Lean Six Sigma

Black Belt

What is a Black Belt

Black Belts (BBs) are trained, certified, and committed process improvement leaders who work on large-scale and often cross organizational process improvements. Becoming an Army Certified BB requires time, dedication, and a commitment to making better that which we already have. Elimination of waste and reduction of variation are at the very core of what it means to be a BB. In essence, BBs are the driving force behind positive process change. Becoming a certified BB requires a significant commitment increase from that which is required at the GB level. It is required that candidates complete a BB certification project. In addition, it is expected for BBs to train and mentor GBs.

Steps for Attending Army Black Belt Training

If the BB values resonate with you and you have a desire to improve your daily work environment, review the FY10 OSA-OBT Training Overview found on AKO and determine which course best fits your schedule. Once you have reviewed the schedule, gain approval and support from your direct supervisor to attend training and work on a Lean Six Sigma certification project. Please note that BB training is a four week full time course held over the duration of four months. Once you have gained approval from your direct supervisor, follow the steps outlined below to ensure that you are registered and fully prepared for BB training. In addition, the POCs listed on this site pertain only to DCS G-1 / ASA (M&RA) personnel.  If you are a member of another organization within the Army, please reference the Deployment Directors POC spreadsheet found on AKO to determine your training point of contact.

Five Weeks Prior to the Start of Class
  1. Contact the Army G-1 LSS Team to schedule a meeting with a Master Black Belt (MBB) coach.
  2. Meet with your MBB coach to scope out potential project opportunities within your area and begin drafting a Project Charter.
Four Weeks Prior to the Start of Class
  1. Request access to PowerSteering from either your MBB coach or training POC. Once you have been granted access, login and update your personal profile.
  2. Complete the Online PowerSteering Training Course.
  3. Set-up a Project Profile in PowerSteering (your MBB can help you with this). Once a project profile is created, PowerSteering will generate a project identification number (or “LD number”) to be used when registering for class.
  4. Contact your Lean Six Sigma Deployment Office POC with the following information to complete class registration:

    • Social Security Number
    • Requested training date and location
    • PowerSteering project LD number

    Note: In order to complete BB training, you will need to use the Minitab software package. If you do not have a government laptop at your disposal for training, please open a ticket with the IMCEN helpdesk to request a loaner laptop. At that time, follow up with the G-1 training office to request a Minitab license file so that Minitab may be loaded on the machine.

    An auto-generated email will be created upon course registration. This will serve as your course registration confirmation.
Two Week Prior to the Start of Class

Complete the pre-work (approximately 15-20 hours in length) for your class by visiting the AKO Lean Six Sigma Training page. Once you have navigated to the site, look under the “LSS Training Documents” header on the right side of the page to locate the appropriate pre-work materials. It is expected that each BB candidate come to class fully prepared with their equipment, software, pre-work, and project charter completed and entered in PowerSteering prior  to the first day of class.