Professional development programs for Department of the Army civilians were well-attended additions to the 2017 Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Association of the U.S. Army.

Five career programs spread over two days allowed functional career representatives to provide updates on programs to interested federal workers. Topics included comptrollers, manpower and force management, medicine, physical security, and safety and occupational health. Some discussions were especially important to the career force, such as aligning the Army’s medical civilian workforce to match the mission and objectives of the surgeon general’s strategic campaign.

Retired Lt. Gen. Guy C. Swan III, AUSA’s vice president for education, said the annual meeting expansion provides opportunities to meet professional training requirements. The Army has 31 career programs or career fields, each with their own professional training standards. Arranging the programs to be offered during the AUSA Annual Meeting provides professional development opportunities that help Department of the Army civilians and encourages attendance at AUSA events and membership in the association, he said.

Nzinga Curry, director of AUSA’s Institute of Land Warfare, said, “Offering these opportunities fits very well into our mission.”

Success at October’s Annual Meeting is expected to lead to more Civilian Career Program educational opportunities. The Institute of Land Warfare is working with Army civilian policy officials and representatives of the functional career program to have education opportunities scheduled as part of AUSA’s Global Force Symposium and Exposition in Huntsville, Ala., in March and at other events, such as the one-day Hot Topic events, Curry said. Those events are held in the General Gordon R. Sullivan Conference and Event Center in Arlington, Va., where AUSA’s national offices are located.

AUSA is also exploring the possibility of providing academic credit for continuing education and professional education for Army civilians attending AUSA forums, Curry said. “It is all about enhancing professional value for our vitally important Department of the Army civilians,” Curry said.