On Sept. 15, a class of Naval Postgraduate School Cohort graduated during a ceremony at Fort Detrick.

A total of 29 students completed the Naval Postgraduate Advanced Acquisition Program hosted by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. The program kicked off in January with week-long courses held monthly at Fort Detrick, and from July through September, the students completed weekly training courses via video teleconferences.

The cohort included U.S. Army Acquisition Workforce member students from the USAMRMC Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity, U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency, U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research and Medical Countermeasure Systems.

"The Army's foremost responsibility is to deliver ready, trained and equipped forces to meet the operational demands put before it," said Dawn Rosarius, civilian deputy, Principal Assistant for Acquisition and MEDCOM Acquisition Career Management advocate, during her address to the audience. "To achieve this goal, we need well-educated leaders with the necessary skills and abilities to meet future acquisition challenges. It's an honor to recognize these dedicated employees today for successfully completing all requirements of this program."

The AAP is a graduate-level certificate program providing in-depth acquisition and program management education. The AAP Phase II-III program allows AAW members to meet 10 acquisition education and training requirements via 6 graduate courses taught as "distance learning" and on-site.

"The cohort program provided almost all of the courses for Level II and Level III Program Management Acquisition Workforce certification, as well as business credits which are required for Army Acquisition Corps membership," said Eva Rosvold, Army Acquisition Program manager in the USAMRMC Office of the Principal Assistant for Acquisition.

The course also gives students 13 business credits for use in applying to the Army Acquisition Corps and 19.5 graduate school credits.

The Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff have taken several significant actions to develop Army directives that reflect improving the Army's ability to evaluate and reform its acquisition processes. Staying up-to-date on the latest will ensure the USAMRMC is successful in meeting the readiness demands of our future forces.

"This cohort was a win-win for the USAMRMC," said Rosvold. "It provided a cost-effective method to meet acquisition education and training requirements for the USAMRMC AAW without need for quotas or student travel."