| If at all possible use the USAR Schools for your Advanced Course and upon
completion for the Command & General Staff Course. They fill in
answers left begging within the correspondence courses. Also, if you are
not a drilling reservist, their points count for retirement purposes.
The Command & General Staff Course is a prerequisite for promotion
to Lieutenant Colonel. With pending drawdowns promotion without it
won't happen.
Also there is a best kept secret within the C&GSC program. During
the summer you are expected to go to a two week course. Often you
can do this in lieu of Annual Training. There are different sites
offered; Dover Delaware, Los Vegas, sometimes Hawaii, Puerto Rico,
and Ft Polk (only as a last resort!).
The Dover site is at Wesley College and it quite nice. The college
provides your meals(the Army weighs you before the course begins
and fortunately not before you leave) and sleeping accomodations
(2 to a room); it is a gentleman's course, you do not need your
fatigue uniforms.
Dover is about 6 miles from the beach on Delaware Bay. Oftentimes
you can rent a beach house for your family while you are in class.
You won't be given an additional quarters' allowance, but the beach houses
are much more reasonable than down the coast. Plan on taking your
salt-water fishing gear too.
If you go un-accompanied your evenings will be full. There is an
airbase nearby and when the aircrews are off elsewhere, the wives
go in groups to the local discos & hotel lounges. Usually you will
return without company, but then again you are there to study too.
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| Perhaps so, but a friendly reminder to your commander that his schools
funds have to be spent and that your command views career schools to have
a higher priority over annual training usually turn the tide. (Arguments
about irreplaceability are indicators of poorly trained subordinates.)
Just remember, you will never see your Lieutenant Colonel promotion without
the course.
Good luck,
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