What opportunities are out there for obtaining qualifications or certifications for officers once commissioned?

2015-11-13T10:50:11-05:00

I am working on a program that would enable officers that are serving, primarily in the National Guard but can be for all officers, that would result in obtaining a credential that would lead to meaningful employment.

I believe the engineers have a chance to get their PMP but what else is out there for officers? What will a Career Course lead to if you are an MP? Are there any courses that you can take that will enable to obtain a civilian certification that would mean something to a civilian employer?

I am trying to find this info to aid those in the National Guard to offer up opportunities for those have been trained in their field but have not married up their military skills with their civilian counterparts. This is something that in the National Guard we deal with often. We have been through various courses of training that is on par with that what civilians get yet we don't get any credit from a civilian credentialing entity. Now I know that getting a Project Management Professional Cert is thing that is out there but what else?

Or programs that military has that may lead to credit in obtaining a higher degree such as a Masters or PhD.

Or if you have seen something like this already in the works it would help.

Response by 1stSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 13 at 2015 11:19 AM

2015-11-13T11:19:22-05:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member , how about adding SNCO's to your list?

Response by LTC John Shaw made Nov 13 at 2015 11:35 AM

2015-11-13T11:35:48-05:00

Here is a great program that I am just learning about out of Syracuse University.
All Veterans and even spouses are eligible.
http://vets.syr.edu/education/employment-programs/

Career Transition | IVMF

Effective immediately, military spouses can: > Apply to the Professional Skills Track to learn professional (or "soft") skills necessary to gain and maintain employment outside the military, including content developed in partnership with MOAA specifically for military spouses. > Apply to the Tech Track to learn industry related skills surrounding information technology, project management, and human resources.> Apply to the...

Response by SPC Steven Nihipali made Nov 13 at 2015 1:07 PM

2015-11-13T13:07:19-05:00

Nothing... All this talk about having great work ethic, showing up on time, being great workers etc is compete bullshit in the civilian workforce. The Army gives you nothing to take ban into the civilian world. They'll take and take and take from you, but for nothing in return. HR specialists, have nothing and can't gain anything from the Army to get an HR job outside the Army. Once out, they can't even get the civilian job with the military. This goes on and on. If the military was serious about having the best of the bestI, they'd send their guys to college, get certifications, etc.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 13 at 2015 5:02 PM

2015-11-13T17:02:34-05:00

Several Programs offer either advanced placement of credit for CCC or ILE.
A google search I found the following...
http://www.wood.army.mil/engrmag/PDFs%20for%20Sept-Dec%2009/Saul.pdf
http://www.webster.edu/military/academics/signal.html

This is just to name a few there are a lot of advantages to be had if you do your research....As long as you have the 1059 and submit it for credit then you can get ahead by a few classes. All the schools accepted the RC CCC same as the AC CCC from what I saw but make sure to check on a case by case basis for each school.

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Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 14 at 2015 7:27 PM

2015-11-14T19:27:16-05:00

Lean Six Sigma (continuous process improvement) is a civilian cert and the Army / Army Guard routinely has classes on this [check ATTRS] and some organizations have a master black belt that can award lower belts.

Enhanced Defense Finance Management Training Course helps acquire the Comptrollers Defense Financial Certification a great cert if you live in the D.C. area or ever want to get into government finance.

Admittedly these are pretty niche and likely not available to your regular line unit.

Response by BG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2015 7:13 AM

2015-11-17T07:13:21-05:00

For engineers, the credential that is most important is obtaining their P.E. (Professional Engineer license). EVERYONE can obtain and benefit from getting the Project Management Professional (PMP). Every mission an officer plans for is by definition a "project". You will be legally entitled to list those initials after your name and that is always impressive to others.
There are a number of certifications you can obtain in your spare time depending on what you are interested in doing with your career. CPA, Certified Financial Planner, various Microsoft credentials, are just some of the ones that you can get by studying at home.

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2015 12:13 PM

2015-11-17T12:13:43-05:00

Lt, great endeavor. I hope you will post your results for both O's and E's. I currently work at a Community College in Delaware and we are trying feverishly to figure out how to award certifications and college credit for military training. It makes no sense in time and money to make service members take a class on something they were already proficient in due to military training. It wastes their time and resources. We are working closely with our friends at Dover AFB and National Guard stakeholders on this as well. Finally, there is an Army University Education Symposium next month in Ft Leavenworth to discuss certifications and college credit for military training. I'll be there and hope to learn from other colleges how they are tackling issue for transitioning service members. It'll be good to know what certifications we should target first. [login to see] is my email address if you get anything new!

Response by MAJ Javier Rivera made Nov 17 at 2015 1:33 PM

2015-11-17T13:33:42-05:00

Certified Professional Logistician. The International Society of Logistics is the regulating agency for that particular credential and then US Army recognizes it.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2015 3:23 PM

2015-11-17T15:23:55-05:00

International Society Of Logisticians (SOLE) for logistics, PMP, and Lean Sigma. You are the architect of your own success and hae it within yourself to reach your maximum potential. Best wishes.

Response by LTC Damon LaCour made Nov 17 at 2015 5:11 PM

2015-11-17T17:11:18-05:00

LT, as a Signal officer, I was able to get 15 credits towards my Master's in IT Management due to the technical training we get during SOBC & SOAC. This was better than the 12 credits I could've used from ILE. So, your branch does factor into the equation. Also, Signal officers can earn various Cisco & Microsoft certifications thru Guard programs.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 18 at 2015 10:30 AM

2015-11-18T10:30:56-05:00

Syracuse University has a PMP certification program - not just for engineers. Veterans and their spouses.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 18 at 2015 11:09 AM

2015-11-18T11:09:57-05:00

Most of what I was going to answer with has already been posted and elaborated on. Here are a couple that I didn't see. I'm' an EN Officer, so these are slanted towards that and construction.
Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence - http://asq.org/cert/manager-of-quality
Any LEED cert - http://www.usgbc.org/credentials

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 18 at 2015 4:48 PM

2015-11-18T16:48:11-05:00

That sounds like a great program you're starting up-awesome idea on your part! Obviously each branch will have a different answer, so if you can get input from each branch you'll have a good grasp of what is out there. As a chemical guy our Captain Career Course doesn't give any certifications that we don't already get in BOLC, although I believe Webster has a program which lets you get a Masters mostly from classes you have already taken at CCC.

In my opinion, the best school you can take as a Chemical officer is Technical Escort school. It gives you official training and certification in confined spaces rescue operations, and would be the perfect stepping stone into a fire department, or state police/federal HAZMAT team. There are other courses such as Dismounted Recon, but Tech Escort has the most relevance in the civilian world.

Most active duty never have the opportunity to go due to funding reasons; the vast majority of my Tech Escort class were reservists.