PENSACOLA, Fla. — An American Council on Education (ACE) team visited the Center for Information Dominance (CID) to evaluate six courses and perform an occupational review of the cryptologic technician (collection) (CTR) rating, Feb. 2-3.
The team looked at three cryptologic technician (technical) courses and three information systems technician courses, spanning from entry-level "A" school to "C" school. Two of the courses had not been reviewed before, and the other four are courses that have undergone changes and required a re-evaluation.
"American Council on Education is important for the service members who attend Center for Information Dominance courses," said Instruction Systems Specialist Denise Myers, CID's ACE liaison. "The courses we offer that are more than 45 unclassified instructional hours are eligible for ACE to review."
ACE, a nationally recognized accreditation organization, recommends equivalent college credits for members of the armed forces for certain types of military training and service experiences, based on high quality standards of practice.
ACE teams, composed of college and university faculty members who are actively teaching in the areas they review, provide a collaborative link between the U.S. Department of Defense and higher education through an evaluation process that includes a site visit to analyze the content and an evaluation consensus in determining learning outcomes and appropriate academic credit recommendations.
"The ACE credit-recommended courses combined with the college credit recommendations that a service member can get for their Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC), Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) or Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) can assist them in attaining a college degree," said Myers. ACE requires the courses and occupations to be reviewed at a minimum every 10 years.
"However, courses that are updated to reflect the fast pace of technology and evolution within the information warfare community need to be reviewed more frequently."
For the CTR occupational review, the team conducted panel interviews with enlisted and senior enlisted CTRs to represent a variety of ranks and skill levels within the CTR occupation. The goal was to assess the job assigned to CTRs to determine if the learning that has occurred above and beyond formal military training warrants college-level credit recommendations.
ACE occupation reviews are focused on validating the Navy's job standards and expectations. Before the interviews begin, faculty evaluators review the occupation description, occupation standards, job task analysis, promotion exams when available, and manuals used on the job.
A final report that outlines the consensus on the alignment of credit recommendations for the occupation is usually completed by the ACE team within 30 working days of the evaluation. The final report will then appear in ACE's Military Guide, which presents credit recommendations for formal courses and occupations offered by all branches of the military. These credit recommendations appear on the service member's Joint Services Transcript.
"Our students learn the skills that kick start their careers in the information warfare community or build upon their naval profession when they return to us for more training later," said Capt. Maureen Fox, CID headquarters commanding officer. "They also learn an incredible amount as war fighters and employ their skills in so many ways while supporting the fleet and the national security establishment, so it's essential to have those skills translate into college credits. Our Sailors deserve it."
The Center for Information Dominance (CID), with headquarters based at Naval Air Station Pensacola Corry Station, is the Navy's learning center that leads, manages and delivers Navy and joint forces training in information operations, information warfare, information technology, cryptology and intelligence.
With nearly 1,300 military, civilian and contracted staff members, CID provides training for approximately 22,000 members of the U.S. armed services and allied forces each year. CID oversees the development and administration of more than 200 courses at four commands, two detachments and 12 learning sites throughout the United States and Japan.
For more information on the Center for Information Dominance, visit www.netc.navy.mil/centers/ceninfodom/; www.facebook.com/CenterForInformationDominance/; and www.twitter.com/CenterInfoDom/.