Army Civilian Education System: Unlocking Your Professional Success

ByArmyConnect™ Reading Time: 8 minutes

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The Army Civilian Education System (CES) is crucial in developing leadership skills among Army Civilian Professionals. Through formal education programs at various intervals, CES ensures supervisors possess the necessary training, skills, and knowledge to lead effectively. Hence, starting in Fiscal Year 2023, all Army Civilian Corps supervisors must complete grade-specific CES courses. Senior leaders must promote a continuous learning culture in the Army Civilian Corps to enhance readiness and improve organizational effectiveness.

Introduction

According to Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 1 (currently unpublished on the Army Publishing Directorate), The Army Profession, there are “two broad categories of professionals—Soldiers and Army Civilians. These professionals comprise two complementary and mutually supporting communities within the Army Profession.” For the Army to achieve its goals, our government civilians need comparable levels of professional development to match and support their uniformed peers.

The Army Civilian Corps plays a crucial role in achieving the goals of the Army profession. The civilian learning program is designed to enable civilians to progress from volunteer to certified professional. This progression is vital in strengthening the military expertise of the Army. Professional development is critical to achieving this progression and ensuring that our government civilians have comparable levels of professional development to their military counterparts. Developing and sustaining a professional identity is the first step in becoming an Army professional. This shared identity is formed and strengthened as Army Civilians live by and uphold the Army Ethic and perform their duties to accomplish the mission. Senior leaders must make it a strategic priority to ensure that civilians receive the necessary professional development to progress in their careers. This is a constant challenge with rapidly changing conditions, advancing technology, and various missions. However, it is vital to maintain the strength and professionalism of the Army profession.

1. What is the Army Civilian Education System?

The Army Civilian Education System (CES) is a comprehensive education program that provides Army Civilian Professionals with the necessary training, skills, and knowledge to enhance their leadership capabilities. The CES offers various courses, seminars, and workshops at different intervals to enable supervisors to develop civilian learning, improve leadership skills, and enhance organizational effectiveness.

2. What is the role of the Army Civilian Education System in developing leadership skills?

The CES plays a crucial role in developing leadership skills among Army Civilian Professionals. Through formal education programs at various intervals, CES ensures supervisors possess the necessary training, skills, and knowledge to lead effectively. The program focuses on developing critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills essential for effective leadership.

Developing the Army Civilian Corps is a Priority

All leaders, from Commanders to senior Army officials, should be dedicated to creating exceptional leaders and unified teams to achieve the Army’s diverse mission. The Army workforce comprises almost 300,000 civilians, making up about 23 percent of the total workforce (Mroczkowski 2015). Of these civilians, roughly 38,000 supervisors have not attended their grade-appropriate leader development CES course, which is attended by approximately 19,000 (Culkin 2022). Military and civilian leaders promote CES courses for their potential regarding Army readiness and the benefits they provide. In simpler words, the progress of government civilians as leaders is directly associated with the Army’s ability to succeed in a performance-based environment, which is a crucial goal for all Army members.

Encouraging and supporting employees to participate in educational, training, and leadership development programs is a crucial part of Army values that aims to cultivate a learning culture. The Army recognizes the significance of developing a diverse pool of highly skilled civilians to tackle emerging operational and strategic challenges in a complex international security environment. Therefore, the Army invests in talent management resources to recruit, train, and retain individuals with innovative solutions to adapt to the ever-changing environment.

The Army Civilian Education System and The Army Profession Chart; builds organizational effectiveness.
Source: US Army

3. What is the significance of the Army Civilian Education System in Organizational Effectiveness?

Senior leaders must promote a continued learning culture in the Army Civilian Corps to enhance readiness. The CES ensures supervisors have the skills and knowledge to effectively lead and manage their teams. This, in turn, enhances the preparedness of the Army by providing that the civilian workforce is prepared to support the Army’s mission.

The Army benefits from leaders who are professionally developed.

Developing Army Civilian leaders with the requisite leadership, cognitive skill sets, open-mindedness, and communication acumen requires commitment, resources, and recognizing the long-term investment necessary to achieve optimal Army readiness. Those who invest in the CES system will see immeasurable advantages in facing future strategic obstacles that challenge military units and civilian organizations. According to TRADOC Pamphlet 525-3-1, The U.S. Army in multi-domain Operations 2028, emerging doctrine describes these multi-domain operations as perpetrated by “our nation’s adversaries [who] seek to achieve their strategic aims, short of conflict, by the use of layered stand-off in the political, military and economic realms to separate the U.S. from our partners (Berletic 2022) (U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command 2018).” As a result, it is in the Army’s and the nation’s best interests to develop innovative leaders who can creatively confront these challenges by collaborating across boundaries with direct and supporting industries to build organizational effectiveness and mission accomplishment.

