Instructor Opportunities (and other positions that require Advanced Civil Schooling)

Thank you for your interest in joining the Defense and Strategic Studies faculty in the Department of Military Instruction.

DEFENSE & STRATEGIC STUDIES MISSION

The Defense and Strategic Studies Major provides cadets a greater doctrinal understanding of tactics, operations, and strategy relevant to the current and future U.S. Army in order to produce leaders with a significant edge in professional military development.

OVERVIEW

Each year we select branch-qualified captains to attend a one to two-year advanced civil schooling program, with a three-year follow-on assignment to the USMA faculty in the Department of Military Instruction (DMI). Our officers attend top graduate programs and receive a master's degree in areas such as International Security Policy, Communication, Diplomacy and Military Studies, Defense Analysis/Irregular Warfare, and National Security Affairs. In the past, we have sent officers to Harvard University, Naval Postgraduate School, University of Connecticut, University of Kentucky , and Hawaii Pacific University. As professors in our Military Art and Science major, our officers teach, perform professional service, do scholarly research and outreach to the Army, and participate in the mentorship and development of cadets, both in an out of the classroom. We primarily teach juniors and seniors in a variety of subjects including Tactics, Military Strategy, Counterinsurgency Operations, Comparative Military Systems, Military Communication, Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict, Transformation, and Theory and Practice in Modern War.

CURRENT INSTRUCTORS

Our instructors have academic credentials from world-class institutions such as Florida State, Harvard, St. Mary's University, Naval Postgraduate School, University of Connecticut, Kansas State University, George Washington University, and Georgetown.

OPENINGS

- Looking for one 18D-SF officer. The board will convene in Jan 2011 and, if selected, the individual will report to Naval Postgraduate School in Jan 2012 for 18 months and report to West Point in July 2013.

- Looking for two officers (branch immaterial). The board will convene in Jan 2011, and if selected, individuals will attend graduate school for two years to obtain a degree in defense, security and strategic studies fields. Individuals will report to graduate school in August 2012 and report to West Point in July 2014.

ELIGIBILITY

- Officers from all commissioning sources are encouraged to apply for open positions.
- We have one TDA position for MI officers and one TDA position for SF officers. All other positions are branch immaterial.
- We normally select officers to begin graduate school in their 6-8th year of service.
- Officers must be branch-qualified captains to attend ACS with a follow-on assignment to USMA.
- To be eligible for consideration, applicants can have an undergraduate degree in any field. Most successful candidates have an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or higher, though this is not a requirement.

APPLICANT FILE

- Transcripts. Copy of your undergraduate (all schools if you attended more than one) and, if applicable, graduate transcripts.
- Evaluations. Copy of last five OERs and/or AERs.
- GRE. Copy of current (under 5 years at start of ACS) GRE. The Army minimum standards for ACS are 500 points on the verbal, 500 points on the quantitative, and 4 in the analytical writing assessment.
- Letters of Recommendation. We recommend that you provide two letters of recommendation commenting on your potential to do outstanding work at a top American university and be an effective college-level instructor. If you will not have a command OER in time for our selection process, we recommend that you get a letter from your senior rater assessing your performance.

LORs should be addressed to:

LTC Brian M. DeToy Ph. D.
Director, Defense and Strategic Studies Program
745 Brewerton Rd. Rm. 5107
West Point, NY 10996

- Letter of Intent. Tell us why you want to teach in our department and why you think you will doa great job.
- ORB.
- DA Photo.
- APFT Score card.
It is not necessary for you to provide all of this information all at once. Send information as it becomes available. Start early because we can help you more if we have more time.

CONTACT INFO

Files can be sent electronically to:
MAJ James Harbridge

Or by mail to:

MAJ James Harbridge
Department of Military Instruction
745 Brewerton Rd. Rm. 5107
West Point, NY 10996
Phone:(845) 938-6061