WELCOME
On behalf of the staff and faculty, welcome to the Reserve Component Joint Professional Military Education (RC JPME) Program Homepage. The RC JPME Program was developed as a means to provide the RC officer with the means to meet Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) requirements outlined in the law (Title 10, U.S. Code, Chapter 38, and Section 666) and DOD Instruction 1215.20. The primary course of instruction for the program is Advanced Joint Professional Military Education (AJPME). Congress directed DOD to develop this course of instruction, stating that it should be similar but not identical to the in-residence Phase II JPME curricula available at JFSC.
Like its in-residence counterparts, the AJPME curriculum is designed to provide our students with an opportunity to experience all of the planning and operational challenges that a Fully Joint Qualified Officer (FJQO) should anticipate over a three-year joint duty assignment, whether the assignment is on the Joint Staff, a Joint Task Force, and Service Component Staff. Lessons progress from understanding joint competencies through the two JOPES planning processes—contingency and crisis action planning. Students develop their skills working as staff within a fictitious Combatant Command (USAFCOM), participating in joint planning group activities and participating in three different planning exercises.
Retired flag/general officers (Senior Fellows) are an integral part of the seminar and are a key element of the learning experience.
If you have been notified that you have been selected for this course, visit JFSC's Student Welcoming Information. This will provide you with all the necessary information to prepare for your AJPME experience.
Our primary objective is to support the war fighter, and this is the focus of our curriculum. We value your feedback to help us accomplish this and to continue to make improvements for future classes. If you are an alumnus, your continued and frank evaluation of your education is especially appreciated.
We hope you find your visit to our site worth your time and will visit often!
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
RC JPME Program History
The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 reorganized the Department of Defense to create an organization that was more focused on joint matters. One of the results of the Act was to create and mandate joint professional military education for active component officers.
Title 10 USC, Chapter 38, Section 666 directed a parallel effort for RC officers:
"The Secretary of Defense shall establish personnel policies emphasizing education and experience in joint matters for reserve officers not on the active-duty list. Such policies shall, to the extent practicable for reserve component, be similar to the policies [for the AC]."
Although the DoD has fully complied with the requirements for the active component, it has fallen short of meeting the guidance in Title 10 for the Reserve Component. To rectify this situation, Congress included the following language in the FY 99 Defense Authorization Act:
In order to prepare reserve component field grade officers for joint duty assignments, the committee directs that a course similar in content to, but not identical to, the in-residence Armed Forces Staff College course for field grade active component officers be developed as soon as possible periods of in residence training, as well as distance learning, present the best combination of academic rigor, cohort development, and cross-service acculturation.
As a result of the language above, the Joint Forces Staff College established a Reserve Component Joint Professional Military Education (RC JPME) Program. The Program's first action, in conjunction with the ADL Co-Lab, was to develop a Beta course to validate the delivery of joint PME using distance education technologies combined with a two-day, in-residence exercise. In Summer 2001 four iterations of the Joint Operations Course (Beta Test) were offered to students in the National Capitol Region/Pennsylvania, CENTCOM/SOCOM, PACOM, and JFCOM. The successful completion of this Beta Test validated that joint education could be delivered online.
In the FY 2002 Defense Authorization Act, Congress authorized funds to begin development of the full Advanced Joint Professional Military Education (AJPME) Course. This course was designed to meet the intent of both the Goldwater-Nichols Act and the FY 99 Defense Authorization Act. The first AJPME class started in September 2003; as of March 2008, 27 classes have graduated with nearly 600 students successfully completing the course.
RESERVE COMPONENT JOINT OFFICER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Although the legislation described above outlined the process and procedures for delivering joint education to Reserve Component members, there were no concurrent statutory guidelines for Reserve Joint Officer Management. The office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (ASD/RA) issued DoD Instruction 1215.20 to provide these guidelines. Subsequently, DODI 1300.19, DoD Joint Officer Management Program, was released on 31 Oct 2007. It can be found at is available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/130019p.pdf.
