MASTER LEADERS COURSE

What To Expect in MLC

How to be successful

M
Writing in APA

L
“Awesome Expierence”,
Former Student

“Learned A lot about Writing”

C
MASTER LEADERS COURSE DISTRIBUTED LEARNING
INFORMATION ON THE COURSE

C
ongratulations on your selection to attend the Mas-

ter Leader Course (Distributed Learning). The

MLCDL is a 42-day online course that focuses on topics

such as leadership, management, operations and commu-

nications. The course will assist you in preparing to tran-

sition from a tactical leader to an operational leader. We

hope you will find this course both academically challeng-

ing and professionally rewarding.

G et ready for an awesome

course that will challenge
you and the way you think
about the NCO education sys-
tem.

T
here will be multiple writing assignments

throughout the course. These writing assign-

ments will be graded using APA style formatting. You

will need to become familiar with APA Formatting, the

writing process, and how to format your paper.

C
ongratulations on your selection to attend the Mas-

ter Leader Course (Distributed Learning) The MLCDL

is a 42-day online course that focuses on topics such

as leadership, management, operations and communications. The

course will assist you in preparing to transition from a tactical

l e a d e r t o a n o p e r a t i o n a l l e a d e r. We h o p e y o u w i l l f i n d t h i s c o u r s e

both academically challenging and professionally rewarding.

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 F ormal writitng will be-
come second nature
after this course. To get
ahead in the course try to
have a working knowledge
of American Psycholog-
ical Assoication (APA)
formatting. You will write
fomal schollarly papers in
MLC.

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W hen writing in
tive
MLC you will use the Ac-
Voice. Using active voice in your
writing means that the subject of the sentence
comes first and performs the ac-
tion that the rest of the sentence
describes. This is the most straight-
forward way to present your ideas,
because it creates a clear image in
the reader’s mind of who is doing
what.This makes your writing much easier to
understand, which is why good writers prefer
the active voice

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 Master Leaders Course Assignment List

WEEK 1

WEEK 2

WEEK 3

WEEK 4

WEEK 5

WEEK 6
Reflective
Portfolio

Discussion
Forum

Practical
Excercises

Research
Outline

Research
Rough Draft

Research Final
Draft

Leadership
Contibution

Contribution to
Group Work

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M ission Command will be another lesson within the MLC
course. You will grow to understand how Mission Command
allows Commanders to make decisions in the Operating Environ-
ment. Having a good grasp of Mission Comamnd and the sub-tasks
that are associated with Mission Command.

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D uring your attendance in MLC you will use the Learning Management System (LMS)
Blackboard located on the .mil side of the internet. Becoming familiar with the LMS will
greatly reduce the time spent looking for assignments and where to upload documents. Be-
low is a link to the MLC .mil Blackboard. You will need yoru Common Access card to access
the site.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q – I am a promotable SFC or already promoted to MSG. Do I need to attend MLC?

A – No, if you are already a promotable SFC, or are already a MSG you do not need to attend MLC.

Q – Who can attend MLC?

A – Until the FY 18 MSG list is released, only non-promotable SFCs will be eligible to attend MLC. Once
the FY 18 list is released, those selected will be scheduled to attend MLC IAW the Army’s Select Train Ed-
ucate Promote (S.T.E.P.) education / promotion strategy.

Q – How are enrollments into MLC managed?

A – Like ALC and SLC, enrollments into MLC are managed by HRC Schools Branch.

Q – If I am already a MSG, do I need to attend MLC to be eligible to compete for promotion to SGM?

A – No. If you are currently a MSG you do not need MLC to compete for promotion to SGM.

Q – I am scheduled to attend MLC. Where does my information regarding the course come from, and
who does my DTS request?

