Military Education, army education, service programs, G.I. Bill - Army Times

Senior NCO Academies

Air Force Senior NCO Academy

The academy, at the Gunter Annex of Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., educates senior master sergeants and those selected for promotion to E-8. Army, Navy, Coast Guard and international military personnel also attend on a limited basis. The seven-week program provides training in profession of arms, communication, and leadership and management.

Students attending the Air and Space Basic Course and AFSNCOA merge for a week of instruction with the goal of increasing understanding and appreciation of the talents officers and enlisted bring in projecting airpower.

Contact: (334) 416-1620; http://www.maxwell.af.mil/au/cepme/sncoa.

Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Leadership Course

This course is the capstone of enlisted professional military education for personnel selected for the promotion to chief (E-9). The course gives the Air Force’s newest chief master sergeants foundational strategic-level leadership knowledge that is invaluable to the employment of air and space forces in support of national security. The CLC consists of 69.5 academic hours spread over eight days.

U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy

The school, on the Biggs Army Airfield sector of Fort Bliss, Texas, offers a 10-month resident course for full-time soldiers and a two-year non-resident program for reservists. Both are the capstone of NCO education in the Army.

The academy also offers a three-week First Sergeant Course and a four-week Battle Staff NCO Course, and is the proponent agency for the common-core content of other NCO education system courses.

Contact: https://www.bliss.army.mil/usasma/usasma.asp, or the academy’s education office at (915) 568-9070.

U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Academy

Classes at the school in Petaluma, Calif., convene 10 times a year, eight for active duty and two for reserves. Class size is limited to 64 students. The 33-day program is for newly advanced chief petty officers. Senior CPOs and master CPOs also are eligible.

Contact: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/tcpet/cpoa/index.shtm.

Marine Corps Staff Non-Commissioned Officers Academy

Six campuses and several distance programs provide professional military education for enlisted Marines.

The three courses are the SNCO advanced course for gunnery sergeants, the senior NCO career course for staff sergeants and the sergeants’ course. Each residence course requires the completion of a distance education program as a prerequisite.

One-week senior seminars are conducted each year for first sergeants and master sergeants at Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Quantico, Va.; Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Camp Pendleton, Calif.; and Camp Hanson, Okinawa.

Quantico annually conducts the Russell Leadership Symposium for sergeants major and master gunnery sergeants and the First Sergeants Course for newly selected first sergeants.

The Marine Corps Air Ground Task Force Training Command at Twentynine Palms, Calif., and Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Air Station, Hawaii, each host a resident sergeants’ course.

Contact: Director, 3078 Upshur Ave., Quantico, VA 22134; (703) 784-2875/3138; DSN 278-2875; http://www.mcu.usmc.mil.

Navy Senior Enlisted Academy

The academy provides a six-week curriculum with concentrated studies in communications skills, leadership and management theories, national security affairs, Navy programs and physical readiness.

In fiscal 2008, Navy officials plan to open the school up to all senior enlisted sailors in paygrades E-7 and above. A recent expansion has increased the numbers of classes offered each year, and recently a correspondence version of the course was instituted for those unable to attend the residence course. The academy is open to active-duty and reserve E-8s and E-9s from the U.S. Air Force, Army and Coast Guard and foreign navies. Students are selected for attendance in November and May.

Contact: Newport, RI 02841-1525; (401) 841-4221; DSN 948-4221; https://www.npdc.navy.mil/cnl/sea/default.asp.