Workforce Development & Training

ABOUT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING

WHAT WE DO

Army's DoD FM Certification Program
Oversee the Army’s compliance with the DoD Financial Management Certification Program, ensuring that all training requirements and standards are met for certification. Monitor and evaluate certification progress among Army personnel, providing guidance and support where needed. Is the DoD Component Functional Community Manager (CFCM).

Collaboration with DoD Partners
Partner with the Finance & Comptroller Schoolhouse, and USFMCOM to design and deliver relevant training programs. Ensure training aligns with the career paths outlined for financial management professionals, promoting retention and development. Collaborate with Air Force, Navy, and DoD Agencies on FM initiatives.

Curriculum Development
Participate in the DoD Governing Body to develop and refine training curricula that align with financial management and leadership competencies. Ensure courses are updated to reflect current practices, regulations, and technological advancements.

Skill Assessment
Conduct assessments to identify skill gaps and training needs within the financial management workforce. Utilize feedback from employees and leadership to tailor training programs accordingly.

Program Evaluation
Monitor the effectiveness of training programs through metrics and evaluations, adjusting strategies to enhance outcomes. Facilitate ongoing professional development opportunities, encouraging a culture of continuous learning.

Strategic Workforce Planning
Collaborate with leadership to identify long-term workforce needs and develop strategies for recruitment, retention, and succession planning within the financial management field.

CAREER MAPS

CONTACT US

ABOUT DCP

The Defense Comptrollership Program (DCP) is a resident graduate program at Syracuse University, combining business and public administration theories during a rigorous 14-month schedule.

The application period for DCP Cohort 2026 has closed. Stay tuned to this page for the next call for applications.

Hear From The Experts Tune into the At Your Service podcast to hear about the Defense Comptrollership program from ASA (FM&C)'s Workforce Development & Training Director and Syracuse University's Director of Defense Programs.

Key Takeaways

• DCP Cohort 2026 begins 7 May 2025 and concludes 24 July 2026.
• DCP graduates will be awarded a Syracuse University Master of Business Administration with a concentration in business analytics, an Executive Master of Public Administration and one industry-recognized professional credential.
• The program is fully paid for by the Army as a long-term training assignment, with temporary duty at the 100% per diem rate.
• Applicants without a master’s degree will be prioritized for selection; those who already have a master’s degree in another discipline are also encouraged to apply and will receive consideration on a case-by-case basis.
• Begin gathering required documents early, including GMAT or GRE test scores, if applicable, and college transcripts, to avoid delays.

HOW TO APPLY

Review Eligibility Requirements

• Valid Secret Clearance
• Undergraduate GPA of at least 2.5
• Minimum 500 GMAT or 304 GRE score or waiver (GMAT/GRE scores remain valid for 5 years following the test date).
• NOTE: Applicants who earned a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (or higher) and a successful completion of a bachelor’s degree in either Engineering, Mathematics, Business Administration, Finance, Economics, or Accounting are granted a GMAT/GRE submission waiver.
• Must meet requirements of AR 600-9, The Army Body Composition Program
• No more than a total of 17 years Active Federal Service (AFS) upon entry into the ACS program. (ETP/Waiver required)

Gather Required Documents

• Proof of secret clearance
• Official college transcripts
• GMAT/GRE score OR waiver
• DA 700 (and DA 5500 if required)
• DA Form 1618 with endorsement from battalion commander and a second endorsement from another senior leader (MAJ/GS13 or above)
• Updated Soldier Talent Profile
• Last five OERs/NCOERs

APPLICANT SELECTION AND NEXT STEPS

Selection Process

• A panel will convene to evaluate and select candidates.
• Military Officer selection priority is for Active and Active Guard Reserve (AGR) Finance and Comptroller (FC) Soldiers in the grades of Senior Captain through Major. The target YGs for Academic Year (AY) 25-26 DCP are YG 2014 and YG 2018. Officers in other YGs are welcome and encouraged to apply.
• NCO selection priority is for senior Sergeant First Class, Master Sergeant, and junior Sergeants Major.
• Personnel who have already obtained a master’s degree may be considered for the DCP by submitting a waiver request; however, priority will be afforded to those without a master’s degree.
• Personnel who have already obtained a master’s degree in either program (Master of Business Administration or Master of Public Administration) will not be considered.

Reassignment

• Officers are required to serve in a utilization assignment immediately following the conclusion of DCP. Exceptions to the policy will not be granted for Officers in YG 2016 requesting to defer utilization to attend PME (if selected for resident).
• Selected military personnel will incur a three-for-one (approximately 42 months) additional service obligation for participation in the program with a minimum of 24 months in a follow-on comptrollership position or utilization tour.
• Sergeants Major that are nominated and selected to participate may have their utilization tour deferred due to their selection on a CSL board.