A – If you are scheduled to attend MLC, you can find some information about attending the course from
ATRRS. You should also receive a Welcome Letter from the NCOA where you will attend MLC that details
some specifics about report times and locations, and prerequisite requirements. You must schedule your
own travel requests through DTS to attend the course

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 MLC Course Map
Lesson COMMUNICATIONS LEARNING COMPETENCY Hours

M400 MLC Course Overview 2

M401 Effective Listening 2

M402 Public Speaking 2

M403 Military Briefings 3

M404 English Writing Overview 2

Total Hours 11

Lesson LEADERSHIP LEARNING COMPETENCY Hours

M420 Effective Leadership 1

M421 Servant Leadership 2

Total Hours 3

Lesson MANAGEMENT LEARNING COMPETENCY Hours

M430 Fundamentals of Management 2

M431 Organizational Management 2

M432 Training Management 3

M433 Critical Thinking and Problem Solving 4

Total Hours 11

Lesson OPERATIONS LEARNING COMPETENCY Hours

M440 DOD Strategies 3

M441 Army and Joint Doctrine 2

M442 Operational Art and Design 4

M443 Joint Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment (JIPOE) 2

M444 Introduction to Joint Operations Planning Process (JOPP) 2

M445 Operational and Mission Variables 3

M446 Scenario Overview 2

M447 Mission Command 2

M448 Mission Command: Understand 3

M449 Mission Comamnd: Visualize 2

M450 Mission Command: Describe 3

M451 Decisive Action: Offense 3

M452 Decisive Action: Defense 3

M453 Decisive Action: Stability 3

M454 Decisive Action: Defense Support of Civil Authorities 3

M455 Military Decision Making Process/STAFFEX 20

Total Hours 60

Total Hours Communica- 11

tions
Total Hours Leadership 3

Total Hours Management 11

Total Hours Unified Land 60

Operations
Total Hours Essays 7

Total Hours Research Time 16

Reasearch Briefings 4

Total Course Hours 112

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10
G ood Luck on your jouney through the new enlisted ed-
ucation system. It will be unlike any education class
that you have ever attended before in your career. This new
system requires creative and critical thinking from you the
leader. The course is designed to be difficult and challeng-
ing. You will benefit in the end from the lessons taught in
this course.

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 about the author

Mr. Jason D. Bell

First Sergeant (Retired) Jason Bell retired after 20
years of service in the U.S. Army. His career field was in
the Ordnance Corps, came up as a Utilities Equipment
Repairer, and finished his career as a Senior Mainte-
nance Supervisor. His last tour of duty was THE NCOL-
CoE at Fort Bliss, TX. Mr. Bell holds a Bachelor of Sci-
ence Degree from Excelsior College in Liberal Arts, and
is currently pursuing his Master of Educational Technol-
ogy degree from Webster University.

Mr. Bell’s previous assignments include Fort Irwin, CA, Fort Bliss, TX, Fort
Lee, VA, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD and Camp Casey, Korea. Mr. Bell’s
military education includes all levels of NCOES pertinent with his duty po-
sitions. He has attended the Common Faculty Development-Instructors and
Developer Courses, where he is certified to Train the Trainer, Asynchronous
Distributive Learning Trainers Course, and Master Leaders Course Distributive
Learning. Mr. Bell is also a certified Army Senior Instructor Badge awardee.

Mr. Bell’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Meritorious
Service Medal (4th Award), Army Commendation Medal (4th Award), Army
Achievement Medal (5th Award), Meritorious Unit Citation, Army Superior
Unit, Army Good Conduct Medal (6th Award), Iraq Campaign Medal (1 cam-
paign star), Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Korean Defense
Service Medal, Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (2 campaign stars), Overseas
Medal (numeral 4), NCO Professional Development Ribbon (numeral 3), Se-
nior Army Instructor Badge, and the Combat Action Badge. He is also a recip-
ient of the International Society of Logistics as a Demonstrated Senior Logisti-
cian, and inducted into the prestigious Ordnance Order of Samuel Sharpe.
Mr. Bell is married to the former Delia Clark from San Diego, CA; they have
two children 17 and 10, also have three dogs.