ACSC OLMP?

[RangerMateo]

I think this is what I just started in light of the TA issue. How did you do more than one class at a time?

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[DC]

You can double up on your classes after you've taken...three, I think? Maybe it was two.

[pawnman]

I'm already complete with the Master's...is the OLMP worthwhile, or is it just another way to check the box if you've waited until the 6-year point? I should meet my major's board next year, just curious if there's any value added in the Joint Warfare OLMP versus normal ACSC in correspondence.

[ThreeHoler]

You can't sign up for the OLMP if your AAD is complete.

[backseatdriver]

If only Air University had a website that told you everything you needed to know about ACSC and OLMP.

[pawnman]

You can't sign up for the OLMP if your AAD is complete.

I was asking about this one:

3) Joint Warfare Concentration -- "open to Majors, Major-selects and civilian equivalents."

Eligibility

Military - O-4 selects and 0-4s on active duty, non-extended active duty, Air Force Reserve or Air National Guard. Individuals with either a Master's Degree or who have completed IDE, to include ACSC, may apply. However, individuals that have completed both a Master's Degree and IDE are not eligible.

I have a Master's, but no IDE.

[pawnman]

I know this sounds crazy, but you could just pick up a phone and actually ask them yourself.

I'm pretty confident they will tell me to do the most painful one possible. I'm not asking if I CAN sign up for it...I'm asking if there's any additional value added for a guy who already has a Master's, or is this only for dudes who do not have a Master's degree prior to meeting their major/school boards?

[daynightindicator]

I'm pretty confident they will tell me to do the most painful one possible. I'm not asking if I CAN sign up for it...I'm asking if there's any additional value added for a guy who already has a Master's, or is this only for dudes who do not have a Master's degree prior to meeting their major/school boards?

I think the intent is for guys who have no masters and want to combine it with in-corr IDE. I am just about done with it and I would NOT do it if you already have a masters. There is significantly more asspain involved than if you just do the correspondence IDE course. Best case it takes about 64 weeks so you're looking at over a year even if you max perform it, longer if you miss a course here or there for PFAs. It's not a difficult program but it's extremely annoying.

I can't see value added unless you really think two AADs will make a difference down the road, but of course if you go to school you'll get a second AAD anyway (third if you do SAAS).

[di1630]

Anyone know in ACSC 6.0 what the min time to complete a segment is vs the 4 month max. Thanks

[TarHeelPilot]

You can complete a self-paced segment in hours (or less.) It's the pain of waiting for AUSIS to update, sometimes 24 hrs to days over a weekend before you can self-enroll in the next course.

[JS]

I read this thread twice before starting the Distance Learning 6.0 course, but still didn't fully understand the whole registration and timeline thing until actually experiencing it.

The main blackboard page has a picture that looks something exactly like this:

I thought it was just a stupid visual of the course and them just trying to make something more complicated than it really was. Turns out, this picture is the syllabus for the entire ACSC program, with the list of all the courses and the types of courses that each one is. Each shape represents it's own "course" that has to be registered for separately through a different website (AUSIS). Plus the courses have to be done in this order, except for the few exceptions when you can double up. Now that I understand this picture, I think it is worth a thousand words.

Basically, any of the large colored arrows represents a self-paced "course." Any of the greater than > white arrow thingys, are the "applied courses," which have a specific start and end date. These are the message board classes that involve posts and papers. The problem is that, generally speaking, all of these two-week applied courses are only offered once a month at the beginning of each month. And the biggest kick in the nuts is that you have to register two weeks before the start date in order to enroll. So say, for example, you are deployed and try to register for the Dec 1st class on Nov 16th, too late to meet the 2-week prior requirement. The next class you can register for is the Jan 1st class. So you have six weeks to do the one or two self paced courses, then you just sit on your dick for a while.

The eight self-paced courses listed in this picture can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two if you push it. They are like long CBTs. And the speed of completion depends on your TTPs while attacking them - word search, skimming the readings, screen shots of the online tests in the event you have to take the test again, fast-clicking through the flash media content like regular ADLS courses, etc. Some of the classes are just downloaded readings with short quizzes that you can word search. Some are interactive flash video things with videos, decisions, wargames, "virtual situation rooms," etc.

