R 191227Z OCT 15
MARADMIN 519/15
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC MRA MM//
SUBJ/ACADEMIC YEAR (AY) 16-17 TOP LEVEL SCHOOL (TLS) SELECTION BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT//
REF/A/MSGID:DOC/CMC WASHINGTON/YMD:20140918//
REF/B/MSGID:DOC/MCCDC/YMD:19991020//
REF/C/MSGID:MSG/CMC WASHINGTON DC/112035Z DEC 08//
REF/D/MSGID:MSG/CMC WASHINGTON DC/060930ZJAN2009//
NARR/REF A IS MCO P1300.8, MARINE CORPS PERSONNEL ASSIGNMENT POLICY. REF B IS MCO 1553.4B, PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION. REF C IS MARADMIN 703/08, OFFICER PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION (PME) SUMMARY. REF D IS MARADMIN 003/09, TRANSMISSION AND FILING OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS TO THE OFFICIAL MILITARY PERSONNEL FILE (OMPF).//
POC/C.T. TIERNEY/MAJ/UNIT:MMOA-3/-/TEL:DSN 278-9284/EMAIL:CHRISTOPHER.TIERNEY(AT)USMC.MIL//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1. Purpose. To announce the eligibility criteria and publish the available Top Level Schools (TLS) and Fellowships during AY 16-17. Per the refs, the TLS board will meet on or about 1 DEC 15 for approximately three weeks to select officers to attend the schools listed in paragraphs 3 and 4. The board will consist of 3 General Officers and 16 Colonels. A sufficient number of primaries and alternates will be selected to fill the requirements from the eligible population.
2. Eligibility:
a. Eligibility Criteria:
(1) Lieutenant Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels (sel) who have 24 months TOS (CONUS and OCONUS) by 31 JUL 16. For officers who are selected to attend or are attending the Special Education Program, this TOS requirement applies to their utilization tour.
(2) Officers selected by the CY15/FY17 Colonel Promotion Board Who have not yet attended TLS. The only TOS requirement for Colonels (sel) are Joint and Acquisition assignment restrictions.
(3) Officers serving in Joint and Acquisition tours are eligible for selection at 24 months TOS (by 31 JUL 16). These officers should contact their monitor with questions regarding eligibility.
(4) Lieutenant Colonels slated to command or currently in command of an organization identified in the Command Screening Program who have completed a command tour by 31 JUL 16.
b. Ineligibility Criteria:
(1) Colonels (sel) who were selected to Colonel on the FY16 or earlier Colonel selection boards.
(2) Lieutenant Colonels passed for promotion to Colonel on the FY17 or earlier Colonel Selection Boards.
(3) Lieutenant Colonels at or having attended TLS.
(4) Majors in zone for Lieutenant Colonel on the FY17 board.
(5) Restricted-Limited duty officers.
(6) Officers attending or selected to attend Intermediate Level School (ILS) or Advanced ILS follow on schools: School of Advanced Warfighting (SAW), School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS), or Maritime Advanced Warfighting School (MAWS).
(7) Officers with approved retirements or resignations.
c. Prior to the board convening, otherwise eligible officers who wish not to be screened for TLS are required to indicate such on the online questionnaire and send an email to their PMOS monitor requesting to be Removed by Request (RBR). Once the board is in session, officers that desire not to be screened must request in writing to the board president not to be considered for TLS and indicate the reason in their letter. Officers will be removed from TLS consideration without prejudice. This correspondence will not be placed in an officer's OMPF.
3. Department of Defense (DOD) schools to which selections will be made on the AY 16-17 TLS board are listed below. Schools, quotas, and convening dates are subject to change. Officers who complete one of the following DOD schools will obtain JPME Phase II credit.
