Source: The News-Enterprise
The Army is assigning another talent management initiative to Fort Knox in which around 400 senior officers will be evaluated for command positions.
The new program, called the Colonels Command Assessment Program, comes on the heels of the similar Battalion Commander Assessment Program, which brought roughly 800 majors and lieutenant colonels to Fort Knox in January and February. A cadre of about 180 Army also will travel here as well to support the program and administer evaluations.
Maj. Gen. John Evans Jr., commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet Command and Fort Knox, said the Kentucky Army post is an ideal location to host CCAP and BCAP.
“When considering the types of organization we have here and the central location of the installation, it makes Fort Knox a strong option for these selection programs that bring in Army officers from all over,” he said.
While these five-day programs have negligible economic impact off post, the Knox Regional Development Alliance says these announcements continue to confirm the post’s operational importance and the Army’s confidence in its capabilities.
Introducing more of the Army’s leaders to Kentucky and Fort Knox also can have untold value, according to Jim Iacocca, KRDA’s president and CEO.
“It just brings more people here to Fort Knox to be familiar with the post and community,” Iacocca said from his office in Radcliff following Tuesday’s announcement.
The Army selected Fort Knox to host the assessment, which is described as a five-day series “of physical, cognitive and non-cognitive assessments aimed at determining and ranking each colonel’s fitness for command and potential,” the announcement said.
During the assessment, participants will test on written and verbal communication, interview with behavioral psychologists and take part in panel interviews with senior Army officers.
The Colonels Command Assessment will amass data to build a much deeper analysis of leadership qualities than the Army has traditionally used to make selection decisions, the news release said. The information will provide an order of merit to be used by U.S. Army Human Resources Command to determine the best primary and alternate selections for targeted command and key staff positions. Past performance and achievements continues to play a role in the process, officials said.
As headquarters for the HRC, Recruiting Command and Cadet Command, Fort Knox plays a pivotal role in the Army’s personnel efforts.
The post also continues to gear up for establishment of the Fifth Corps headquarters. Also known as V Corps, it will increase the region’s population by approximately 2,000 people as 635 soldiers arrive with their families.