[This article was first published in Army Sustainment Professional Bulletin, which was then called Army Logistician, volume 3, number 3 (May–June 1971), pages 30–33. The text, including any biographical note, is reproduced as faithfully as possible to enable searchability. To view any images and charts in the article, refer to the issue itself, available on DVIDS.]
Professional growth, based on individual initiative, is the hallmark of the U.S. Army National Guard and Reserve Component Logistics Career Program. The program prepares Army Reserve component officers to meet today’s logistics challenges, to match strides with rapidly changing technology, and to grow and be part of tomorrow’s logistics achievements.
THE DEVELOPMENT of a reservoir of professional logistics managers to meet the challenges of an emergency mobilization is insured through the Army National Guard and Army Reserve Logistics Career Program (LCP). Future mobilization plans and the Army’s ability to expand rapidly and effectively will depend, in a large measure, on the Reserve component logistics officers. These qualified, self-disciplined, and concerned participants have established and are attaining worthwhile objectives — both for themselves and for their country.
More than 830 officers are continuing their career growth as members of the program. Of this number, 67 have been awarded certificates of proficiency as Department of the Army Logisticians (Reserve). A list of these logisticians is on page 33. The balance are in the process of striving to reach that goal and, at the same time, to improve their potential as logistics officers through a self-development pattern that includes completion of prescribed courses and tours of active duty training.
Through this career program, officers in Reserve components are developed to fill important logistics assignments throughout the Department of Defense and other responsible positions in the event of mobilization that require officers with logistics training and background. The Logistics Career Program is the Reserve counterpart of the Active Army Logistics Officer Program.
The Logistics Career Program development pattern calls for successive completion of branch, Command and General Staff College, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and U.S. Army Logistics Management Center courses and for progression through appropriate assignments and active duty training. By following this plan, officers can develop as program members and at the same time satisfy the educational prerequisites for promotion established by Army Regulation 135-155.
As an indication of the professional growth of officers enrolled in the program, five of its members have been promoted to the rank of general within the past two years. One hundred and fifteen of the 327 lieutenant colonels in the program were on the last Reserve promotion list to colonel.
Program participants are primarily responsible for their individual development. The program is not a course of instruction. Educational requirements may be completed in any sequence. Active duty for training and Reserve duty assignments should be in the logistics area. The Commandant, U.S. Army Logistics Management Center (USALMC), Fort Lee, Virginia, who has the operational responsibility for the Logistics Career Program, monitors the career development of the officers in the program, and is available to furnish necessary guidance.
Reserve component officers, not on active duty, with the following qualifications may enroll in the Logistics Career Program —
• Be a member of the Army National Guard of the United States assigned to a State headquarters or headquarters detachment or be a member of the U.S. Army Reserve in an active status.
• Be in the grade of captain or higher and have completed eight years of service creditable for retirement. In certain circumstances, a waiver of the prerequisite grade and length of service may be granted.
• Have three years of service remaining before anticipated release from an active Reserve status.
• Have performed in an outstanding manner in a logistics assignment or related area. While previous experience in military logistics is desirable, it is not mandatory.
An officer in the Active Reserve may apply through his Army Commander, the Commanding Officer, U.S. Army Administration Center, St. Louis, Missouri, or directly to the Commandant, USALMC. An officer in the Army National Guard who meets the entrance requirements may apply for admission to the program by submitting an application through his State Adjutant General.
Applications for enrollment in the program will be by letter as outlined in Army Regulation 135-12 and will include this information —
• Name, grade, social security number, and civilian mailing address.
• Basic and detailed branch.
• Date of birth, date of commission, date of rank, and date of anticipated release from an active Reserve status.
• Present Reserve assignment.
• Mobilization position, if applicable.
• Primary and secondary military occupational specialty.
• Experience (civilian and military).
• Education (civilian and military) to include service schools attended, extension course enrollment, and completion status.
• Mobilization availability.
It is essential that complete information on an applicant’s civilian experience be detailed to permit sound selection or nonselection action, particularly in cases where military logistics experience is limited or lacking.
Personnel records of officers will be marked for identification as specially selected officers in the logistics career field.
Since the program is voluntary, an officer may be released from membership at his request. He will be subject to release if he fails to complete his branch career course within one year after acceptance into the program. He may also be subject to release from the program if it is determined that his self-improvement in the field of logistics has not been adequate to insure his effectiveness in the event of mobilization.
The current assignment or records of an officer who applies or is nominated for the Logistics Career Program and is not selected will not be adversely affected. The notice of nonselection will not become part of an applicant’s record in order to minimize any possibility of misunderstanding or injustice to him. He will be advised by personal letter or his nonselection.
As part of his continuing progression, a program member will be expected to accept a mobilization designation position. This is a position in a mobilization table of distribution and allowance that requires selection and training of an individual from an active Reserve component who will be required to fill the position in event of mobilization. The officer will be given the orientation and training required to qualify him for his duties in his designated assignment. This will include on-the-job training with the designated agency, command, or activity during annual duty for training.
An officer’s mobilization assignment will be made commensurate with his grade and experience in such agencies as —
• Office of the Secretary of Defense.
• Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• Defense Supply Agency.
• Office of the Secretary of the Army.
• Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Department of the Army.
• U.S. Army Materiel Command, U.S. Continental Army Command, or U.S. Army Combat Developments Command.
• Joint, allied, and unified command headquarters.
• Corps, field armies, major commands, and other headquarters of equivalent level or logistics commands.
• Military assistance advisory groups and military Command.
Other mobilization assignments may be as staff and faculty members of Army schools or assignment to other agencies and activities that require officers to perform duties in logistics areas. An officer may apply for a mobilization designated position or he may be nominated in accordance with AR 140-10. Nominations may be made by State Adjutants General, Army commanders, U.S. Army Reserve general officer commanders, senior Army advisers, and unit advisers. These nominations are submitted through channels to the Commandant, USALMC, ATTN: AMXMC-N-C. Channels for members of the Army National Guard will include the Chief, National Guard Bureau.
To reach his goal as a logistician (Reserve), a program member must be a colonel or a lieutenant colonel selected for promotion. He must be a graduate of the Associate Army Logistics Management Course and have successfully completed a USALMC functional course by correspondence, or be a graduate of the Associate Logistics Executive Development Course in residence. A USALMC resident course of a scope equivalent to meet all of these course requirements is an authorized substitution. A resident USALMC functional course also may be substituted for extension course requirements. The program participant also must have been issued a certificate of proficiency by the commandant, USALMC.
Since the Logistics Career Program is a long-range development program, it must be updated continually to maintain its effectiveness. One of the latest developments is the replacement of the four-phase Associate Army Logistics Management Course by the more comprehensive five-phase Associate Logistics Executive Development Course. The new course may be completed by attending five two-week periods of training. Although each phase of the course must be taken in sequence, officers may complete either one or two phases a year.
Various publications that provide current information on the latest trends in logistics are available for the program member. Each Logistics Career Program member receives the Army Logistician magazine by name to keep him aware of the latest logistics policies, doctrines, and concepts.
The Logistics Career Program serves a twofold purpose. It provides a logistics career field for Reserve component officers of all branches and it provides a continuing source of competent logistics officers to fill mobilization designation and Reserve component positions requiring qualified logistics officers or logisticians.
| Date Taken: | 09.22.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.22.2025 16:30 |
| Story ID: | 548991 |
| Location: | US |
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