Lance corporals through staff sergeants looking to pick up their next rank will have to complete new command seminar or resident course requirements in order to be eligible for promotion.
Marine Corps Times first reported the impending changes to resident professional military education requirements for promotion in May. Marine leaders made the rules official with a new administrative message detailing the changes, most of which will take effect Oct. 1, 2015.
In order to be considered qualified for promotion, lance corporals through staff sergeants now must complete additional course work, according to Marine administrative message 521/14, signed Oct. 16.
The push for the initiative to revamp and bolster enlisted PME stems from the evolution of the Marine Corps’ mission and troubling themes in the ranks including hazing, bad behavior in the war zone and sexual assault, leaders say. Planners expect in-person PME that stresses critical thinking to better prepare Marines for the moral challenges they’ll face during small-unit operations.
Lance corporal to corporal
Those vying to pick up corporal and become a noncommissioned officer must now attend two courses. Lance corporals currently only have to complete the Leading Marines course or a command-sponsored Lance Corporals Leadership and Ethics Seminar. Now, they must complete both with the start of next fiscal year.
The new seminar, piloted at select units across the Marine Corps, is being refined.
They “are to be planned and executed at the unit level by the command sergeant major or senior enlisted adviser,” the MARADMIN reads. “Seminar size is generally 50 Marines, broken down into five groups of 10 lance corporals, each led by an NCO/staff NCO who will facilitate guided discussions.”
The course will have five modules touching on topics from problem solving to societal ills.
Lance corporals must complete the Leading Marines online PME course prior to attending the seminar, which they are expected to attend within the first 12 months of attaining the E-3 pay grade.
Corporal to sergeant
NCOs used to have the option of completing PME online.
But with the changes, they must complete a command-sponsored corporals course. So while they don’t have to leave their unit on orders, they will have to spend some time in a classroom.
In addition to the Corporals Course Distance Education Program, they will now have to complete a command-sponsored corporals course. They used to be able to complete just one of the two.
Sergeant to staff sergeant
Sergeants who want to make staff sergeant will now also be expected to complete two courses: the Sergeants Course Distance Education Program and the Resident Sergeants Course. Those new requirements won’t be implemented until Oct. 1, 2016.
Shortened resident courses for sergeants have been piloted at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.
Staff sergeant to gunny
Those competing for gunny also must take two courses; staff sergeants must take the Career Course and then complete either the Resident Career Course or the Career Course Seminar Distance Education Program, making them some of the few Marines who can meet PME requirements for promotion without actually studying in a classroom setting.
Changes to EPME also directly affect the Active Reserve, as well as Marines in the Selected Marine Corps Reserve. View the MARADMIN online for more details.
