Captians Career Course Slots

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 12:14:48 -0500

Is there a reduction in the number of school slots. I am having trouble getting people into these schools. Is this a way of drawing down the Reserves and National Gaurd

Response by SFC James Baber made Jan 23 at 2014 1:06 PM

SFC James Baber — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 13:06:16 -0500

Sir,

I think it is all about the money right now, with the defense budget cuts taking precedence over everything else, money for schools and even supplies is bone-dry currently, and throw the RIF on top of it, that only adds to the ease of use for cutting the force. It will then be the "oh you don't have this school or course yet. that will make our jobs even easier".

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 17 at 2014 6:32 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 18:32:18 -0400

Sir,

I feel that it is due to many officers not managing their own careers if they are TPUs. I know I had a few Majors that were rushing to finish it because they were able to be promoted with partial completion. I know others who did not know if they wanted to stay in or not and then last minute had to find classes. This attributes to the backlog as they are all rushing to finish it or get part of it done to get promoted.

As far as the active duty I feel that this is due to promotion rates and how fast they promote 1LTs now. It is crazy how fast they promote. With only 2 slots for AGRs in each class (any more is an exception, I went with 4 slots but that was because they doubled the class size) it is hard to get a slot. This is because they want you to have an assignment before they send you to the school and the priority goes to those needing it for Major board. It is hard to be proactive and get schooling done as soon as you can.

In short you have to really be your own manger of your career and push to get it as soon as you can. I have pushed my XO to sign up and begin phase I to get a start on it as a 1LT. I only wish I could send my AGR PL to ECCC for his next assignment.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2014 10:49 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 10:49:28 -0400

LTC Elkins,

Sir we were trying to tacking this in my unit and were told that :

1. There is a surge of applicants because it is now a "go-no go" requirement for promotion. Many at HRC feel that had Officers planned better they would not need to rush and in doing so have chosen to flag themselves/self select for elimination by not registering for CCC well in advance. I am telling all LTs to get on this now.
2. The Army does not have the money nor resources to expand the number of slots.
3. No cross use of AD, NG, Reserve etc by other parts of Army because they are funded from different pools of money.

V/R

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2014 12:08 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 12:08:09 -0400

Sir,

I got bumped from MI-CCC 3 times in 5 years, because of "higher priority" personnel (or so the story was). It was only *after* I had already missed my BZ look that I was able to get HRC to slot me with a reserved seat and get in, which was lucky because I got the second-to-last slot to finish before the board convened. In other words, while *not* managing your career will kill it, even when you do manage it you don't always get the good cards.

It is true that the course is much more of a GO/NOGO item now, specifically because of the sharp decline in education waivers over the past several years. That is creating a glut of people desperate to get in when they're in the "promotion peril" zone, and making it more difficult for those not yet in that zone to get class dates.

I think the best reaction is just stubbornness. Bug HRC to get people confirmed for seats as soon as possible before the class. Target the class you want at least 6-8 months in advance, and avoid the first 1-2 classes each FY as they typically give preference to promotion peril. Get the 1LTs and CPTs who haven't gone to keep trying for every class date they can until they get one.