Army Distance Learning Courses: An Overview
The advent and development of distance education has revolutionized access to affordable, quality education for millions. The Army has embraced distance learning for a century, adapting to the evolving needs of a modernizing force. This article explores the historical development from traditional face-to-face education to distance learning, practical uses, and academic approaches to distance education within the Army as an educational institution.
Historical Foundations of Army Distance Education
Distance education can trace its roots to educators in the late 1700s publishing newspaper advertisements offering to teach shorthand through correspondence. Distance education gradually matured over two centuries before growing exponentially during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Army also adopted early forms of distance education in the early twentieth century. A review of the Army’s nearly 250-year history of educating officers and enlisted soldiers reveals the extent of early efforts, best practices, failed experiments, and more. The Army’s educational progress is best understood through the lens of American culture and historical efforts to modernize and professionalize the force.
Early Efforts: From Von Steuben to the Army War College
The Army originated with the British Army teaching militia officers and soldiers during the colonial wars in North America, culminating in the British victory in the French and Indian War that concluded in 1763. During the Revolutionary War, Major General Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben created the Blue Book, which the Army used for nearly a half-century to train its noncommissioned officers (NCOs) and enlisted men. Von Steuben’s Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, commonly known as von Steuben’s Blue Book, was the Army’s first manual for training soldiers and was used for a half-century after its introduction in 1779.
In the years following the establishment of USMA, several states created publicly supported military schools, including the Virginia Military Institute and The Citadel in South Carolina. USMA was the Army’s only permanent military educational institution until after the Civil War. During General William Tecumseh Sherman’s tenure as commanding general of the Army, he oversaw the creation of schools for the Infantry and Cavalry branches. He also sustained the Artillery School and encouraged a school for engineers and a war college. Throughout the nineteenth century, individuals such as Sherman, Upton, General Philip I. Sheridan, and Lieutenant General John A. Schofield made efforts to reform and modernize the Army by addressing outdated command structures, tactics, and personnel policies (promotion stagnation and retirement regulations continued to be problematic until changes after World War II).
As military technology advanced in the Age of Industrialization, the demand for well-trained and educated soldiers increased. Secretary of War Elihu Root’s reforms in the early 1900s included the establishment of the Army War College and the Command and General Staff College. Root’s tenure in office resulted in the most pronounced reforms and modernizations to the military until legislative reforms in 1947 and 1986. Root’s efforts modernized the War Department by reorganizing it to include a general staff and restructuring the National Guard. His efforts also led to the creation of what became the Army Reserve in 1908. Root’s efforts to professionalize officers resulted in a renewed emphasis on education by creating the Army War College in Washington, DC, and the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
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Mid-20th Century: NCO Education and the Rise of Correspondence Courses
World War II and Korea elevated NCOs to small-unit leaders. In June 1958, Congress restored the pay grades of E8 (master sergeant/first sergeant) and E9 (sergeant major). In 1965, Army Chief of Staff General Harold K. Johnson wanted to recognize the value and contributions of the NCO with the creation of the position of Sergeant Major of the Army. Throughout the late 1960s to the 1980s, the Army also standardized NCO education for NCO grades, created the Sergeants Major Academy at Fort Bliss, Texas, and published The Army Noncommissioned Officer Guide.
Among the best-known examples of distance learning in the Army were the yellow manuals issued by the Army Correspondence Course Program beginning in the 1970s and used until 2010. The Army Correspondence Course Program (ACCP) originated at Fort Eustis, Virginia. The ACCP carried on the tradition of delivering paper correspondence courses covering a myriad of topics to troops across the globe. The most well-known courses were the text-based and popular yellow manuals used from the 1970s through 2010.
Late 20th Century and Beyond: Digital Revolution and Modernization
The advent of the all-volunteer Army in 1972 drove efforts to make an enlisted career competitive to those in the civilian sector “with promises of individual opportunity: marketable skills, money for college, achievement, adventure, and personal transformation.” The Army had finally championed the professionalization and education of officers and NCOs. In 1994, Army Chief of Staff General Gordon R. Sullivan consulted with social scientist Margaret Wheatley about transforming the Army into a learning institution.
