Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Holds Third PME Hearing
Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Holds Third PME Hearing
Washington, DC – Today Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Vic Snyder(D-AR) and Ranking Member Rob Wittman (R-VA) held the third in a series of hearings on the status of Professional Military Education. Witnesses included Commandants and Deans of the schools for mid-grade officers.
Subcommittee Chairman Vic Snyder (D-AR) said. “We feel strongly about the importance of these schools. Congress needs to understand the challenges of recruiting quality faculty, getting students the right follow on assignments after they complete the course, and upgrading aging facilities.”
“Today’s hearing provided valuable perspective on the concerns of the military leaders responsible for educating and shaping the next generation of strategic thinkers.” Subcommittee Ranking Member Rob Wittman (R-VA) said, “In particular, we gained insight into the concerns and challenges these leaders face while educating our mid-level officer corps in the midst of a high operational tempo. Educating our Field Grade Officers is a critical step in advancing the best and brightest into leadership roles in the Armed Forces. Today’s hearing helped to strengthen that process.”
One challenge that emerged during the hearing is that many officers receive joint professional education immediately after, rather than in preparation for, serving in a joint position.
Subcommittee Chairman Snyder responded to this predicament by saying, “You want to have a doctor who went to medical school before he practiced medicine. These schools are educating our future senior leaders, and we should ensure the nation gets the full benefit of this investment.”
The subcommittee’s next hearing on July 15th will seek testimony from the Commandants and Deans of the Service Academy’s and the company grade officer schools.
