Organizational Leadership Course

Eligibility

• Army Civilians in permanent appointments in grades GS–10 through GS–13 (or equivalent).
• Army Non-appropriated Fund (NAF), Wage Grade (WG), Local National (LN).

Prerequisites

• Foundation Course (required only for individuals hired after September 30, 2006).

Overview

The Organizational Leadership Course prepares current and aspiring Army Civilian leaders (GS 10-13) to become more innovative, self-aware, and prepared to effectively lead and care for personnel and manage assigned resources at the organizational level. This course is required per AR 350-1 for Army Civilian supervisors in those grades. Training and developmental exercises focus on self-awareness and development, effective team leadership, and creating conditions to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.

The Organizational Leadership Course learning outcomes are:

1. Develop personal character, presence and intellect.
2. Prepare to move from leading teams to leading organizations.
3. Create and support a Mission Command environment of leading, developing, and achieving.
4. Develop a Civilian Corps whose members exemplify the Army Values.

Delivery Methods

The Organizational Leadership Course is a three-week learning experience available in three modalities to include resident, on-site (via Mobile Education Teams, or METs), and virtual instruction. All modalities consist of three weeks of instructor-facilitated, fully collaborative instruction with continuous student engagement.

Resident

The resident offering consists of three weeks of face-to-face instruction at Fort Leavenworth, KS. All classes are conducted from approximately 0800-1630 each day in U.S. Central Time. Travel costs to Fort Leavenworth are centrally funded by ACCMA. See Additional Information below for more details.

On-site / Mobile Education Team

The on-site MET offering consists of three weeks of face-to-face instruction at or near a student’s home station. Locations vary throughout the year. See the course schedule for availability near you. All classes are conducted from approximately 0800-1630 each day in the on-site location’s time zone.

Virtual (Online)

The virtual offering is a fully online learning experience consisting of three weeks of virtual instruction. This course is not a self-paced, online distributed learning course; it is conducted in a fully-collaborative (synchronous) virtual environment using Blackboard. There is no requirement to travel to Fort Leavenworth, KS. All classes are conducted from approximately 0800-1630 each day in U.S. Central Time.
 

Time Commitment

• The Intermediate Course requires a minimum commitment of 40 hours of organizational work time per week for three full weeks.
• Students must resolve commitments that conflict with the class schedule before the course begins.
• Students are assigned to seminars that meet each day as a learning group. Full participation is essential for successful completion.

Technology Requirements

• Students must have access to a location with high-speed internet access without VPN for the virtual portions of the course. (Some collaborative tools in Blackboard do not function when connected to VPN).
• Computer device with audio/microphone and webcam capabilities.
• This may require students to have access to a commercial internet capability and personal computer/equipment if Government NIPR network and/or Government provided computer/equipment does not support full participation in the synchronous course activities.

Course Schedule

Click below to see the list of upcoming offerings.

Organizational Leadership Course (OLC)
ATRRS Course number: 1-250-C61 (MC) (VLC)

Selection Priority

• Priority 1: Army Civilians in a permanent appointment to a supervisory position.
• Priority 2: Army Civilians in a permanent appointment to a non-supervisory position.
• Priority 3: Military supervisors of Army Civilians, DOD and other Federal agency leaders. Army Civilians in term or temporary appointment who are responsible for leading or supervising Army Civilians. Priority 3 attendees are not centrally funded and must be funded by their organization.

Additional Information

• Effective October 1, 2025: All new GS 10-13 supervisors — including current supervisors who are still in their probationary supervisory status — will be identified for automatic enrollment into the Organizational Leadership Course. Once identified, new supervisors will have two years to enroll in and complete the course in their preferred modality and time. If the course is not completed in the first two years, the supervisor will be automatically enrolled into a course in the third year.
• Army Civilians must have a current performance rating of successful or above and be in good conduct standing.
• Most permanent Army civilians (to include appropriated funds (AF), non-appropriated funds (NAF), local nationals, and wage grade) are centrally funded for CES training.
• Military members, term, and temporary Army civilians and non-Army employees are funded through their organizations.

Accessing the Course

View our Application Process guide for application instructions. Follow any instructions received in system-generated emails. The course is delivered through ATIS Learning and requires a CAC-enabled computer to access all module exams.

Student Testimonials

“Thank you for teaching such a great course and for giving me the confidence to reach higher. My expectations of myself and my colleagues are totally different now, and I'm grateful for everything I learned at CES. – CES Course Graduate"

“During the CES goal planning exercise, I documented a timeline for completion of a Ph.D. I was very ambitious about finishing in December, but I worked daily to reach this goal. Thank you so much for all of your encouragement and motivation. Taking the CES course over the summer helped me reach and accomplish my goal of completing the Ph.D. – CES Course Graduate”