{"id":27472,"date":"2020-03-02T22:47:52","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T22:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/02\/how-the-navy-hopes-to-grow-your-gray-matter\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:16:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:16:39","slug":"how-the-navy-hopes-to-grow-your-gray-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/03\/02\/how-the-navy-hopes-to-grow-your-gray-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Navy hopes to grow your \u2018gray matter\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Navy is in the process of selecting the first students to major in information technology, data science and engineering at the Naval Community College, part of a series of reforms designed to change the way the sea service educates its personnel in an era of great power competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Naval Education for Seapower Strategy<\/a> was released Monday and Chief Learning Officer John Kroger<\/a> told Navy Times that the service is considering three groups of enlisted students, totaling between 300 – 600 personnel, for courses that are expected to begin January 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have a mixed cohort of students from the Marine Corps cyber and information warfare communities, a group of students from the Navy\u2019s nuclear program \u2014 so these are enlisted sailors who operate the nuclear reactors \u2014 and a cohort likely to come from the intelligence communities in the Navy and Marine Corps,\u201d Kroger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Establishing a free community college to offer accredited associate degrees<\/a> for all enlisted students is part of a push to streamline how the sea service educates all its personnel, including commissioned officers and civilian employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the end of the Cold War, the United States possessed a massive economic and technological edge over all potential opponents,” the strategy says. \u201cToday, for the first time in decades, we are competing on a much more level playing field and our advantage is declining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help remedy that, the new plan calls for pegging officer promotions to educational attainment, with an eye on potentially bringing similar requirements to enlisted sailors and Marines hoping to advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe strategy currently doesn\u2019t call for any changes in the evaluation or promotion system for the enlisted force. Those changes are really focused on officers,\u201d Kroger said. \u201cPart of that is we recognize it\u2019s not going to be a one size fits all solution on the enlisted side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an example, Kroger said an infantry Marine might not need an associate degree to advance but a sailor in cyber warfare or information technology might need to show continued learning to get ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overhaul also looks to bridge gaps in war fighting curriculum for junior and mid-grade officers and boost the numbers of commissioned personnel in professional military education programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the report, 2.9 percent of naval officers in Fiscal Year 2019 attended in-residence programs while 6.7 percent sought out online or executive learning opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Fiscal Year 2026, the service wants to increase those to 3.9 percent and 10 percent respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\t