United States Army Sergeants Major Academy

United States Army Sergeants Major Academy
United States Army Sergeants Major Academy distinctive unit insignia
Active	1972–present
Country	United States
Branch	U.S. Army
Type	Senior noncommissioned officer school
Garrison/HQ	Fort Bliss, Texas
Motto(s)	Ultima
Insignia
shoulder sleeve insignia

The United States Army Sergeants Major Academy (USASMA) was established on 1 July 1972 at Fort Bliss, Texas, and began instruction in January 1973. Its curriculum is designed to broaden the student's current knowledge base. This approach differs from the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) related training at the basic and advanced levels of the Noncommissioned Officer Education System. The prime educational technique employed throughout the course is the small group participatory learning process.

The Sergeants Major Academy was established by General Order in July 1972 and started educating sergeants major in January 1973 with Class 1 consisting of 105 students. The Academy was also given the mission to further the efforts to standardize noncommissioned officer education, resulting in the addition of the Primary Leadership Development Course (PLDC), now known as the Basic Leader Course (BLC). This course is a blend of the previous Primary Leadership Course (PLC) and the Primary Noncommissioned Officer Course (PNCOC) into one course that provides leadership tools to non-specific military occupations at the junior NCO level and newly structured against critical task and input from current operations learned during Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. USASMA is the Army's proponent for course development for the Basic Leader Course to educate junior noncommissioned officers preparing to assume positions as team or section sergeants.

USASMA developed the common leader training for the Basic NCO Course (BNCOC), and has been the proponent since 1984. BNCOC transitioned to the Army Leader Course in 2008. USASMA is responsible for the development and delivery of common core leader tasks for the Advanced Leader Course (ALC-CC) as of October 2009 delivering 82 hours of course material to nearly 14,000 sergeants annually. This course focuses on leadership and technical skills required to prepare Soldiers selected for promotion to staff sergeant to effectively lead squad/platoon size units. ALC is typically attended by NCOs in the ranks of Sergeant and Staff Sergeant. MOS-specific versions of ALC are taught at the branch level.

Senior Leader Course (SLC) is the new name of the Advanced Non-Commissioned Officers Course (ANCOC) and is generally attended by NCOs in the ranks of staff sergeant and sergeant first class. SLC is a branch–specific course that provides an opportunity for soldiers selected for promotion to sergeant first class to acquire the leader, technical, and tactical skills, knowledge, and experience needed to lead platoon or company-size units.