By Sgt. Maj. Justin A. Hood
FORT BLISS, Texas— The Department of the Army officially released the names of those selected for Cohort 6 of The NCO Leadership Center of Excellence and the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy Fellowship Program, Sept. 6.
The NCOLCoE and the USASMA would like to extend a sincere congratulations to these Fellows recently accepted into Syracuse University.
Selection for the USASMA Fellowship Program is a highly competitive and selective process designed to select the most qualified and experienced enlisted leaders in the Army, to become undergraduate instructors for future sergeants major.
Although selection into the USASMA Fellowship Program is a strict and stringent process, this selection does not guarantee their acceptance into their selected university.
After selection, future Fellows must go through an application process at their selected university.
During this application process, the university that a fellow is selected to, either Pennsylvania State University or Syracuse University, evaluates a Fellows past academic achievements and their suitability and potential for success in their degree program.
After submitting their applications, the respective university conducts a thorough review and selection process of all the applications received, and with the Dean’s approval, selects the best applicants.
The 10 Cohort 6 Fellows selected for Syracuse received letters of acceptance into the University’s Online Master’s Degree in Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation.
Their academic and career long achievements easily justified their selection into the USASMA Fellowship Program, but more importantly, these achievements allowed a 100 percent selection rate of USASMA Fellows into Syracuse University.
These recently accepted Fellows report to the USASMA in the Spring of 2020, begin their studies with Syracuse University in the Fall of 2020, and are expected to graduate in the Summer of 2021.
Sgt. Maj. Andrew Estes is one of the 10 Sergeants Major selected as a USASMA Fellow into Syracuse University.
“Many senior leaders have helped develop me, now I get to pay it forward and continue advancing future sergeants major and the NCO Corps” he said.
After successfully graduating the Syracuse University IDDE degree program, these Fellows will become instructors at the USASMA and are assigned the responsibility of teaching and mentoring future Sergeants Major.
“I can think of no greater responsibility than being entrusted to shape the future of the NCO Corps, and no greater honor than being selected by a panel of my peers,” Sgt. Maj. Donald Petrie said, when asked about his recent acceptance into Syracuse University.
The fellowship is a broadening program which also has 10 more sergeants major prepared to attain a Master’s Degree in Lifelong Learning and Adult Education from Pennsylvania State University.
Pennsylvania State University is the first college to create a partnership with the USASMA Fellowship program, and they will start their application process in March 2020.
In previous years they have selected 100 percent of the recommended candidates from the USASMA selection panel.
The Cohort 7 fellowship announcement will be released in December with an expected application processing window to extend through July 2020.
In previous years 20 Fellows were selected into the USASMA Fellowship Program.
In support of the Army’s number one priority of people and talent management starting with Cohort 7, the panel is looking to select 30 highly qualified Sergeants Major, with 15 going to each university.
WHO CAN APPLY
Any sergeant major who has less than 26 years of military service, is either Active Component, National Guard, or Active Guard Reserve with a completed bachelor’s degree of a 3.0 or higher from a regionally accredited institution.
National Guard and Reserve Soldiers who elected to participate in the “Enlisted Sanctuary Program” may not meet the remaining service requirements required for consideration into the Fellowship Program.
ALREADY HAVE A MASTER’S DEGREE
If you are a sergeant major with a master’s degree and are interested in being an instructor at USASMA contact the Sergeants Major Branch at HRC.
For more information on the USASMA Fellowship Program visit the NCOLCOE website at https://ncolcoe.army.live.dodlive.mil/usasma-fellowship/.