So even if you max performed the self-paced courses in a day each, you still stall out in the overall program because those four applied courses, represented by the white greater than shapes, can only be done once per month. You are allowed to work ahead one self-paced course while you are waiting for the next month to start the applied discussion board course.

In summary, I would say it would take a total of about 5-10 full days to do all of the self-paced stuff, but it will take you a minimum of 4 months total to complete the entire course - mainly due to the waiting time for the class start dates of the applied courses.

Oh, and second the frustration that you still have to wait a few days for the self-paced courses to be "graded," even if the only tests are through blackboard and are automatically graded on the spot. The previous course has to be graded and marked complete before registering for the next course.

[ellsworb]

They'll let you sign up for more than one applied course at a time. Hell, I'm currently enrolled in 3 applied courses right now (all of which start in Dec). At first I was pissed, then I called and complained that I was going to be deployed, blah blah blah. . POOF, enrollment for 3 of 4 right there, with the assumption that I"ll have the prereqs done prior to start.

The National Security one sucked.

[Skitzo]

I failed the national security paper. I hate this course.

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[JS]

They'll let you sign up for more than one applied course at a time. Hell, I'm currently enrolled in 3 applied courses right now (all of which start in Dec). At first I was pissed, then I called and complained that I was going to be deployed, blah blah blah. . POOF, enrollment for 3 of 4 right there, with the assumption that I"ll have the prereqs done prior to start.

The National Security one sucked.

Good to know. I am about 1/3 through and I heard you can call or email them to sign up for multiple courses. I guess I will try that.

[Square]

Bringing this thread back rather than posting in the PME and career advice.

Just finished the last of the self-paced ACSC courses, just have to register for the last applied class.

I see this one is three weeks. Does it differ materially from the others earlier in the program? More or less work? Trying to judge when I should be taking this class around some work/family stuff.

Thanks. Looking forward to have the program done and dusted.

[pawnman]

19 hours ago, Square said:

Bringing this thread back rather than posting in the PME and career advice.

Just finished the last of the self-paced ACSC courses, just have to register for the last applied class.

I see this one is three weeks. Does it differ materially from the others earlier in the program? More or less work? Trying to judge when I should be taking this class around some work/family stuff.

Thanks. Looking forward to have the program done and dusted.

If it's the normal ACSC and not the OLMP one, it was not materially different.  A paper, some discussion posts every week.  The new introduction was the first week you have to find an article you think is worth discussing in class and submit it, along with your questions.  Then the instructor will pick 3-4 of the submissions as the discussion posts for week 3.  If your article is picked, it becomes your job to moderate that discussion but you get to tap out of the other threads.

[Square]

3 hours ago, pawnman said:

If it's the normal ACSC and not the OLMP one, it was not materially different.  A paper, some discussion posts every week.  The new introduction was the first week you have to find an article you think is worth discussing in class and submit it, along with your questions.  Then the instructor will pick 3-4 of the submissions as the discussion posts for week 3.  If your article is picked, it becomes your job to moderate that discussion but you get to tap out of the other threads.

Thanks pawnman. 

[slc]

Anyone attend the ACSC-ARCS course (for Reserve/Guard) i.e. 2 week seminar at Maxwell?  If so, any words on this course? Worth it etc.?  Thanks 

[JS]

The biggest thing about this course is that it does not replace the online classes, it only gets you on a pay status and forces you to complete 4 of the 11 (not including orientation) DL courses while at Maxwell.  There were a lot of misconceptions about whether the class would somehow be in lieu of the DL classes, or somehow proficiency advance you through the online stuff.  Most people really liked it, but some were very hung up on a bait-and-switch, or a "truth in lending" mindset when they realized that they still had to complete all of the same DL classes that the folks who don't attend ARCS had to do.  But, of course, you get paid for it and you get lots of "enrichment" in the form of guest speakers, networking, help with papers, etc.  

I would say about 80% of the people thought it was well worth it, while 20% left with the mindset of "I could have just done the 4 classes from home."  Both points are valid, it just depends on your situation and how you view PME, networking, etc.  The 80% who liked it appreciated getting out of the office and out of the house to be able to focus and knock out more than 1/3 of ACSC while also pocketing 2 weeks of mandays, having beer with the bros, etc.