General Dennis Reimer, the Army’s Chief of Staff from 1995 to 1999, led a digital revolution in Army distance education. Reimer fully committed himself and the Army to the 1996 Army Distance Learning Master Plan (ADLMP). The ADLMP advocated funding and resources to distance learning as a cost-effective and competitive advantage to personnel training. Reimer helped establish the Army University Access Online (eArmyU) program in 2001. The eArmyU program provided soldiers unable to attend a traditional face-to-face course with the opportunity to pursue distance education. In his honor, the Army named the database the General Dennis J. Reimer Training and Doctrine Digital Library (RDL). Reimer’s effort also improved the NCO education system. In 1995, the Army conducted its pilot distance learning course for sergeants using video tele-training to educate soldiers assigned to the peacekeeping mission in the Sinai to complete the primary leadership developmentcourse.
The Army continued to build its distance learning capabilities throughout the early 2000s. The operational tempo of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan created backlogs in school attendance and greater demand for distance education options. The Army created online courses through multiple sites, such as Army Learning Management, Army Safety, Joint Knowledge Online, and Army Knowledge Online. During his tenure as TRADOC commander from 2008 to 2011, General Martin Dempsey led a new era of professionalization and distance learning, including the adoption of the Army Distributed Learning Program to replace the Army Correspondence Course Program. In 2010, the Army made substantial changes to its distance education program. The Army Distributed Learning Program replaced the Army Correspondence Course Program. Structured self-development online courses were introduced between all levels of residential professional military education. A final milestone in distance learning occurred on 1 February 2019, when the Army transitioned from structured self-development online courses to distributed leader course (DLC) online courses.
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Current Distance Learning Programs and Resources
Today, the United States Army Combat Readiness Center hosts its Distance Learning (DL) courses on ATIS Learning. This provides Soldiers, Army Civilians, safety professionals and joint forces greater access to training resources. To access these resources:
- Login to the Army Training Requirements and Resources System (ATRRS). NOTE: A Common Access Card (CAC) is required to register for all ATRRS courses.
- For any other courses contact the US Army ATIS help, contact the Army Training Help Desk (ATHD) by submitting a ticket via the Army Enterprise Service Management Platform (AESMP) or by calling 866-335-ARMY (2769), Option 6.
Air War College Distance Learning Program
The Air War College (AWC) distance learning program is a senior developmental education (SDE) program offered to O-5 selects and above. The AWC DL curriculum is based on the five core areas central to all levels of professional military education-leadership, profession of arms, warfighting, national/international security, and communication studies. The AWC experience is designed to “…develop Airmen who are critical and creative thinkers by implementing an agile, individually tailored approach to life-long education….” (USAF Strategic Master Plan, May 2015). Requests for international students must be forwarded to the Air Force Security Assistance Training Squadron through the applicable country Security Cooperation Organization or embassy.
Naval Command and Staff Online Program
The Naval Command and Staff (NC&S) online program is organized into six courses. The Online Program is offered four times per year, March, June, September, and December. Students can submit work before the due date each week and are not required to log in at a specific time. The average workload is 8-10 hours per week for 46 weeks. For minimum and recommended computer requirements on taking courses via the online program please see link below. Please note that NMCI does NOT currently support the use of NWC Blackboard on their network. College of Distance Education Blackboard is currently using the Ultra based format and Learn 2016 Theme.
Distributed Degree Program
The distance learning programs offered through DDE include both the non-resident Common Core and Advanced Operations Courses as part of the Intermediate Level Education (ILE).
DDE is organized into three divisions:
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- Student Operations: Processes enrollments, verifies eligibility, grants access to course materials, manages student statuses, verifies course completion, and processes diplomas, transcripts, and official records.
- Common Core Division: Manages curriculum development, student tracking, faculty advisement, and assessment grading for the Common Core course.
- Advanced Operations.
Officers in grade O2 and below, International Officers, Defense contractors, Congressional Staff, and retired military personnel are not eligible to apply. Classes consist of 17-20 students and proceed through the material in accordance with the schedule. This asynchronous course is not self-paced.
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