Self-development is not a new concept to Soldiers. As troops progress through the ranks, they must not only complete Army-mandated tasks, but also expand their knowledge and experience base beyond the skills and lessons provided by service.

Two years ago, the Army rolled out the Structured Self-Development program to offer guided levels for noncommissioned officer development. The program follows the 2007 Army Training and Doctrine Command’s mandate to better structure self-development.

Sgt. Maj. Jerry Bailey, director of Structured Self-Development at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, was at Fort Hood to explain the program and get feedback from Soldiers.

“We were invited to Fort Hood because of the large population of Soldiers to get the word out about the program,” he said. “Soldiers have always had self-development; now it’s just more structured.”

Although the program was initially a voluntary guide to help Soldiers expand their knowledge, education and experience, all Soldiers, ranks E-1 through E-9, now are required to complete the program to continue their careers.

Structured Self-Development, a Human Resources Command-run program, is a defined set of required learning that is divided into stages that correlate with a Soldier’s rank and standing within a unit.

“This is an NCO career map,” Bailey said. “It is a deliberate, continuous, sequential and progressive process to create a balance of education, training and experience within all Soldiers.”

Four events in a Soldier’s career will trigger enrollment in the SSD program: graduation from advanced individual training or one-station unit training, completion of the Warrior Leader’s Course, completion of the Senior Leader’s Course, and completion of the Sergeants Major Course, Bailey said.

Each developmental stage of a Soldier’s career has a coinciding stage of SSD, beginning with SSD-I. As an example, once a Soldier completes AIT or OSUT, that Soldier is automatically enrolled into SSD-I.

SSD-I focuses on the team and common leader level and must be completed before a Soldier attends WLC.

SSD-III is centered on platoon- and company-level leaders before SLC. SSD-IV is for battalion-level NCOs and is to be completed following SLC. SSD-V is designed for nominative and joint-staff positions.

There is no SSD-II; instead, squad and platoon leaders complete Advanced Leader Course – Common Core for lessons.

Soldiers can self-enroll in all levels except SSD-V, Bailey said.

“You do not have to wait on the automatic enrollment,” he added.

Soldiers have three years to complete each level. All of the course work is completed online, and Soldiers can receive up to 15 promotion points and three semester hours of college credit per stage, Bailey said.

“The big thing is this is required,” the sergeant major said. “If Soldiers plan on getting promoted, they are required to complete the levels of SSD.”

The implementation of the different levels has been staggered. SSD-I was released in 2010 and will become a prerequisite to advancement April 1, 2013. SSD-III and IV were implemented in May 2011 and will be mandatory for Soldiers at their levels next June. The final level, V, will be released in January and will be a required task beginning January 2015.

The program is self-paced and 100 percent web-based so Soldiers can access SSD essentially anywhere, but Common Access Card log-in is required to complete the tests in each level.

Bailey said his office has learned about some glitches in the web-based system. During his visit at Fort Hood, the sergeant major presented the issues Soldiers had brought up and noted that most of those have been remedied.

“We’ve gotten feedback across the Army saying Soldiers have had some challenges navigating the system,” Bailey said. “We conducted tests across limited installations to see what Soldiers are seeing and applied fixes.”

The program is designed to adapt and change with the Army, and lessons offered will evolve with the service to fit the Army’s and Soldiers’ needs.

“This program is designed to be plug-and-play,” Bailey said. “We can change the lessons to fit the Army’s needs.”

Following Bailey’s briefing, Staff Sgt. Gary Grose, an infantryman assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, said that, although many of the skills taught in SSD should be instilled in Soldiers from their NCOs, he did see some benefit in the program.

“Soldiers are moving up quickly, especially because of the rapid deployment cycles, and some leaders are short on leadership skills,” Grose said.

He had heard about the SSD program before attending the briefing, but has not yet participated. Grose will start with SSD-III since Soldiers will be grandfathered in the system to correlate with their appropriate level.

Not all of the lessons are Army-centric lessons, Bailey said in response to Grose’s comment.

“As an example, Lean Six Sigma (a program designed to reduce waste and enhance efficiency in business) is currently part of SSD-I,” said Bailey.

Tuesday’s briefing was the first real introduction to the program for Spc. Melvin Johnson, a water purification specialist with 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Cav. Div.

“I was told about it recently and enrolled in SSD-I,” Johnson said. “I want to see the slides again and get more information about it.”

Bailey welcomed Soldiers to get more information about the program, and encouraged them to enroll, not only because they have to, but because the program provides beneficial knowledge.

“I wish I had this,” Bailey said. “It would have made me a better leader sooner.”