Please share your experience with Joint Qualification on Active Duty or the Reserves.

2014-02-11T13:08:04-05:00

I was recently assigned to the Joint Staff, J7, in the Army Reserve. Looking into the requirements to complete Joint PME and participate in activities to get Joint Qualification makes the process seem very challenging.

For those who have questions, please share them.

For those who have answers, please offer your advice and share experiences.

Response by SFC James Baber made Feb 11 at 2014 3:42 PM

2014-02-11T15:42:40-05:00

It is much easier these days, when I worked drug interdiction back in the late 80/early 90s we had Army and Marine MPs, AF SP, and Navy Police working in joint operations here and in central/south America, it was like an act of Congress to receive recognition and qualification, albeit many of our operations weren't on the books either, but the ones that were did qualify but were rarely recognized for any of us.

Response by BG Private RallyPoint Member made May 14 at 2014 2:57 PM

2014-05-14T14:57:44-04:00

Guys are killing themselves to get Joint Qualified. This came up at my Brigade Pre-Command Course and a lot of the officers were upset that the system was so hard for Reservists. I then asked the USARC G-1 how many USAR positions were coded to require joint qualification. The answer: ZERO.
Now there is some goodness in the knowledge gained, but don't neglect your career or family to achieve this. To be fair, it will set you apart from an identical candidate, but there are many ways to do that. It is just unfortunate that they do not count DEP War College as JPME2 qualifying like they do for the Resident Course.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made May 14 at 2014 4:49 PM

2014-05-14T16:49:52-04:00

Ryan, I have not one, not two, but FOUR previous joint assignments (CFLCC, CENTCOM, JCSE and SOCOM). The one at SOCOM was in a NOMINATIVE, JTMD, O-5 billet serving (by exception) as an O-3, then O-4) and NONE of my submissions were accepted. I used to work for (then MG Talley) at the 84th Training Command and asked for his help in getting my qualification and it was one of the things he mentioned in a town hall that he could not help get through. The barriers for reservists are ridiculous. You need words like synchronized or whatever, but in reality it's a rank thing. No active duty peer of mine at SOCOM, CENTCOM, etc had to go through that nutroll of submitting for it. If the billet is coded as a JTMD billet on AD is it automatic, but for us it is a process. Ironically the officer who worked the submissions at HRC PCS'd to my unit and we had some laughs about it when he got there. I wish I had more to offer. If someone cracks the code I'd love to hear it.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 16 at 2014 12:32 PM

2014-12-16T12:32:33-05:00

I cracked the code (at least in the National Guard). I deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 on an advisory team attached to the 82nd Airborne Division, then the 101st Airborne. I mentored an ANA engineer colonel and his staff, and interacted with coalition force personnel and other service personnel on a daily basis. We were part of ISAF. I got a Joint Service Achievement Medal early in the deployment, the NATO Medal at the end, and my OER and EOT award were written with an eye toward “jointness”. I got 27 of the 36 required points for the deployment. The balance were earned through various courses (Joint Engineer Operations Course, Joint Domestic Operations Course, Reserve Components National Security Course, and some joint correspondence courses through JKO).

The year before I did AJPME, which is about the only way a Reservist can meet the educational requirement for joint qualification.

“Joint” is what you do and with whom you do it. That being said, how you do the write-up for the self-nomination is critical. I was lucky, and a first-time “Go”.

I got Level 3, Joint Qualified Officer and the 3L ASI earlier this year. The $64,000 question now is: “So what? What can a Reservist/Guardsman who does not work in a joint activity do with it”?

Regards,
LTC Z