By encouraging 80% supervisor attendance for CES courses specific to their grades, the Army aims to remain prepared to tackle the ongoing changing threats in both terrestrial and non-terrestrial wars (Culkin 2022). Senior leadership has recognized the importance of CES courses in developing and honing leadership and management skills at various levels, with the ultimate goal of enhancing Army readiness in a multi-domain global security environment. These courses train civilian supervisors to possess the necessary attributes, competencies, Army values, and leadership abilities to help soldiers win the nation’s wars. Additionally, these courses support the development of agile civilians, helping them lead enterprise-wide modernization initiatives during times of change and uncertainty. According to the Secretary of the Army Memorandum Army Directive 2022-07 (Army Modernization Roles and Responsibilities), the courses are essential in maintaining innovative personnel to deal with emerging threats and shifting security environments across all aspects, from war-fighting support to enterprise management, thus embodying the Warrior Ethos (Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology) 2022).

4. What are the grade-specific Army Civilian Education System courses?

Starting Fiscal Year 2023, all Army Civilian Corps supervisors must complete grade-specific CES courses. The courses give supervisors the skills and knowledge to effectively lead and manage their teams. The classes are tailored to the specific needs of each grade level to ensure that supervisors receive the appropriate training and education.

You can read our description of civilian onboarding and CES class descriptions here.

Civilian supervisors must complete courses tailored to their grade level by 2028

Starting Fiscal Year 2023, the Army Management Staff College (AMSC) will enroll 80% supervisors in CES courses, as approved by the Civilian Enterprise Steering Committee in November 2021. This initiative is in line with promoting the Civilian Implementation Plan (2020), with a focus on career program policy, data analytics, and talent management, in collaboration with the newly established Army Civilian Career Management Activity, thus supporting the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civilian Personnel) (Culkin 2022).

The Army Management Staff College has eliminated barriers to CES course attendance to improve Army readiness. They will offer three modes of CES course delivery, including on-site at Fort Leavenworth, through Mobile Education Teams (MET) available at select military installations, and virtually. In-person CES courses are at Fort Leavenworth. Students at several other locations, including Redstone Arsenal, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Fort Knox, Warren, Picatinny Arsenal, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Fort Bragg, Ft. Lee, and Joint Base San Antonio, will have access to select in-person courses the remainder of 2022 to address concerns regarding supervisor readiness.

The Army Management Staff College aims to address the shortage of civilian supervisors by providing mandatory grade-specific CES completion from FY23-FY28. Completing CES courses can open doors to further education, career advancement, college credits, and salary increase. Beyond the normal corporate talking points, civilian leaders should look to improve their competency and their ability to lead in a smaller, agile fighting force to improve organizational effectiveness and ensure long-term preparedness. Many civilians serve as the living knowledge management and continuity and many leaders have experienced varying results of performance. Civilians who learn to adapt, innovate, and identify critical capability gaps ensure the United States has a forward-looking force, ready to tackle the next objective.

5. How can senior leaders promote a culture of continued learning in the Army Civilian Corps?

The 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) has called upon the U.S. Army and other military services to broaden their competitive capabilities. The directive also highlights the significance of civilians supporting soldiers in tasks that only soldiers perform. The NDS suggests that changing the Army’s underlying principles, structure, operations, and overall culture is necessary to create more strength in combat power, dealing with a global security environment spanning multiple domains.

Senior leaders can promote a culture of continued learning in the Army Civilian Corps by encouraging supervisors to take advantage of the education and training opportunities offered by the CES. They can also provide support and resources for supervisors to enhance civilian learning and develop leadership skills.

The Army can improve its strategic goals by altering how they manage the professional development of its civilians. Establishing a comprehensive and centrally managed program that mirrors what is already in place for uniformed personnel could significantly improve the entire Army’s readiness while saving resources. The Advanced Military Studies Course will continue to provide high-quality leadership programs wherever and whenever needed.

Conclusion

The Army Civilian Education System (CES) is vital in developing leadership skills among Army Civilian Professionals. The program offers formal education programs at various intervals, enabling supervisors to build civilian learning and become informed and influential leaders. Senior leaders must promote a culture of continued learning in the Army Civilian Corps to enhance readiness. The CES ensures the civilian workforce is prepared to support the Army’s mission by providing the necessary training, skills, and knowledge.

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