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“To provide professional miliTary educaTion ThaT develops enlisTed leaders inTo fiT, disciplined, well-educaTed profes-

sionals capable of meeTing The challenges of an increasingly complex world.”

The nco leadership cenTer of excellence“Home of NoNcommissioNed officer educatioN”

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Commandant’s Message

It’s been 43 years since we’ve made significant changes to our education sys-tem, so these are exciting times for our Army, its NCOs and Soldiers alike. As the title of this pamphlet indicates, 2018 has been “A Road Less Traveled” for the NCO cohort. Throughout the past year this institution has worked its way from the top to the bottom of our education system, to ensure the changes implemented were rel-evant, timely and meaningful to our NCO cohort. Within TRADOC it generally takes about three years to see marked changes to curriculum within our Noncommis-sioned Officer Professional Development System (NCOPDS). Conversely, we have planned, prepared, resourced, and executed revolutionary changes in far less time than ever before. For starters, we redesigned the Basic Leaders Course with the thought in mind of developing Soldiers to be trainers, fit, disciplined, well-educated professionals who embody the Army values and are stewards of the profession. We accomplished this by adding academic rigor in the form of removing multiple choice test and replacing them with written essays and leadership case studies. In addition, BLC now certifies future leaders to effectively conduct individual training (CIT) at the team and squad levels. Gone are the days where Soldiers are tested on their ability to conduct land navigation. Nowadays, our young Soldiers will not only learn how to do land navigation, more importantly, Soldiers will be certified on how to teach it. I’m confident this redesign coupled with a few other updates are going to produce well-rounded trainers and leaders upon graduation from the course. Finally, on the opposite end spectrum the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy’s Sergeants Major Course has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) to award the Bachelor of Arts de-gree in Leadership and Workforce Development. The BA in LWD is a 120 credit hour undergraduate de-gree program offered in the resident Sergeants Major Course (SMC) and awarded by the Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC). The NCOL CoE is working to build a degree path through all levels of NCOPDS which supports and culminates with the BA in LWD.

Jimmy J. Sellers Commandant

Table of Contents

WHAT ARE WE FOR

2018 - A ROAD LESS TRAVELED

6 AN OVERVIEW 7 HOW WE DEVELOP9 HOW WE INTEGRATE 11 HOW WE DELIVER13 OUTCOMES15 OUR FUTURE

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The Army’s Mission remains constant: To deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt and sustained land dominance by Army forces across the full spec-trum of conflict as part of the joint force. The Army does this with two distinct and equally important components – the active component and reserve components – Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve. All components conduct operational and institutional mis-sions.

Training and Doctrine Command’s mission: TRADOC recruits, trains, and educates the Army, driving constant improvement and change to ensure the Total Army can deter, fight and win on any battlefield into the future. TRADOC does this by acquiring the army, building the Army, and Improving the Army

The Combined Arms Center is the force modernization proponent for unified land op-erations, combined arms operations at echelons above brigade (Division, Corps and The-ater Army), mission command, airspace control, information operations, irregular warfare, knowledge management, personnel recovery, OPSEC, military deception, security force as-sistance, unified action partners interoperability, and the Army Profession. CAC is also the US Army’s lead organization for lessons learned, doctrine, training, education, functional training, fielded force integration, managing the Army Leader Development Program, Army Profession Program, Army Training Support System Enterprise, Army Training and Educa-tion Management Enterprise, and the Combat Training Center Program.

The NCO Leadership Center of Excellence’s mission is to provide professional military education that develops enlisted leaders into fit, disciplined, well-educated professionals capable of meeting the challenges of an increasingly complex world. The NCOL CoE is responsible for developing, maintaining, teaching, and distributing four levels of Enlisted Professional Military Education – Distributed Leader Course I-VI, Basic Leader Course, Master Leader Course and the Sergeants Major Course. DLC fills the gaps of learning between institutional PME courses and are prerequisites for attending PME. Our outcomes are Creative, Agile, Innovative, and Lethal Trainers for the Army.

What are We ForThe NCO Leadership Center of Excellence is a part of the Army’s Institutional training base Developing.

