Written on March 16, 2010 at 10:00 am by

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable: Professional Military Education

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Maj. Gen. David Hogg, deputy commander-Army, NATO Training Mission-Army

Maj. Gen. David Hogg, deputy commander-Army, NATO Training Mission-Army

On an earlier DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. David Hogg, deputy commander-Army, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A) spoke with bloggers about the Professional Military Education (PME) within the Afghan National Army.

The Afghan Army, in conjunction with NTM-A partnered nations, is currently executing PME from non-commissioned officer to field grade officer level.  Schools focusing on PME are the NCO Academy, branch schools for officers, the National Military Academy of Afghanistan (modeled after West Point), and OCS (reflecting a British Sandhurst model).  Recent, and current examples, include the Command and General Staff College graduation of 78 Field Grade officers, and a significant upcoming event, the 18 March graduation of 212 cadets from the National Military Academy of Afghanistan.  This event was preceded by a publicized assignment lottery, where cadets drew unit and location assignment obligations.

Maj. Gen. Hogg will discuss the way ahead:  Institutionalization of a professional PME throughout the Afghan Army.  Building the institutional base will allow for the continued growth of the Afghan Army into a capable, competent, professional and self-sufficient force.

To listen to the audio podcast, click here.

To view a transcript from this interview, click here.

To view an article on Defense.gov, click here.

To view a blogger article on this topic, click here.

Joining us on the call were Chuck Simmins, North Shore Journal; Andrew Lubin, the Military Observer; Kevin Baron, Stars and Stripes blog; Grim, Blackfive.net; Paul McLeary, and Walter Pincus, Washington Post.

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