Army announces information on top scholarships - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Army announces information on top scholarships

The Army has announced application rules, deadlines and other information about several prestigious scholarship and fellowship programs for active component officers.

To compete for one of the programs, officers must request permission from their career management branch.

Officers who participate in these programs incur an active-duty service obligation of three days for every day they spend in school, or two years, depending on the program.

Details of the 2010-11 programs announced in early March are listed below.

Applications should be made on DA Form 4187 (request for personnel action) and must be received within an officer’s career management branch by April 8 for the Dowling Scholarship program, and July 10 for other programs.

Gen. Wayne A. Dowling Scholarship Program

Sponsored by the West Point Association of Graduates, this new program will provide selected captains and majors of the Regular Army with advanced education, language skills and cultural immersion necessary for understanding and combating international terrorism.

Participating institutions include Columbia University, John Hopkins University, the University of St. Andrews (Scotland), Kings College (London) and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (Israel).

The program is restricted to RA captains and majors with three to 11 years of service, and who are members of the following career fields:

Infantry (11), Field Artillery (13), Air Defense (14), Aviation (15), Special Forces (18), Armor (19), Engineer (21), Information Operations (30), Military Police (31), Psychological Operations (37), Civil Affairs (38) or Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (74).

Interested officers should consult MilPer Message 09-054 for specific information about this program.

Nominations will be made by a board that meets April 13, with selections being announced in May. The application deadline is April 8.

Asia-Pacific Center

Fellowship is scheduled for 10 to 12 months beginning in August 2010. Fellows attend a 12-week national security course at the Asia Pacific Center in Honolulu, followed by an assignment to the center’s research division.

Applications are restricted to lieutenant colonels and promotable majors in functional areas 34 (strategic intelligence), 48 (foreign area officer) 59 (strategic plans and policy), or hold additional skill identifier 6Z (strategist), and who hold a graduate degree in history, international relations, political science or economics.

George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

Fellowship at the Marshall Center in Garmisch, Germany, runs nine to 10 months, beginning in August 2010.

Officer application requirements are the same as for the Asia-Pacific Center.

Department of State Strategic Policy Planning Fellowship

Fellows serve in the Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs to obtain perspectives on prominent national and international issues and figures not normally heard within the Army.

Applications are restricted to lieutenant colonels who have a graduate degree, and who hold one of the following branches or functional areas:

FA 30 (information operations), FA 34 (strategic intelligence), BR 35 (military intelligence), BR 37 (psychological operations), BR 38 (civil affairs), FA 48 (foreign area officer), 49 (operations research/systems analysis), FA 51 (research, development and acquisition), 52 (nuclear and counter-proliferation), 57 (simulations operations), FA 59 (strategic plans and policy) or hold additional skill identifier 6Z (strategist).

Harvard Strategist Program

This fellowship is open to captains of the Regular Army who have served at least one year in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Selected officers will attend Harvard University during July 2010 to July 2011 to earn a master’s degree in public administration and then serve a two-year assignment as a strategist in the Office of the G-3 at the Pentagon.

Officers who complete the program will be designated in FA 59 (strategic plans and policy) and awarded ASI 6Z (strategist).

Applications are restricted to captains in year groups 1999-2002 who have served at least one key developmental assignment, and who have a college grade point average of 3.4 or better.

Olmsted Scholarship

Regular Army officers will pursue two years of graduate studies at a non-English-speaking overseas university under the Olmsted Scholarship program, beginning in 2010. The intent is to immerse officers and their families in foreign culture.

The program is open to Army Competitive Category officers with three to 11 years of service; a college grade-point average of 3.0 or higher; and a score of 85 or higher on the Defense Language Aptitude Test.

A human Resources Command board will meet Sept. 10 to nominate candidates for the Olmsted Foundation board that meets in March 2010.