Integrating and Delivering Education and Training Readiness. We accomplish this mission by providing professional military education that develops enlisted leaders into fit, disciplined, well-educated profession-als capable of meeting the challenges of an increasingly complex world.

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an overvieWEditor’s Note: The following overview is an excerpt of the Annual Command History written by Dr. Ever-

ett Dague, Ph.D., the Command Historian.

January-June 2018. The first half of 2018 was a period of change and growth for the US Army Ser-geants Major Academy and for NCO development and education as a whole. The event that dominated NCO education from January to June 2018 was the establishment of the NCO Leadership Center of Ex-cellence and the subsequent reorganization of USASMA. EXORD 18-026 (21 February 2018) laid out two reasons for the reorganization. The first was to recognize that USASMA had an expanded role in NCO Pro-fessional Military Education and NCO Professional Development and Education, and both CAC and TRADOC sought to support and recognize that expansion. The second was to align USASMA with Army University and grant it collegial accreditation “until such time as USASMA is granted its own credentialing authority by the Higher Learning Commission credentialing body.” The USASMA realignment with Army University took place on 4 March. USASMA’s internal reorganization into the NCOL CoE took place on 1 April, although adjustments continue to be made.

The transition to the NCO Leadership Center of Excellence involved a structural reorganization. In Jan-uary, the commandant announced the general plan to department and division heads, which developed over the course of the year creating a “flatter” organizational structure, allowing administrative divisions to develop opportunities while preserving collaboration and coordination between them.

July to December 2018. During the first half of 2018, the Noncommissioned Officer Leadership Center of Excellence was created with a broad mandate to develop a comprehensive, academically rigorous and educationally cohesive NCO educational and professional development system at all levels.

During the period from July to December 2018, the NCOL CoE’s activities were dominated by imple-menting, analyzing and maximizing the effect of these changes. The fielding of new Programs of Instruction in the NCOAs, changes in the Sergeants Major Course, and most dramatically USASMA’s efforts to become accredited to grant college degrees were the main focus of the NCOL CoE’s activities in the second half of 2018.

Accreditation for USASMA to grant Bachelor’s degree in Leadership and Workforce Development as a branch campus of the Command and General Staff College of Army U and the Higher Learning Commission led the NCOL CoE’s efforts in the second half of 2018. This was the culmination of years of preparation, and would transform the nature and prestige of NCO education. Under Command guidance, preparation for the final HLC visit had been ongoing across all Directorates - professional instructors were hired, new technology and support was created, SMC curriculum was developed into a collegiate model, SMC distance learning was redesigned as well, and a new DA Form 1059 was introduced.

On 1 August, a new Basic Leader Course Program of Instruction was launched throughout all active duty NCO Academies. Leadership was provided by the directorate NCO Professional Development and Education. The new POI focuses on the six NCO Common Core Competencies of Readiness, Leadership, Training Management, Communications, Operations, and Program Management.

Prioritizing instructional excellence was supported by developing instructional education and creden-tialing. The USASMA Fellowship with Penn State that produces Masters degrees for its graduates who feed into the SMC Instructor pool added the University of Syracuse’s MA track in Instructional Design, Develop-ment and Evaluation.

The second half of 2018 was significant for several reasons. Both USASMA/SMC and the NCOL CoE tested new organizational structures, identified strengths and weaknesses and moved to improve them. Overall, the structures were effective. Academic rigor and standards proved enough to sustain an accredi-tation visit by HLC and the addition of a new program of study from the University of Syracuse to the Fellow-ship program. The development and launch of new BLC POIs strengthened the creation of a comprehen-sive NCOLC. The second half of 2018 paved the way for further transformations in 2019.

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hoW We Develop

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The legacy Noncommissioned Officer Education System did not provide a progressive and sequential leader development learning system as a result of evolutionary change over 40 years that focused almost entirely on technical and tactical centric training. The existing NCO PME caused a gap in NCO core compe-tencies and attributes in their leader development. Since 2015 the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, and the NCO Leadership Center of Excellence have taken the road less traveled and redesigned every level of PME to meet the needs of an Army ready to deploy, fight, and win decisively against any adversary, any-time, anywhere, in a joint, multi-domain, high-intensity conflict.

