Prospective Faculty
Thank you for your interest in joining the Department of History’s faculty! Instructor duty is a hugely enjoyable, rewarding, and developmental experience that prepares officers intellectually for the challenges that lie ahead in the Army. Following their time at West Point, our faculty alumni routinely go on to positions of high rank and responsibility in service to the nation. This web page provides guidance about the process of applying to become a member of our rotating military faculty. Those considering applying to be a history instructor and those wanting to bring promising candidates to our attention should bookmark this page and continue reading on . . .
Cadets:
If you are currently a cadet at USMA, please ask one of your instructors, or the Department’s Personnel Officer, MAJ Nadine Ross, for a faculty interest form to register your interest with us. If you are currently a cadet enrolled in ROTC, please contact
MAJ Ross
to get a faculty interest form.
Faculty Alumni:
If you are an alumnus or friend of the Department and know an outstanding junior officer or cadet in your unit, history department, or ROTC program, help him or her become a history instructor by talking to him or her about your experience in the Department, and the opportunities gained by being a member of the Department. Please pass your leads on to the Department’s Personnel Officer, MAJ Nadine Ross.
Click here
to download a recommendation sheet that you can email to the
MAJ Ross
.
Applicants in need of an MA:
We normally select officers for our program so that they begin graduate school between the sixth and eighth year of service. For example, in January of 2010, we completed selection of officers who will begin graduate school in the summer and fall of 2011 and report to West Point in the summer of 2013. All of the officers selected in this board were in Year Groups 2003, 2004, and 2005. Officer attendance to graduate school is paid for by the Army through the Advanced Civil Schooling program (ACS). We are currently building and screening files for officers in Year Groups 2004, 2005, and 2006 in anticipation of our January 2011 selection board which will send officers to graduate school in 2012 and assignment to West Point in 2014. The major consideration in the timeline is the requirement to meet the Key Development (KD) requirements for your branch (CCC and KD assignment) prior to beginning graduate school. For instance, to be considered in the January 2011 selection board, you must be KD by the summer or fall of 2012. Our goal is to permit officers to attend graduate school for two years, teach at West Point for two to three years, and then return them to their basic branch as Majors. This enables the officers to remain competitive for battalion command.To begin the application process,
click here
to download our personnel questionnaire. Please fill it out and return via email to our Personnel Officer,
MAJ Nadine Ross
. Additionally, you will need to send us the following documents:
Copies of OERs and AERs:
The Department is looking for officers that are going to be positive role models and mentors to our future officers. As a result, the Department places a strong emphasis on choosing officers who are doing and have done extremely well in the performance of their military duties.
Transcripts:
Send copies of your undergraduate and (if applicable) graduate transcripts. We prefer official transcripts, but will accept unofficial copies. If you are a USMA graduate, you can call the Registrar at 845-938-3759 (DSN: 688-3759) to request that they send a copy of your transcripts to the Department.
Copy of your GRE Scores:
Please send us a copy of your GRE scores as soon as you get them. When you take the test, you can also elect to have ETS send us a copy of your scores (institutional code 2924 and major field codes 2701, 2702, 2703, or 2799). Please understand that we must have these scores before we can consider for selection. At this time, the only exception to this policy is for those officers currently deployed on an overseas contingency operations). For officers in either OBC or CCC, this is a perfect time to take the GREs. To be competitive for entry into a Top 10 graduate school, you should aspire to achieve a Verbal score of 600 or higher and an Analytical Writing score of 4.5 or higher. If you have scores below these levels, we suggest that you retake the test. Also, if your test scores are more than five years old, you must retake the test. You can contact your local Education Center or go to the
ETS website
for more information on test dates, test locations, and other administrative information. Additionally, the Education Centers at Baghram, Air Base, Afghanistan and Camp Victory, Iraq currently administer the GRE two times a year. If you are deployed, you may want to contact these education centers for more information. Again, we cannot give full consideration to your file without GRE scores.