COURSE TITLE QUOTA CONVENES GRAD
Adv. Strategic Leadership Study Program 1 JUL 16 JUN 17 (Note 1)
Air War College 8 JUL 16 JUN 17
Army War College 14 JUL 16 JUN 17
College of Naval Warfare 16 JUL 16 JUN 17
College of International Security Affairs 1 JUL 16 JUN 17
Eisenhower School (Note 2) 14 JUL 16 JUN 17
Information Resource Management College 1 JUL 16 JUN 17
Joint Advanced Warfighting School 2 JUL 16 JUN 17
Marine Corps War College 11 JUL 16 JUN 17
National War College 14 JUL 16 JUN 17
(Note 1) Followed by 1 year assignment at Ft Leavenworth as a seminar leader. (Note 2) Two students with an acquisition background (PMOS 8059/61) will be identified to participate in the acquisitions curriculum.
4. Foreign senior service colleges and fellowships to which selections will be made are listed below. Officers interested in a foreign, non-English speaking service school must take the Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB) and have it included in their record or have an established DLPT score on record for the target language; min DLAB score to attend language training is 100. Officers completing a foreign PME assignment receive service TLS credit and JPME Phase I credit. Fellowships grant service PME credit only.
COURSE TITLE QUOTA CONVENES GRAD
Australian College of Defense and 1 JAN 17 DEC 17
Strategic Studies
Inter-American Defense College (Ft McNair) 1 JUL 17 JUN 18
(Note 3)
Israeli National Defense College (Note 4) 1 JUN 16 JUL 17
Japanese National Institute for 1 AUG 18 JUL 19
Defense Studies (Note 5)
NATO Defense College (Rome, Italy)
1st Session 1 SEP 16 FEB 17
2nd Session 1 FEB 17 JUL 17
Dept of Homeland Security(Wash DC) 1 JUL 16 JUN 17
Dept of Justice (Wash DC, Note 6) 1 JUL 16 JUN 17
U.S. Institute of Peace (Wash DC) 1 JUL 16 JUL 17
Dept of State, Diplomatic Security 1 JUL 16 JUN 17
Services (Wash DC)
Hoover Institution (Stanford) 1 JUL 16 JUN 17
International Studies Program (Yale) 1 JUL 16 JUN 17
JFK School of Government (Harvard) 1 JUL 16 JUN 17
Penn State Logistics Fellowship 1 JUL 16 JUL 17
(Note 7)
School of Advanced International 1 JUL 16 JUN 17
Studies (Johns Hopkins)
SECDEF Corporate Fellowship (Note 8) 2 JUN 16 JUN 17
Security Studies Program (MIT) 1 JUL 16 JUN 17
United States Agency for 1 JUL 16 JUN 17
International Development (Wash DC)
Royal College of Defence Studies (UK) 1 AUG 16 JUL 17
(Note 9)
(Note 3) Language training required (JAN-JUN 17, Washington DC). (Note 4) No language training required. (Note 5) Language training required (MAR 17-JUN 18, Monterey, CA). (Note 6) Only open to PMOS 44XX. (Note 7) Only open to PMOS 0402, 3002, 6602, 6002. (Note 8) Corporation/company/location determined following selection. (Note 9) Must be Col/Col (sel) or frocked Col.
5. Senior CMC Fellows to attend the Brookings Institution, Atlantic Council, Center for a New American Security, and Center for Strategic and International studies (Wash DC, JUL 16-JUN 17) will be selected from those officers who are TLS graduates.
6. Board Communication and Update Material
a. Online Questionnaire
(1) The online questionnaire is the primary mechanism for Officers to communicate with the board. Such communication may call attention to any matter the officer considers important, including preferences for school. Officers electing to remove their name from consideration shall complete the applicable portions of the online questionnaire and notify their PMOS monitor via email.
(2) The TLS questionnaire is accessed through the manpower and Reserve Affairs Homepage (
www.manpower.usmc.mil). From the homepage select the link "boards(slash)surveys(slash)questionnaires" which is located under the "online web apps" column. CAC certification is not required to access the site. Additionally, officers are highly encouraged to submit all additional material electronically through the questionnaire. Instructions on how to upload material are given at the bottom of the questionnaire.
