43 prior graduates, plus any future graduates, will receive diplomas, said AGS Chancellor, Don Carlucci. Beyond certificates, the students will have earned academic degrees. Credits earned from successfully completing AGS classes would be transferrable among accredited institutions.
In December of 2019, AGS was granted a charter and lawful authority to confer degrees, contingent on meeting accreditation requirements. MSCHE is recognized by the federal government as an accrediting organization.
While the notice received from the MSCHE by Carlucci pointedly states that a candidate school, “is progressing toward, but is not assured of, accreditation,” the notification indicated real progress, prompting jubilation.
“WAHOO” wrote Carlucci in an e-mail to Armaments Center Director, Chris Grassano, informing him of the accomplishment.
“Fantastic payoff,” Grassano replied, “a result of the arduous efforts of many over a long period of time!”
Reaching candidate status is the third significant milestone the school has achieved in the accreditation lifecycle: AGS has successfully passed through “Determination of Eligibility to Apply” and “Review of the Application for Candidate for Accreditation Status” phases with the MSCHE, according to AGS Provost, Michael Dascanio.
During assessments, AGS submitted numerous documents and hosted visits by panel members, all intended to confirm a high-quality educational experience, quality and relevance of the curriculum, student support services, AGS faculty expertise and a commitment to continuous improvement through program assessment and data analysis, noted Dascanio.
The faculty consists of 38 professors with PhDs and 25 with Master’s degrees.
Graduates are Armaments Center employees who usually attend six hours of classes at Picatinny Arsenal on Fridays. Hundreds of hours of study are required for each certificate, and roughly 8-10 hours of homework are required each week, performed on personal time.
The panel of evaluators from the MSCHE included representatives from the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy and the Defense Intelligence Institute, who provided similar perspectives as fellow government academic institutions. “They were awesome and gave us many good comments,” said Carlucci.
As long and arduous as the accreditation lifecycle has been to date, it is only part of the AGS journey. Long before AGS existed, a need to pass on critical knowledge about armaments engineering has been understood as a necessity within the Armaments Center workforce.
The Armaments Center has for decades had a central role in the nation’s ability to develop safe, effective and high-quality armaments that succeed in the most hostile and competitive environments imaginable.
“By fostering advanced research and cultivating highly skilled engineers, the AGS ensures the continued development of cutting-edge, superior armaments crucial for our national defense, a capability unmatched by any other academic institution globally,” said Grassano.
Since many armaments systems aren’t offered in the commercial marketplace, the Armaments Center must sometimes look solely within its workforce for development of systems, components and manufacturing techniques. Also, Armaments Center employees possess a unique knowledge of how to develop, produce, transport and operate systems – especially those with explosives and energetic material – safely.
A formal educational tool is needed to ensure that specialized knowledge is retained while expanding to keep pace with the rapid pace of technology growth. The traditional method, however – on-the-job training – hardly keeps pace with normal workplace attrition. This leads to what Carlucci describes as, “brain drain.”
Comparatively, in an AGS classroom, a subject matter expert teaches several people at a time. Schools introduce study requirements, papers, dissertations, tests, classroom discussion and other aspects that accompany formal academic rigor.
“AGS is important because it formalizes the transfer of expert knowledge in a lasting way.” said Carlucci. “It builds a big base of general subject knowledge. As the students’ progress, they will deepen their knowledge in specific areas and become the new subject matter experts.”
Carlucci believes that accreditation is achievable, and the AGS staff will be working with MSCHE on the assessment process over the next two years.
“They will be looking at our records and tracking that we are executing the program in a manner consistent with the standards of an accredited institution and, if they are satisfied that we meet the requirements, we will be granted accreditation,” said Carlucci.
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