United States Army Sergeants Major Academy

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The United States Army Sergeants Major Academy (USASMA) was established on July 1, 1972 at Fort Bliss, Texas, and began instruction in January 1973. Its curriculum is designed to broaden the student's current knowledge base. This approach differs from the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) related training at the basic and advanced levels of the Noncommissioned Officer Education System. The prime educational technique employed throughout the course is the small group participatory learning process.

USASMA became the proponent for developing common leader training for all Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Courses (ANCOC) in June 1981. The common leader training for ANCOC covers five major subject areas: (1) leadership, (2) communications, (3) training management, (4) professional skills and (5) military studies.

Further efforts at the Academy to standardize non-commissioned officer training resulted in the addition of a new Primary Leadership Development Course (PLDC). This course is a blend of the previous Primary Leadership Course (PLC) and the Primary Noncommissioned Officer Course (PNCOC) into one course, training combat, combat support, and combat service support personnel together at the junior NCO level.

USASMA maintains operational control over the United States Army First Sergeant Course (FSC), a five week program to train master sergeants, first sergeants, and Sergeant First Class promotable in performing duties as a first sergeant. The FSC began in October 1981 and has graduated more than 900 students annually since its inception.

USASMA developed the common leader training for all Basic NCO Courses (BNCOC), and has been the proponent since 1984 for reserve component leader training for the FSC, ANCOC, BNCOC, and PLDC.

In 1989, USASMA began conducting the Command Sergeant Major Course (CSMC). The CSMC is a one week course that provides newly assigned command sergeants major (CSM) and CSM designees with the knowledge needed to serve effectively as a CSM. The 42.5 hours of instruction include leader transition, training management, sponsorship, assigning and utilizing soldiers, boards, retention, the NCOER system, quality of life and unit readiness. The training focus is on the commander/CSM relationship and the duties of the CSM in training the unit to mission standards. The course instructors are current CSMs brought in from the field. All noncommissioned officers awaiting positions as CSMs must attend this course.

USASMA also conducts the CSM Spouse Course in conjunction with the CSMC. This course enhances the role of the CSM spouse providing insight and guidance regarding their new position in the Army community.

In January 1991, USASMA began instructing the Battle Staff Noncommissioned Officer Course (BSNCOC). This course effectively combines the programs of instruction (POIs) of the former Operations and Intelligence Course and the Personnel and Logistics Course into a six week integrated program.

In addition to being the proponent for NCOES, USASMA is also responsible for The NCO Journal and The United States Army Museum of the Noncommissioned Officer.

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This article incorporates text from https://www.bliss.army.mil/usasma/usasma-PublicAffairs-History_of_USASMA.asp, a public domain work of the United States Government.