AJPME Format
The AJPME course is a 40-week, blended learning program consisting of two distance learning (DL) phases and two face-to-face (f2f) sessions. During the online learning phases, students will participate in asynchronous group activities and seminar exercises. The online activities take place within a specified framework of approximately four to six hours per week; students must complete assigned lessons during the specified period. However, there is no requirement to be on line at any specific time; students work at times most convenient for them as long as all required work is completed on time. This is especially important given that students in any given class are located around the world in multiple time zones, making the a synchronicity of the course especially important.
As mentioned above, there are four distinct blocks of instruction; two advanced distance learning (DL) phases and two Face-to-Face (f2f) sessions. There are a total of nine non-instructional weeks scattered throughout the two DL phases to allow students research time and time to transition between major blocks of instruction. The above slide demonstrates a typical class although there may be variations in transition weeks due to major holidays.
- The first 12 weeks are referred to as DL block (phase?) 1. This block is focused on lower-level cognitive learning (knowledge and comprehension). Students learn independently, but participate in occasional online asynchronous discussions. They also submit individual written exercises to their instructor.
- At week 13 there is a 4˝-day F2F session. F2F 1 marks the beginning of the joint acculturation process. This session takes place at the Joint Forces Staff College here in Norfolk.
- Weeks 14 through 38 will be highly interactive DL lessons where students will work in groups to develop products that will be used later in the wargame that culminates F2F 2.
- The final in-residence session is done at JFSC due to the technology-heavy requirements of the curriculum. The automated planning tools used at the Combatant Commands are available at the college in an unclassified format. In F2F2, the students finalize the plan they have been developing in the past blocks and execute it using computer simulation tools.
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JOINT PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION (JPME)
JPME is an essential element of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986. It is a three-phased system originally designed for the qualification of Joint Specialty Officers (JSOs). The implementation of the Joint Qualification System (JQS) on 01 October 2007 retains JPME as the backbone for attaining the four levels of Joint Qualified Officer (JQO). More information about the JQO qualification process can be found at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/jqs/owa/jqs_web_display.login.
JPME Phase I is taught as part of the curricula of the Intermediate and Senior Service Colleges in both resident and nonresident formats. It emphasizes the fundamentals needed for a sound basis in joint operations and is taught from the component's perspective. JPME Phase I is a prerequisite for Level II JQO.
JPME Phase II emphasizes joint perspectives, focusing on planning, operations, and procedures. It is only taught in residence through National Defense University (NDU) courses. The National War College and Industrial College of the Armed Forces, along with the Joint Advanced Warfighting School taught at JFSC, grant both Phase I and Phase II credit for their 10-month curricula. The Joint and Combined Warfighting School also awards Phase II credit. In 2006, the in-residence Senior Service Colleges were authorized to grant Phase II credit and the initial accreditation of these programs was completed in 2007.
JPME Phase II is a prerequisite for Active Component officers to attain Level III JQO. Reserve Component officers have the option of taking any of the Phase II programs listed above or completing AJPME for Level III JQO.
JPME Phase III is the CAPSTONE course for Flag and General Officers. It is a requirement for Level IV JQO.
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INSTRUCTORS
The AJPME faculty consists of officers from the Reserve Component of each Service. If we ever get enough qualified instructors, faculty will work in pairs, with one instructor taking the lead for a given seminar and a second instructor functioning as a backup for periods of additional workload or extenuating circumstances. Currently, however, staffing levels are not sufficient to assign more than one faculty member per seminar. All AJPME faculty members are graduates of the Joint Forces Staff College's Joint and Combined Warfighting School or AJPME and have completed rigorous online instructor training.
One of the core elements of JFSC is interaction with senior fellows. Senior fellows are individuals who are active and retired flag/general officers or high-ranking Department of State officials and augment the curriculum to provide insight and exchange views with students during the development of the theater strategy and as a course review after the final exercise. Additionally, the in-residence course takes advantage of “targets of opportunity”—high-ranking civilian and military leaders who visit at points during the course to share insights. Since students in AJPME do not have the opportunity to interact with this second group of individuals, key insights from senior fellows are embedded in many of the lessons, enabling AJPME students to benefit from the wisdom of these Senior Fellows across a wider spectrum of the course.
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Last update: 06 March 2008
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