Letters of Recommendation:
You should submit at least three letters of recommendation that comment on your potential to complete a graduate degree at a top American university and to be a terrific classroom teacher and mentor to cadets. Letters from senior officers you have worked for are particularly useful, as are letter from professors and instructors who taught you as an undergraduate student. If you will not have a KD OER completed prior to the selection board, we strongly recommend that your senior rater complete a letter of recommendation that assesses you in this critical job.
General Statement:
There is a place for this on the personnel questionnaire. You should be deliberate in completing the general statement. This serves as a writing sample for our selection board, and tells us a lot about you.
Copy of you most recent Officer Records Brief (ORB):
You can download a copy of this from AKO.
An informal Photo:
We like to match faces to names. Please do not send us a copy of your DA Photo.
Your best estimate of an availability date:
Part of the personnel questionnaire. This is dictated by your branch’s KD requirements and timing for future deployments, PCS, and school assignments. If you have not done so already, you should alert your branch manager that you are interested in competing for an assignment at West Point. Please complete your application file as soon as possible and update it as necessary. If you wish us to consider your file in the January 2011 selection board, you need to complete your application packet by 1 December 2010. This will give us time to review your file for completeness prior to the board convening in January 2011.
NOTE:
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU SEND INFORMATION AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE AND CONTINUALLY UPDATE YOUR FILE RATHER THAN WAITING UNTIL YOU HAVE PUT TOGETHER A COMPLETE APPLICATION PACKET.
It is the job of the Personnel Officer to help you complete your file, answer your questions, and ensure that you receive full and fair consideration. Do not hesitate to write or call. You can send correspondence to:
United States Military Academy
Official Mail Distribution Center
646 Swift Road
West Point, NY 10996
ATTN: MADN-HIST (Personnel Officer)
You can also reach me by phone or email:
MAJ Nadine Ross
, (845) 938-3286 The History Department’s Fax number is (845) 938-3932. We appreciate your interest in teaching in the Department. Stay in touch!
Applicants who already possess an MA:
If you already have an MA or PhD in History, you may be considered for one of the Department’s Direct Hire positions. From time to time, the Department runs into unforeseen shortages in our military faculty. When this happens, we hold formal boards to select officers who already meet the educational requirements needed to teach History. These boards are often held on short notice. If you are interested in opening a direct hire packet, you should download the
direct hire personnel questionnaire
and return it to the Department’s Personnel Officer,
MAJ Nadine Ross
. Additionally, you will need to send us the following items:
Copies of OERs and AERs:
The Department is looking for officers that are going to be positive role models and mentors to our future officers. As a result, the Department places a strong emphasis on choosing officers who are doing and have done extremely well in the performance of their military duties.
Transcripts:
Send an official copy of your graduate transcripts.
Copy of your GRE Scores:
Even if these are out of date, please send us a copy of your ETS notification as soon as you get it. We use the GRE scores to help us determine the overall capability of our applicants.
Letters of Recommendation:
You should submit at least three letters of recommendation that comment on your potential to be a terrific classroom teacher and mentor to cadets. Letters from senior officers you have worked for are particularly useful, as are letter from professors who taught you as a graduate student.
General Statement:
There is a space for this on the personnel questionnaire. You should be deliberate in completing the general statement. This serves as a writing sample for our selection board, and tells us a lot about you.
Copy of you most recent Officer Records Brief (ORB):
You can download a copy of this from AKO.
An informal Photo:
We like to match faces to names. Please do not send us a copy of your DA Photo. Please complete your application file as soon as possible and update it as necessary. It is the job of the Personnel Officer to help you complete your file, answer your questions, and ensure that you receive full and fair consideration. Do not hesitate to write or call. You can send correspondence to:
United States Military Academy
Official Mail Distribution Center
646 Swift Road
West Point, NY 10996
ATTN: MADN-HIST (Personnel Officer)
You can also reach me by phone or email:
MAJ Nadine Ross
, (845) 938-3286 The History Department’s Fax number is (845) 938-3932 We appreciate your interest in teaching in the Department. Stay in touch!
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