United States Army noncommissioned officer candidates will see their potential classroom time cut dramatically as part of a new effort to reduce costs. Military.com first reported that the service is seeking to slash “the costs of sending soldiers to school.” It isn’t just the time in the classroom that is at issue.
It is also the travel expenses, including rental cars, meals, and lodging, that would be reduced as the Army opts to cut the midlevel NCO courses. Service planners have called for reducing the Advanced Leader Course (ALC) and Senior Leader Course (SLC) to three weeks, regardless of occupational specialty, from the previous eight to 16 weeks.
However, the Basic Leader Course (BLC) would be extended from three to six weeks, meaning that some of the ALC and SLC class work could be provided to those undergoing the BLC instead. It will also include new land navigation coursework. Likewise, the Master Leader Course (MLC) could be extended from two to three weeks, again likely taking some of the coursework from the SLC. It currently consists of a 15-day (112-hour) professional education program that helps NCOs transition from tactical to operational and strategic environments.
However, the Sergeants Major Academy will remain at 10 months, even though some “minor curriculum changes” could be coming. The program is taught at Fort Bliss, Texas, as part of the Army University’s NCO Leadership Center of Excellence (NCOLCoE).
About the NCOAs
The U.S. Army’s Noncommissioned Officer Academies (NCOAs) are part of the Enlisted Professional Military Education (EMPE) system, which was introduced to help enlisted soldiers develop leadership and technical skills. There are currently 16 NCOAs located across the United States and its bases, including Fort Bliss, Fort Sill, Fort Sam Houston, and Fort Bragg.
The BLC is a branch-immaterial course that presents basic leadership training and provides NCO candidates the opportunity to acquire leadership skills, knowledge, and experience to lead team-level units. It has undergone previous updates to its length and even its branding. As Military.com reported, “Service planners have long struggled to find the right balance of whether the school’s purpose is to rubber stamp a new NCO for roles of authority effectively and rely on units to do much of the training or whether the school itself should be on the hook for a new leader’s development.”
The ALC follows BLC, a branch-specific course that provides soldiers selected for promotion to SSG the opportunity to enhance their leadership and technical skills, as well as gain the tactical experience necessary to lead squad-size units.
The SLC branch-specific course provides soldiers selected for promotion to SFC with the skills, knowledge, and experience necessary to lead platoon-size units.
Shorter Midlevel Training
Part of the rationale for the extended BLC with shorter ALC/SLC is that it could reduce the Army’s loss of mid-level NCOs for extended periods, while space within the schools has also been a factor.
Moreover, the army previously scrapped its online training courses, notably the Distributed Leader Course, which had previously been known as the Structured Self-Development (SSD), a prerequisite for attending resident NCO PME.
The Army originally developed SSD, and later DLC, in 2010 to bridge the operational and institutional domains, setting conditions for continuous growth and lifelong learning. However, the 253 hours (equivalent to 31 days of required coursework) were considered burdensome, as they also resulted in redundancies with other training and education.
Centers of Excellence Will Remain
Even as changes are likely to occur, the Army will likely continue to operate its 10 Centers of Excellence (CoEs), subordinate to the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). These focus on specific areas of expertise within the U.S. Army, with each CoE overseeing multiple schools and training facilities.
In total, there are 32 Army schools, which conduct over 1,300 courses annually to more than 500,000 soldiers.