The NCOL CoE produces a mixture of Professional Military Education courses — from Distributed Leader and Distance Learning courses to the resident PME courses. Each course is progressive and sequential and is a part of the STEP (select, train, educate, promote) process. Emphasis is now being placed on the One Army School System and the Order of Merit List to ensure only the best, brightest Soldiers are selected to attend PME.

Beginning with the Basic Leader Course, the NCOL CoE has permeated the Experiential Learning Method into all courses removing lecture, and infusing scenarios, practical exercises, team collaboration, and applica-tion against leader competencies and attributes. The BLC went into full redesign mode in 2016 and was piloted in 2017-2018 with the course going fully operational capable on February 1, 2019.

A major initiative of the last three years was the development of a comprehensive understanding and definition of the Roles and Respon-sibilities of the Noncommissioned Officer - from sergeant to command sergeant major. The result is the NCO Common Core Competencies or NCO-C3; Leadership, Communication, Readiness, Training Manage-ment, Operations and Program Management.

In 2015, the NCOL CoE began work to replace the legacy Structured Self Development courses. The result is the Distributed Leader Course levels I - VI which bridges the operational and institutional domains and set conditions for continuous growth. DLC is required learning that contin-ues throughout a career and is closely linked to, and synchronized with, classroom and experiential learning.

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hoW We integrateFor more than 43 years the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, and now the NCO Leadership Center of Excellence, has ensured the latest Army guidance, policy, regulation and doctrine is incorporated into our curricula and taught in our NCO Academies throughout all three components. Today we have a Policy and Governance Oversight Committee that ensures all new doctrine and policy are put through a review and vetting process before being infused into our curricula.

The NCOL CoE constantly reviews Army publications and emerging doc-trine from the proponents, as well as lessons learned from the Center for Army Lessons Learned, for possible impacts to the NCO Corps. The Doctrine and Analysis cell reviews the documents and provides com-ments back to the Army or the proponent, on how it affects the NCO corps. Once formalized it is placed into the curricula.

The NCOL CoE placed Field Manual 3-0, Army Operations into lessons in the Sergeants Major Course and what is appropriate for the other levels of PME. “Rapid and continued advances in technology and the military application of new technologies to the space domain, the EMS, and the information environment (particularly cyberspace) require special con-sideration in planning and converging effects from across all domains.”

Resiliency training is being taught at all levels of PME and within the force itself with many students, approximately 80%, arriving to the Ser-geants Major Course already Master Resiliency trained. With this trend being the norm, the Sergeants Major Course is in the process of rede-signing the course, still focusing on resiliency, through a new method of delivery.

In 2017/18 the NCOL CoE established a footprint for a Senior Leader Sustainment Cell with a mission to provide Senior Leaders with a per-sonal and customized medical assessment and education to enhance understanding of the interplay between leadership, health, fitness, and readiness. The SLS provides evidence-based evaluation and interven-tion, to optimize Senior Leader readiness, resiliency, and performance.

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hoW We Deliver

The U.S. Army and Training and Doctrine Command directed the NCOL CoE to bring all Forces Com-mand NCOAs under a single proponent. The NCOL CoE activated the NCOA Mission Command on October 1, 2016, and reaffirmed it in 2018. We are now the proponent for mission command over Forces Com-mand NCO Academies serving as a framework for the collaborative effort with the NCOA commandants and relevant organizations to deliver the Basic Leader Course, Master Leader Course, and the Battle Staff NCO Course. In addition, we provide assistance to all 32 NCO academies around the world that execute BLC and MLC, and provide support to two enduring mobile training teams in Afghanistan and Kuwait.

The NCOL CoE also has functional control of the programs of instruction taught at the other NCO acad-emies worldwide. The major items of interest during 2018 were the introduction of the new BLC program on instruction as it went initial operating capability on 1 August; the inaugural Facilitator of the Year com-petition in October; the completion and submission of the right sizing and naming conventions of the NCO academies; and the execution of numerous site visits and two commandants training councils.