Continuation in Army Service
Per the Continued Service Agreement, if participants of the DCP voluntarily leave the Department of Army to enter service to another DoD Component or other organization in any branch of federal government before completing the period of service agreed to in the document, the individual will reimburse the agency all associated training costs listed in the agreement excluding salary.

HOW TO APPLY

Review Eligibility Requirements

• GS-11 through GS-14
• Valid Secret clearance
• Undergraduate GPA of at least 2.5
• Minimum 500 GMAT or 304 GRE score or waiver (GMAT/GRE scores remain valid for 5 years following the test date).
• NOTE: Applicants who earned a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (or higher) and a successful completion of a bachelor’s degree in either Engineering, Mathematics, Business Administration, Finance, Economics, or Accounting are granted a GMAT/GRE submission waiver.
• Three (3) years federal government financial management experience and a total of five (5) years government service by application due date.
  • Graduate Fellows who meet the two-year fellowship requirement and have three years journeyman-level experience are also eligible to apply.
  • To utilize ACTDP funding, all applicants must meet the Competitive Professional Development eligibility requirement of three (3) years permanent, full-time employment as an Army Civilian at time of application.

Gather Required Documents

• Application for ACTDP Training Opportunity
• Command Endorsements (Memorandum through applicant’s chain of command must not be older than one year.)
• Nominee’s Statement of Interest
• Supervisor’s Statement Validation of Requirement Utilization Plan
• Functional Review Form
• Continued Service Agreement
• Operational Assignment Worksheet
• Comptroller Functional Community Resume
• Official college transcripts submitted with application
• GMAT/GRE score or Waiver
• Last three (3) performance appraisals
• SF 181, Ethnicity and Race Identification

Submit DCP Application

APPLICANT SELECTION AND NEXT STEPS

Selection Process

A senior Army panel of financial managers will evaluate nominations, interview candidates, and provide the approved selection list for processing. Approved candidates will receive an offer to participate in the education program at Syracuse University with same-grade assignment to either:

1. a new position anywhere in the Army
2. assignment in a different role in the same organization
3. assignment to a different organization/location. Candidates must accept the long-term training (e.g., DCP) and the new job assignment before admittance into the program.

Upon notification by the Army of selection to the DCP, applicants must also apply to Syracuse University. Receipt of acceptance to the DCP is required to initiate the application process to attend Syracuse University under this program.

Reassignment

Army Civilian DCP selectees are reassigned by Notification of Personnel Action, SF-50, to their accepted operational assignments.

Unless an operational assignment is overseas, the DCP selectee will in-process at the Civilian Personnel Advisory Center (CPAC) servicing the new activity and sign a transportation agreement when incurring a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) for an extension of one year beyond the DCP graduation.

Before reporting to Syracuse University, the new DCP student will sign a Continued Service Agreement committing to continue Army employment upon graduation for a period of service equal to three times the length of the training (e.g., 42 months) to begin upon the employee’s return to duty after training completion. The DCP selectee will also sign an agreement covering contingencies in the event of failure to complete the DCP. All documents will be on file with the CPAC.

Continuation in Army Service
Per the Continued Service Agreement, if participants of the DCP voluntarily leave the Department of Army to enter service to another DoD Component or other organization in any branch of federal government before completing the period of service agreed to in the document, the individual will reimburse the agency all associated training costs listed in the agreement excluding salary.

ABOUT SYRACUSE SHORT COURSES

Syracuse University is committed to the education and development of the Department of Defense (DoD) civilian and military workforce. Along with the Defense Comptrollership Program, the Whitman School of Management offers short-term trainings that focus on management concepts in the DoD.

Click the dropdowns below for course descriptions and view the tabs above for more information about how to apply.

Eligibility:

How to Apply:

Submit application packets (endorsement memo and SF182 with supervisor signature) to the appropriate POC below:

• AC Military Applications: Contact the ASA (FM&C) Workforce Development and Training mailbox.
• Army National Guard Applicants: Contact Ms. Janet Marie West and the ARNG Comptroller Proponency mailbox.
• Army Reserve Applicants: Contact Ms. Gwendolyn Harris.

Application Resources:

• Endorsement Memo
• SF182 (do not complete sections A2, A3, C, E, and F)

Eligibility:

How to Apply:

Submit application packets through the ACOM, ASCC, or DRU Deputy Chief of Staff, Resource Management to respective Comptroller Junior Executive Council (CJEC) member for forwarding to the Comptroller Functional Community. (Please do not apply directly to the Comptroller Functional Community Manager.)

For AC Civilian inquiries, contact ACCMA HCRM.

