WASHINGTON - Junior Soldiers in a handful of job specialties have another option to gain promotion points.
As of Jan. 11 (2004), skill-based licenses and certifications from civilian sources are worth 10 points. There are 10 career fields that are currently participating in the initiative: Adjutant General, Air Defense Artillery, Aviation, Engineer, Ordnance, Quartermaster, Signal, Transportation, Army Medical Department and Public Affairs.
Promotable specialists and sergeants can add up to 50 points in technical certificates, but the points will only remain valid as long as the certificate is valid, said Sgt. Maj. Louisa Scott, the chief of Enlisted Promotions at U.S. Army Human Resources Command.
"The certificates can be added as a promotion action only when a Soldier has at least 20 points to add. Then the expiration date on the certificate will be recorded. So if a Soldier needs to re-certify for his license to remain valid, and he fails to do so, then the points will be deleted," Scott said.
"This is a work in progress," said Jeffrey Colimon, the senior military analyst for the Training and Doctrine Command's Personnel Proponency Directorate.
The initiative is new and will undergo a number of changes, Colimon said, however Soldiers can stay abreast of what military occupational specialties have jumped on board by visiting the Web site for Army Credentialing Opportunities On-Line at www.cool.army.mil.
The different proponents have the latitude of analyzing the credentialing concept and determining if it adds value to their branch, Colimon said. We are working with the combat arms proponents to match their skills with related civilian certifications, which will benefit both the Soldier and the Army, he added.
The promotion point incentive is the Army's way of encouraging Soldiers who are not interested in college but still want to pursue professional development, according to officials in the Promotions Branch at the Human Resources Command.
"Far too many Soldiers go out and purchase civilian education mainly for promotion points with no degree intent at all," said Sgt. 1st Class Cedric Thomas, the chief of Junior Enlisted Promotions at HRC. "The certification incentive will give them the opportunity to use training in a progressive nature."
If soldiers get hands-on training in their specific field, it can improve their job performance and make them more marketable in the civilian market, Scott said.
"By offering promotion points, the Army is encouraging soldiers to pursue professional development," Scott added.
Officials in the Ordnance Corps introduced using credentialing opportunities as a promotional tool. Sgt. Maj. James Herrell, chief enlisted career manager in the Ordnance Corps' Personnel Proponency Office, said that developing a more competent Soldier was the driving force of the initiative.
"We want a competent, enlisted force and self development is key," Herrell said. "For a Soldier to earn industry credentials, he must study on his own time, get his own resources and demonstrate a level of competency that his peers have not.
"We're not trying to create a more marketable soldier. That is the last of our concerns. We were looking at ways to encourage our Soldiers to do self study."
Herrell did note however, that one of the benefits to receiving civilian certification is gaining experience that will benefit the Soldier in the civilian work force.
The COOL Web site serves as the home station to get information on the credentialing for points initiative. Credentials that are valid can be found on the site by clicking on the links that read Technical Certification and Promotion Points Fact sheet or Technical Certification Matrices.
In the future there will be a link to Army Regulation 600-8-19, Enlisted Promotions and Reductions to provide more information on promotion policy, said Louie Chartier, the COOL program manager.
The COOL Web site is a recruiting, retention and now a promotion tool, Chartier said. COOL explains how Soldiers can meet civilian certification and license requirements related to their military occupational specialties, and since the site was launched in April 2002 there has been more than 756,000 hits, Chartier added.