The Strategic Initiatives DivisionIn 2018 we stood up the Strategic Initiatives Division to provide assistance to the NCOL CoE comman-

dant, the TRADOC CSM, and the Sergeant Major of the Army on initiatives that affect the NCO Cohort. SID conducts analysis, research, review, and provides input and feedback to strategic initiatives that will move the NCO cohort into 2025 and beyond. In addition, SID provides a messaging team that presents informa-tion to the Army to ensure that the changes and initiatives that effect the Army and the NCO Cohort are well known throughout the force.

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OutcomesEverything the NCOL CoE does enhances Soldier readiness and lethality. Whether it is a specialist

learning how to teach level one tasks to a squad, a master sergeant learning how to be an adaptive senior enlisted leader of character and competence, or an NCO obtaining a better understanding of the common core competencies and the roles and responsibilities of an NCO by reading the NCO Guide, the NCOL CoE has dedicated itself to ensuring the corps has the best, most up-to-date, information available.

From the Basic Leader Course to the Sergeants Major Course, the combination of education, physical fitness, mental fitness and experi-ence make the NCOs we educate lethal trainers of the force; combat multipliers imparting their knowledge to others. We provide the Army with adaptive enlisted leaders of character and competence prepared to assist commanders in the accomplishment of the unit’s mission.

With the introduction of the 21st Century Competencies and Attributes in 2015, a need arose to incorporate those competencies and attributes into the DA Form 1059, Service School Academic Evaluation Report. The new form was completed in 2018, as well as changes to AR 623-3, Evaluation Reporting System, and is expected to be released in the sum-mer of 2019.

Collegiate accreditation of the SMC became a command directive with the issuance of the TRADOC and CAC CGs’ 2018 Annual Command Guidance. On 29 October 2018, the HLC Accreditation Team made its final on-site review of the plans, policies, and governance of the SMC’s proposed Bachelor’s Degree program in Leadership and Workforce Devel-opment. In January 2019, HLC gave the NCOL CoE a favorable decision.

The NCOL CoE touches more than 290,000 soldiers annually through its educational courses and facilities. While a soldier is assigned to one of the 34 NCO academies worldwide attending one of our PME courses; taking one of our distributed leader or distance learning courses; or is attending courses at the NCOL CoE; education is all encompassing. We send Soldiers back to the Army as force multipliers, agile, creative think-ers, able to meet the challenges of a complex world.

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our FutureOur future is bright. With the NCO 2020 Strategy maturation coming into full view, the NCO Leadership

Center of Excellence will continue to lead the way forward when it comes to NCO professional development. We are embracing the world of technology and are placing information at the fingertips of Soldiers so they can develop into the leaders the Army needs. Our team is committed to excellence in everything we do.

In 2018 the NCOL CoE established the World Campus Lite website com-plete with links to every NCO PME course offered. The goal of this aca-demic portal is to be a student-centric, centralized, web-based educational platform to enhance the lifelong learning experience for Soldiers across the globe. Soldiers and Veterans have unique challenges in working toward completing their degree(s) online. We are a one-stop shop for all Profes-sional Military Education (PME) as well as their collegiate academic needs.

In 2018 the NCOL CoE was directed by TRADOC to establish a Noncommis-sioned Officer Corps History website. Initial planing on the content began in March with the site going live in a “Lite” version on the NCOL CoE web-site in June. The mission of the site is to foster the identity and esprit de corps of the United States Army NCO Corps through education and history. The completed NCO Corps History site will be a subset of the World Cam-pus’s research capabilities.

The NCOL CoE has already began the transition to paperless schools where students aren’t issued books, but rather have everything they need pro-vided to them in a laptop or tablet. We already deliver the DLC in a format that can be used on any platform available today. The Center is also lead-ing the charge to create a Digital Rucksack that will have links to all the information an enlisted leader needs available to them anywhere in the world on a smart phone application. We are taking NCOPDS to the Soldier.

One of our missions is to ensure the Soldiers we send back to the Army are “Fit.” With the pending launch of the Army Combat Fitness Test, the NCOL CoE, through its messaging and NCO Academies, is placing major focus on proper Physical Readiness Training IAW Army FM 7-22, and the education thereof. Beginning with the Basic Leader Course, we are teaching soldiers the proper way to lead PRT. We are also caveatting off of the Army messaging concerning PRT and placing it on our messaging platforms.

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