Fort Bliss, TX –
Students at the Sergeants Major Academy attend accredited college level classes for nearly a year. For some of them the workload is easy to cope with and they seek greater challenges. These students may find their needs met with the Ultima Scholars Program, a voluntary program for students of the Sergeants Major Academy.
This new program offers additional class time and assignments that go beyond the normal curriculum for students who want to strive to challenge themselves.
A selection of 12 students from Sergeants Major Academy Class 75 joined the Ultima Scholars program. The students who participate in the program and achieve high final scores have the option of applying for special billets that include the executive assistant position for the Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA) or as an executive assistant at Training and Doctrine Command. The chance to work closely with the SMA seemed to be popular with many of those in attendance.
Master Sgt. Britney Byrd is one of the Class 75 students participating in the program. She described her interest in the program as being a way to challenge herself beyond what the academy offered with the standard course load.
“I am a firm believer in education,” said Byrd. “We need to be able to articulate ideas when around officers and take decisive action.” With those ideas in mind she hopes to reframe how she thinks and to expand her critical thinking skills to meet the challenges that await as a Sergeant Major.
Her past experience and expertise in cybersecurity and operations has taught her to embrace technology and of the value in cyber operations on the modern battlefield. One of her goals is to demonstrate how important cyber operations are to commanders by “helping people to understand what we bring to the battlefield and how it can affect the bigger picture.”
Students who simply want to participate in the program to expand their horizons can attend while forgoing grading and opting out of consideration for the special assignments. Despite this most seemed interested in competing for one of the special billets available.
Another student in attendance was Master Sgt. Matt Rouse who said he wanted to participate in the program to “be prepared for the fights to come.”
He saw the extra class work as a way to exercise his creative thinking skills, adding “Creative thinking is often lacking in the Army, we need to break from that pattern and be able to take new approaches as NCOs.”
He feels that training junior NCOs to think and exercise their skills will “saves lives and kill bad guys, in future conflicts.”
Rouse also hopes to earn the position as the SMAs executive officer, saying he wants to work under the SMA because, “I would like the have the opportunity to learn and develop under someone of that caliber.”
The course work for the Ultima Scholars Program includes additional reading and writing papers as well as classroom discussions held twice a week after normal academic hours have ended. Most of the attendees already have a degree and elected to join the program to challenge themselves while attending the academy.