U.S. Army Recruiting Command Signs up with Click2learn; Nationwide Implementation of the Aspen Learning Management System Will Reach More Than 7200 Recruiters

Business Wire, Dec 11, 2002

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 11, 2002

Click2learn (Nasdaq:CLKS) today announced that the United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) has chosen the Aspen Learning Management System (LMS) to power an extensive distance learning initiative targeting a nationwide cadre of Army recruiters.

The USAREC will utilize the Aspen LMS to provide training tools that will enable the Army's approximately 7200 recruiting personnel to continue to meet and exceed their yearly recruiting goals.

The USAREC distance learning initiative will serve recruiters for both the Regular Army and the Army Reserve. In addition to using Aspen to deliver strategic content (course material tailored to career objectives such as Station Commanders, Guidance Counselors, etc.) that will help recruiters be more productive day-to-day, the Recruiting Command also will utilize Aspen's modular architecture to track recruiters' training progress and to report results to the senior command.

"We consider our field recruiters to be ambassadors of the US Army to the civilian public. We expect their knowledge and skill to represent the highest quality of our organization and our personnel to new and potential recruits," said Mr. Dennis Stillman, USAREC University Technical Lead. "Aspen provides sophisticated, scalable learning technology, which we need to deliver critical information to our recruiters nationwide to help them continue to meet their recruiting and retention goals."

There are more than 7200 Active and Reserve Component recruiters working out of more than 1600 recruiting stations across America and overseas. Army recruiters must be knowledgeable in recruiting and sales techniques before they are assigned to a recruiting station. The Recruiting and Retention School, located at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, provides the institutional training necessary to be a successful recruiter. Aspen will support continuing unit training programs designed to further hone recruiters' skills as they arrive at their regional recruiting areas.

"Click2learn has a long history of helping the US military develop successful, large-scale training programs designed to more quickly and efficiently achieve personnel readiness at all levels," said Kevin Oakes, Click2learn chairman and CEO. "Aspen's rich features and functionality will allow the Army to provide consistent information to all its recruiters, while also identifying individual skills gaps and learning needs and selecting appropriate courses to close those gaps. We're proud to be making a contribution to the effectiveness of both the Recruiting Command and to homeland security efforts as a whole."

About Aspen 2.0

The highly acclaimed Aspen enterprise productivity application suite enables organizations to strategically manage corporate knowledge and workforce productivity to improve business performance.

With Aspen 2.0, the newest version of the Aspen Suite, organizations can - for the first time - enjoy a comprehensive, integrated solution for their learning needs. Aspen facilitates information management, knowledge exchange and multi-modal training, all under one platform with one seamless user experience. The Aspen Suite 2.0 Suite consists of separate, but integrated modules such as:

-- Learning Management (LMS)

-- Learning Content Management (LCMS)

-- Virtual Classroom (VCS)

-- Performance Management

-- Collaboration, Knowledge Exchange & Instant Messaging

-- Information Management

-- Simulation Creating and Editing

-- Auditing & Compliance Tracking

Whether organizations choose to deploy the entire Aspen suite, or to integrate select Aspen applications with existing infrastructure, Aspen's standards-based (AICC, SCORM, XML, etc.) modular and open architecture is designed to lower the total cost of ownership of learning solutions.

About the United States Army Recruiting Command

With our motto of "To Provide the Strength," the United States Army Recruiting Command is responsible for recruiting quality young women and men to serve in the Regular Army and Army Reserve. Army recruiting operations are conducted throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and at U.S. facilities in Germany and Asia.

The USAREC headquarters, located at Fort Knox, Kentucky, provides the command, control, and staff support to the recruiting force. More than 600 military and civilian personnel work in the staff activities of personnel, administration, logistics, budget, and information management, plus several specialized functions such as advertising, market research and analysis, and recruiting operations. The staff includes members of the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) and the Army Reserve who support recruiting officers and enlisted soldiers for their respective missions.

Bringing quality young men and women into the Army - soldiers who will complete their tours of duty and make a contribution to the nation's defense - will continue to be the objective of the Recruiting Command as it goes about the mission of "providing the strength" for America's Army.