(3) The questionnaire will open upon release of this message and will close at 2400 EST on 23 NOV 15 to ensure all material is submitted to the board in a timely manner. For questions concerning questionnaire eligibility, contact MMOA-3. For questions concerning the functionality of the questionnaire, contact the Manpower and Reserve Affairs help desk at (703) 784-9030 (DSN 278-9030) or email smb.m(and)ra.webmaster(at)usmc.mil.
b. Update material. If unable to upload additional material through the questionnaire, all correspondence to the board must originate from, or be endorsed by the eligible officer. All correspondence addressed to the board including enclosures is destroyed upon completion of the board. All correspondence must be received before 24 NOV 15 and sent to:
Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps
Manpower and Reserve Affairs (MMOA-3)
Attn: AY 16-17 TLS Board
3280 Russell Road
Quantico, Va 22134-5103 smb email address: smbmanpowerofficerpr(at)usmc.mil
c. Photographs. Officers have a personal responsibility to ensure their photograph is submitted and received by the board. To parallel officer promotion board and command screening board requirements, an official photograph is required to be submitted for the TLS board. Digital photographs are to be electronically filed in the OMPF, as per ref (d). Officers who submit digital photographs to the OMPF may confirm receipt of the digital photograph by contacting CMC (MMRP-20) or by checking the MMRP homepage. All photographs must be dated within one year of convening date of the board. If electronic transmission of digital photographs is not possible, officers must submit a hard-copy photograph to the board.
d. Fitness reports. Completed fitness reports must be submitted to MMRP-32 for inclusion into the OMPF. Incomplete fitness reports will not be accepted if forwarded to the board. This will include those fitness reports missing signatures or reviewing officer certification. Fitness reports need to be forwarded to:
Commandant of the Marine Corps
Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps
Manpower and Reserve Affairs (MMRP-32)
2008 Elliot Road
Quantico, VA 22134-5030.
e. Deferrals. Historically, the TLS board has selected a small number of officers that are subsequently unable to attend school due to operational commitments. In rare occasions, some officers can be slated to off-cycle TLS slots. However, off-cycle TLS opportunities are extremely limited. If a known operational commitment will preclude an officer from beginning the academic year (July 2016), that factor should be identified on the questionnaire. Additionally, those officers should strongly consider requesting not to screen by removing their name by request (RBR).
f. Declinations. Officers selected for TLS by the board who subsequently decline the opportunity to attend are required to submit their declination in writing with chain of command endorsement to include the first General Officer to CMC via MMOA-3 The declination letter will become part of the officer's OMPF. Alternates fleeted up to fill vacated TLS quotas are also required to formally decline via the procedure described above if they decline the opportunity to attend school.
7. Points of Contact
Col B. M. Wilson, MMOA Branch Head
DSN: 278-9300, COMM: (703) 784-9300
email: blake.m.wilson(at)usmc.mil
Col J. E. Quinn, Aviation Col Monitor
DSN: 278-9300, COMM: (703) 784-9300
email: james.e.quinn(at)usmc.mil
Col T. J. Zagurski, Ground Col Monitor
DSN: 278-9300, COMM: (703) 784-9300
email: tyler.zagurski(at)usmc.mil
LtCol F. Fridriksson, Ground LtCol Monitor
DSN: 278-9279 COMM: (703) 784-9279
email: fridrik.fridriksson(at)usmc.mil
LtCol S. J. Lightfoot, Aviation LtCol Monitor
DSN: 278-9267 COMM: (703) 784-9267
email: stephen.lightfoot(at)usmc.mil
LtCol S. O. Meredith, Head, MMOA-3 Plans and Programs
DSN: 278-9284, COMM: (703) 784-9284
email: scott.meredith(at)usmc.mil
Maj C. T. Tierney, Plans Officer, MMOA-3
DSN: 278-9284, COMM: (703) 784-9284
email: christopher.tierney(at)usmc.mil
Mr. M. G. Cooper, CMC Fellowships/Foreign PME MCU
DSN: 378-0696, COMM: (703) 432-0696
email: michael.g.cooper2(at)usmc.mil
LtCol J. J. Tlapa, PME Plans and Policy MCU
DSN: 278-5152
email:jeffery.tlapa(at)usmcu.edu
8. This MARADMIN is not applicable to the Marine Corps Reserve.
9. Release authorized by MajGen Craig. Q. Timberlake, Director, Manpower Management Division.//