Application Resources:

• Nomination Memo
• Comptroller Funtional Community Resume

ABOUT THE ASA (FM&C) AWARDS PROGRAM

• 18 December 2024 – Deadline for award packet submissions
• 20-24 January 2025 – Awards panel meets to review nomination packets
• 5 March 2025 - Award recipients notified
• 29 May 2025 - Awards presented during Army Community Day at PDI 2025 in New Orleans

ASA (FM&C) AWARDS CATEGORIES

Capstone Individual Awards

Award Types ASA (FM&C) Civilian Award ASA (FM&C) Military Individual Award   Description Capstone Individual Awards recognize the "best-of-the-best" from among the winners recommended from all the award categories. The "Individual" category consists of only one person. The awards honor one Civilian employee and one military member serving in a leadership capacity who the ASA (FM&C) personally cites for outstanding contributions to the field of financial management.

Accounting/Internal Auditing

Award Types Civilian Individual Award Military Individual Award   Description This award recognizes professionals who made significant achievements in financial management operations such as disbursing operations, travel pay, civilian pay, and military pay. Provided a significant impact while formulating, establishing, reviewing, and revising finance and comptroller policies, programs, and procedures to enhance business operations to Military Service Members, Civilians, and organizations.

Financial Statement Auditing

Award Types Civilian Individual Award Military Individual Award   Description This award recognizes professionals who made significant contributions towards remediating material weaknesses aligned with the Army’s audit priorities and accelerating its path to an unmodified audit opinion. Improvements may be in the area such as implementing end-to-end business process reengineering efforts leading to improved auditability for a priority area or developing innovations to promote an unmodified audit opinion.

Budgeting

Award Types Civilian Individual Award Military Individual Award   Description This award recognizes excellence in building, defending, and/or executing the Army Budget in the planning, programming, budgeting, and execution (PPBE) process to better defend Army resources. Demonstrates good stewardship of Army resources by understanding the organization's missions and associated costs, helps set clear goals/targets, establishes performance objectives and measures of effectiveness. Provides Senior Leaders with accurate and timely financial and performance data to facilitate the decision-making process.

Cost Savings, Analysis and Evaluation Initiatives

Award Types Civilian Individual Award Military Individual Award   Description This award recognizes actions that resulted in significant savings to the taxpayer and use of cost analysis to improve mission effectiveness through wise use of limited resources. Provides viable recommendations to streamline or improve cost estimating techniques. Provides management with accurate statistical data and analysis on costs for existing and planned programs. Improves existing methodologies used to compute statistical data or provide assessments of the impact of changes in policies and procedures that lead to sound management decisions.

Comptroller/Deputy Comptroller
Award Types Civilian Individual Award Military Individual Award   Description This award recognizes primary staff member responsible for obtaining, administratively controlling and accounting for funds needed to secure required resources. Coordinates efficient and effective utilization of organization resources and identifies innovative ways to improve fiscal management and financial processes.

Education, Training, and Career Development
Award Types Civilian Individual Award Military Individual Award   Description This award recognizes excellence in creating, executing, and promoting an effective training program in the development and advancement areas of Army comptrollership. Educates, trains, and mentors the financial management workforce.

Financial Management Author of the Year

Award Types Civilian Individual Award Military Individual Award   Description This award recognizes, at any level, both the civilian and military writer of an article or manuscript published in a periodical categorized as outstanding in: Broad applicability to financial management disciplines Treatment of contemporary and timely issues Readability, informative substance, and style (The article or manuscript must be included in this award nomination.)

Fellows Award
Award Types Civilian Individual Award   Description This award recognizes an outstanding professional in the Army Fellows Program - Comptroller (for a minimum of six months within the fiscal year) who made significant contributions to the Comptroller Civilian Career Program.

Outstanding Financial Management Organization

Award Types Army Command (ACOM), Army Service Component Command (ASCC), and Direct Reporting Unit (DRU) Headquarters Below ACOM, ASCC, DRU Headquarters   Description This award recognizes an organizational element of the same office (e.g., office, division, or directorate) of not more than 20 members, to include the leader, which made significant contributions to Army financial management. Note: This award is limited to one organization, not multiple organizations. If an organization award nomination includes more than one organization, the nomination will be disqualified.

Outstanding Financial Management Team

Award Types Army Command (ACOM), Army Service Component Command (ASCC), and Direct Reporting Unit (DRU) Headquarters Below ACOM, ASCC, DRU Headquarters   Description This award recognizes a specific working group of Army individuals (e.g., ad-hoc committee, audit team, special study group) for significant contributions to Army resource management. Note: A team is defined as a group of at least four, but not exceeding 20 individuals, brought together from different organizations, offices, divisions, or directorates as a working group (temporarily) to perform a specific task or project. If a team exceeds 20 members, the nomination will be disqualified.