The United States Army has always prided themselves on their push for education. They boast that they have the finest schools and the best trained soldiers in the world. One way that they ensure that the soldiers receive their training is through correspondence courses. These are available to all soldiers and vary in content.
In years gone past, many older soldiers may recall doing correspondence courses through the mail. They would be sent a stack of material to read through and study. They would take the test at the end and mail it back in for results. This has changed with technology. They are now available through a soldier's AKO account, Army Knowledge Online.
A soldier who wants to earn promotion points can easily do so by taking correspondence courses. For every five credit hours of course work they do they earn one promotion point. These easily start to add up. The AKO account keeps track of the course work and the command has access to all work done, when evaluating a soldier for promotion.
There are a variety of Army correspondence courses that a soldier can sign up for and take. When they access the education portal through AKO, there will be listed all of the classes they are eligible to take.
There will be courses in their own MOS, Military Occupational Specialty, as well as basic solider skills. There are other MOS courses that are available as well. They may see an area that is unrelated to their MOS, but they are interested in learning about. A soldier can sign up for these classes and learn other skill sets.
Basic soldier skills include NBC, first aid, map reading and others. These are the skills that all soldiers must have. Many are taught to a soldier in basic training. They learn more in their unit. Soldiers are encouraged to learn all they can with regards to basic skills.
As they advance through the ranks, these courses will change according to their responsibility level. For privates they are the first level, once a soldier reaches E-4 and E-4Promotable they will start taking the skill level that prepares them for leadership and more responsibility. This applies to both MOS related skills and basic soldier skills. The courses advance with them.
There are also correspondence courses that are pre-requisites for training. Many advance training such as the WLC, Warrior Leadership Course, BNCOC, Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course, and ANCOC, Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course, have correspondences courses to take before a soldier attends the physical school. These courses are meant to prepare a soldier for all that they will learn in a short period of time.
Taking Army correspondence courses have another purpose. Those in charge encourage soldiers to take them. They want their soldiers to be more than just proficient with skills, they want them to excel. Correspondence courses help with this goal. They do notice who is doing the courses as well. They see which soldiers are applying themselves and who are dedicated. Correspondence course work is one way to show those higher up that a soldier is willing to improve and work towards promotion.
Those who are looking to advance through the ranks may benefit greatly from Army correspondence courses. There are many out there. Those a soldier may find interesting, others they may struggle through. They will learn through all of them. They will learn about MOS training and how to be a better soldier. Soldiers may earn promotion points and notice of their superiors.
This article is based on publicly-accessible information and has not been reviewed or approved by any military branch.