I can elaborate more on details if you want. 

[slc]

Excellent info JS.  Thanks for the reply.  Much appreciated.  I have a hard time motivating myself to accomplish this course.  I do have the first two required modules complete and am eligible to apply to this for a June class date.  However, I would have to wait around for over 7 months to continue ACSC at that point.  I would rather get paid and be in an environment where I am forced to knock out modules I.e. more motivating, however, I could complete a good chunk of this course in the next 7 months.  

As far as the 2 week seminar goes, how much is involved (how busy) is the course.  More listening to guest speakers etc? 

Cheers,  Chris

 

[JS]

They might be changing it based on some of the feedback, but the general structure last year was somewhat modeled after ACSC in residence.  So really, there was usually only about an hour of so lecture/guest speaker, followed by 1-1.5 hours or so of seminar discussion.  And then maybe there was a writing lab or something for an hour, but for the most part, you had large parts of the day to work on the National Security CBT module thing, work on the Applied National Security paper, or do the discussion board thing for the leadership class.  Some of the extras included a field trip to Tuskegee field, which took up most the day, and also a mock initial commander's call speech that each person was to prepare.  

Some people said they were very busy at night and during their non-classroom time, while others whizzed through the CBT, min-ran the discussion board stuff, and threw together a passable paper (just like the rest of us work through the courses while at home).  Some of the flights organized local trips to the beach, or did other outdoor stuff, and some flights got together for dinner/drinks a few times.  The weekend was (sort of) free, depending on how much you put into the papers.  

So, really, you have to decide if you are that kind of person who likes listening to world renown speakers, many of whom have written several books/articles, talk about leadership, Syria, Islam, Russia, China, or whatever other speakers they can whip up.  Do you value being in a room with a bunch of Reservists from different backgrounds - CAF/MAF, CE, personnel, legal, MX, etc - and having seminar discussions on the future of the AF, international affairs, and other ways to solve the worlds problems?  Or would you rather just get the required classes done without any of the extra credit?  I think some people had heartburn because they weren't really getting any "credit" for all of the extra stuff, because at the end of the day, they still had to complete the same 4 classes that their bros back home completed.

If you are already motivated enough and have the time to be knocking out classes right now, I would probably say just get it done and don't hold back in order to do the ARCS thing.  If you are kind of a procrastinator who would love to not start it until June anyway, then ARCS would serve as a great jump start to the program.  

Hope that helped.    

  

[slc]

Excellent.  Decision made.  I'll keep knocking this out at home rather than wait till June for a class.  You're right, at the end of the day you STILL have to put in the time/effort to complete the same courses you would have back home.  

Thanks again.  

[Khruangbin33]

Resurrection to ask if OLMP is worth it at the present time and how long it took to complete, or should I just proceed with the Non Master's Program version of IDE (now at 7.0)?

For anyone interested, there are now (were there always?) a few program options for those qualified:

• Edit: Joint Warfare 
• Edit: Operational Warfare (WIC grads only)
• Nuclear (Requires completion of AFIT NWEPP program)
• Leadership (anyone)

Edited April 16, 2020 by wazzuPIC

[brabus]

Don’t know what has changed in 7.0, but 6.0 is easy...totally retarded and a complete waste of time, but easy. It has to be the easiest of the options (other than not doing any of it). 

[cragspider]

1 hour ago, wazzuPIC said:

Resurrection to ask if OLMP is worth it at the present time and how long it took to complete, or should I just proceed with the Non Master's Program version of IDE (now at 7.0)?

For anyone interested, there are now (were there always?) a few program options for those qualified:

• Joint Warfare (competitive selection)
• Conventional Warfare (WIC grads only)
• Nuclear (Requires completion of AFIT NWEPP program)
• Leadership (anyone)

Do you want to get a masters? Or just knock out ACSC? If you want to get the masters then do it and get credit for both. It should take about 18-20 months start to finish.  I did it right at 30 months or so and took som time off of it, granted it was the captains course. I then knocked out ACSC 6.0 in less than 4 months with the classes I had to take that was left over from the OLMP. Even then 6.0 was easy.  I’d expect 7.0 to be about the same.