Ongoing Army Training and Education
For the soldier who really wants to excel and be recognized for their efforts and skills, the Army offers as much training as the soldier is willing to take. The Army offers six courses through the Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES), the Warrior Leader, Basic Noncommissioned Officer, and Advanced Noncommissioned Officer courses, and the First Sergeant, Army Sergeants Major and Command Sergeants Major Academies.
Warrior Leader Course
The Warrior Leader course, formally named the Primary Leadership Development Course, is the first course in on the career path for Noncommissioned officers and lasts about 30 days. It is developed to teach Specialists and Corporals the skills required to lead small groups of soldiers, and once completed, they become Sergeants. Topics of study include Leadership, training management, navigation, mapping, drills, ceremony and warfighting. This course is a mandatory step in the army career path for those soldiers wishing to elevate their rank.
The next step in the army career for Noncommissioned officers is the Basic Noncommissioned Officer course, teaching sergeants combat, support and service support, and taught at bases that are specific to the career. The average course length is nine weeks and blends nicely with the training received in the Warrior course.
Advanced Noncommissioned
The Advanced course (ANCOC) is specific to the desired career path and for Sergeants First Class and Staff Sergeants, preparing them for Master Sergeant at the Division level. It is an eight week, two day course and includes training in communications, computers, environment, management and other courses specific to the soldier's Military Occupational Specialty.
First Sergeant Academy
The First Sergeant Academy takes Sergeant graduates from the ANCOC and trains them to lead a company, battery or troop of soldiers. Training includes such areas as unit administration, advanced communications, morale and discipline, logistics and other tactical operations. The training is broken into two phases; phase one is a self study lesson followed by an exam, and phase two includes instruction at the group level.
Sergeants Major Academy
Senior leader courses such as the Army Sergeants Major Academy and the Command Sergeants Major prepares Sergeant graduates from the previous courses for leadership at the senior level, and for positions and duties within the department of defense and the armed forces. These two courses are broad in nature and an education experience is the core focus, furthering knowledge gained from previous courses. The Command level course lasts 5 days and the successful student will gain the rank of Battalion Command Sergeant Major. Training includes relationship development with command, staffing administration, developing training programs and the interpersonal relationship development required to care for soldiers and their families.
Army Training for the motivated through Unit Training
The key to a successful army lay in the ability of the soldiers to work effectively with each other as a unit. There is extensive unit training available through the Army as an active duty soldier or as a reserve, and the solder may train within their own unit or may join other units for different missions, known as Field Training Exercise (FTX).
One of the most visible exercises of a unit performing well together is that of Bridge Crossing FTX (or Bridge-X). It is absolutely imperative that equipment and supplies and troops be able to reach any location as required by command. The Bridge-X training brings together all the units involved to function as one.
Biological Detection is an inevitable requirement of modern warfare soldiers, and as a result, a Chemical Company must be able to perform quickly and efficiently, monitoring a battlefield to be able to detect chemical and biological threats.
Unit training is available for soldiers who wish to hone their skills and open doors in education and make other ranks available to them should they desire to elevate themselves through additional army training.
Army Nursing Program
A special branch of the Army Career program is the coveted Nursing Program which trains the potential nursing undergraduate the high-level thinking and leadership skills required of the occupation, and provides the necessary financial support for college to successfully complete the program. The Undergraduate Training Program offers two to four year scholarship programs, while the Nurse Summer Training Program, which introduces the applicant to the AMEDD, or the Army's Medical Department, which gives hands-on and one-on-one experience, developing professional techniques as a member of the Army's Health Care Branch. The experience is paid, and takes place during three weeks in the summer at locations throughout the United States and Germany.
Please contact your local Army Nurse Training Program advisor for more information.
Officer Schools
Army Officer Training
Warrant Officer School
ROTC
West Point Academy