Creating a new path for joint education - joint professional military education

Joint Force Quarterly, Spring, 2002 by Robert M. Antis, Claudia H. Clark

A Reserve component program recently developed by JFSC, while extensive in time and cost, provides a joint experience similar to the Phase II program at JFSC without 12 weeks in residence. Acculturation may be difficult to obtain because the majority of lessons are accomplished by distance learning, but the nature of distance learning is such that knowledge, comprehension, and application levels would likely be equal or superior to what resident students gain. Such a program would satisfy the congressional mandate of section 666, Title X of the U.S. Code, which directs that the Secretary of Defense will establish personnel policies for Reserve officers to prepare them for joint duty and that "such policies shall ... be similar to [that portion of Title X that establishes policies for managing and educating joint specialty officers]."

A JPOC level of instruction might suffice for many NCOs. Such teaching could be integrated into existing schools. Where an NCO needs the instruction and it is not readily available, a JPOC-like course could be provided online focusing on learning objectives and made similar to face-to-face instruction.

Woven throughout the above levels of joint education is the need for a system of lifelong learning. Incorporating these new curricula with distance learning could offer solutions. For example, a selection of distance learning courses might help personnel involved in joint operations to maintain their particular skills and develop new ones. As long as the instruction relates to the joint matters dictated by Congress and the Chairman and are incorporated into the JFSC curriculum, the college can provide the foundation for curriculum development in this expanded joint spectrum.

Many of these programs exist or are under development. What is lacking is their integration into a holistic view that ensures that each servicemember and civilian employee receives the right education or training at the right time in their careers to carry out assigned duties. Combining these programs as conceptualized above could enhance individual and unit readiness. It could also ensure that DOD leads transformation rather than being driven by it. The personnel manager faces the greatest difficulties in implementing such a system. Duty positions in joint, service, and defense agencies would need to be coded for the level of joint training or education they require. Personnel movements and training/education opportunities would then need to be matched. The case of JFSC demonstrates that both must work in synch. Despite the clearly-defined need for well-trained officers in joint positions, the college routinely has empty seats in each class due to the mismatch of personnel to positions. Finally, the level of education or training an individual obtains must be tracked. Over time, monitoring would minimize the need for new schooling and would only be needed extensively for a first joint assignment or in a transfer to a position calling for more education. Greater flexibility would eventually be provided to personnel managers with a wider and more focused variety of joint education opportunities and a large pool of servicemembers with the requisite background.