The Army recently announced the creation of the College of the American Soldier (CAS). The CAS is a new Army program aimed at maximizing potential college credit for a Soldier’s military training and education. Targeted toward the NCO Corps, it works with Service Members Opportunity Colleges Army Degrees (SOCAD) member schools to make it possible for a Soldier to retire with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) degree based on American Council on Education (ACE)-recommended credit for military training and education and the completion of college classes. CAS will link with a portal called Army Career Tracker, which will show a Soldier a specific “map” toward a degree. Soldiers will be able to see what Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) courses will transfer as equivalent credit at any point in their career – from basic training through the Sergeants Major Course (SMC). The portal will list exactly what SOCAD schools will grant for each credit source, and it will provide a list of other guaranteed ways to meet degree requirements.
The Army Leader 21 Implementation Plan developed nine key initiatives to improve NCO development. One of those initiatives was to develop and implement a lifelong-learning strategy for a warrior leader-development program for NCOs. Called Army Initiative 5 (Accelerate Leader Development), the initiative focused on selecting the lifelong-learning strategy as a quick win and included the creation and development of the Warrior University. A critical first step of Warrior University is the establishment of CAS, which includes the Career NCO Degrees Program. The Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey approved U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s (TRADOC) NCO development strategy in September 2007, including creation of the Warrior University and CAS.
Army Training and Doctrine Command Cmd. Sgt. Maj. John D. Sparks, in coordination with TRADOC’s G-3/5/7 and Army’s G-1/Human Resources Command’s Army Continuing Education System (ACES), negotiated the criteria for participation with SOCAD. Since this is a new program, work needs to be done yet, such as TRADOC’s G-3/5/7’s development of the strategy document for staffing during the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2008.
The Career NCO Degrees Program portion of CAS began Nov. 1, 2007, with full implementation planned for February 2008. The program is available to all NCOs at any point in their career – but maximum credit for Army leadership schools will be based on completion of Noncommissioned Officer Education System up to the Sergeants Major Course. Army Career Tracker will continue to evolve for not only NCOs, but also officers, warrant officers and Army civilians. Changes in NCOES will continue to occur.
For more information, see TRADOC News Service’s Web special on accelerating leader development and the three-part TRADOC News Service series on the changes in NCOES.
