No, it will not. You only have to meet the KD requirements for your branch.

Yes, you will need to be branch qualified (completed a key and developmental assignment) as a major or lieutenant colonel to ensure that you are competitive for promotion to the next grade.  

On a limited case-by-case basis, if you are selected as a major and desire to compete for battalion command, the department head may allow you to do both, command and complete the PhD, with the assignment to the department deferred until after command. This decision is based on individual circumstances balanced with the teaching and accreditation needs of the department.

Go ahead and start the application process. We can’t communicate with you if you don’t have a file with us. Turn in everything needed for your packet. It is much easier to tell us in November/December that you will not be competing in the Selection Board than it is to scramble at the last minute to put together an application packet.

Our department seeks to hire officers who can educate, train, and inspire the next generation of Army officers. Where you complete your KD assignment is unimportant. We care far more that you do great things wherever the Army assigns you!

Due to deployments, we can make accommodations. If you have a strong file both militarily and academically (i.e., a high undergrad GPA), we will give you consideration in the Selection Board. If chosen to be an instructor, your selection would be contingent on you scoring well enough on the GRE after deployment to get you into a quality grad school program, as needed. Many grad school programs are not requiring the GRE.

*GRE not required for the initial application, but will be required for the application to Columbia University.

Yes, you can! We have several officers teaching subjects other than what they majored in, whether at USMA or other undergraduate institutions.

Absolutely not! In fact, almost 100% of officers are still in their basic branch when they are selected. Over half of our faculty members continue in their basic branch after finishing their tour at West Point. 

If you decide you are interested in a functional area, we recommend that you do not VTIP into that career field until you are already in graduate school or at USMA to avoid any misunderstanding with your new branch, or complications with your By-Name Request. It is not uncommon for officers in SOSH to apply to become an ORSA (FA49), Strategist (FA59), Foreign Area Officer (FA48), or the Army's newest field - Marketing Officer (FA58).

No, we look at the entire file to ensure a strong mix of backgrounds. However, we typically look for candidates who demonstrate the academic ability to gain admission to a top-tier graduate program. These candidates usually have an undergrad GPA >3.0 and strong GRE quantitative and verbal scores. 

While scores are important, we encourage any interested applicant to apply by submitting their best possible scores in addition to an otherwise strong application. You may continue to take the GRE and submit updated scores until the application deadline of the selection cycle. 

We require all candidates to be complete with company command (or branch equivalent) by the time they would start graduate school to ensure they are competitive for promotion to major. If your timeline is atypical, we will evaluate it on a case-by-case basis. 

For performance evaluations, we look for officers with outstanding military performance who have received strong evaluation reports. There is no standard number of MQ evaluations that are required, but most competitive files have strong OERs that make them competitive for promotion. Though you will most likely not have an evaluation from your command time when you apply, having a "Most Qualified" from company command is usually a requirement before entering graduate school. 

Officers must be competitive for promotion based on their past performance in order to be selected. This is something that your branch manager will usually be able to help you evaluate. 

Absolutely not! We seek officers from all backgrounds and make a distinct effort to ensure that not all of our instructors come from the same colleges, commissioning sources, or branches. We maintain a faculty with a diverse set of backgrounds and experiences and having officers from ROTC and OCS is important for the development of cadets at USMA.

Yes. We understand the value of diversity of thought. Therefore, women and minority officers are encouraged to apply to join the team as staff or faculty.

Yes. The primary reasons are twofold:

1. The timeline allows us to get you released by your branch and approved for graduate school by ACS, which occurs (in this scenario) during the spring of next year, This then allows you to apply to graduate schools during the fall of next year, gain acceptance in the spring of the following year, and begin school in the fall.
2. We have a limited number of slots for each cohort. Much like operational Army units have an MTOE, we also has a TDA which limits the number of slots available for instructors. When we accept a candidate, we are forecasting a specific need for that instructor in 3.5 years. Therefore, we do not have slots available for you to start graduate school in 2020 because those slots were filled a year prior.

For ACS hires, the experience is five years.  After you become Key Development (KD) as a captain, you spend two years in graduate school and then three years teaching at West Point.

There is a 3-year ADSO for every year of graduate school. Accepting the ACS nomination effectively obligates you for 8 years: 2 years in graduate school, 3 years at USMA, and 3 years in follow-on assignments.

For direct hires, the experience is two to three years. You must be KD for your appropriate rank and then will spend two to three years teaching at West Point.  

Once your By-Name Request (BNR) is approved during your application/matriculation process, your tour length becomes a binding contract between West Point and your controlling branch. Even if you negotiate a longer tour with your branch manager, our TDA will not support a longer tour without deliberate, prior coordination with the department's faculty hiring team.

Most officers that extend their tour at West Point increase the length from a 2-year tour to a 3-year tour. Very rarely are officers approved to serve a tour longer than 3 years. Extension requests may not be submitted until the end of your first year of teaching, though we encourage open and candid dialogue with your program director and the faculty hiring team throughout your matriculation process.

Extensions are endorsed by the department head and approved by the Dean or Commandant with concurrence from your controlling branch.

Current requirements dictate that all officers complete a 3-year utilization tour following graduate school. If required, officers will be eligible for deferment of Resident ILE or for Satellite ILE courses scheduled during the summer months. Officers are encouraged to work closely with the department's faculty hiring officers or their branch managers if they are concerned about their career timelines.

In general, officers are considered not eligible for consideration too early in their timelines (i.e., they will not have completed a KD assignment as a captain before beginning graduate school) or too late in their timelines (i.e., they will not return to the force with enough time to complete a KD assignment as a major before their lieutenant colonel board).