Postgraduate education and professional military development: are they compatible?

Abstract

This thesis examines the utilization of graduate education for graduates of the Naval Postgraduate School, Manpower, Personnel, and Training Analysis (MPTA) curriculum, from December 1986 through June 1991. The study focuses on four areas: 1) developing a list and rank structure of billets requiring the xx33P code granted upon completion of the education, 2) tracking the careers of the officers following their graduation from the curriculum, 3) examining career progression paths to find places where timely utilization could be undertaken, and 4) examining the designator composition of population. The study determined that utilization for the period December 1986 thourgh June 1991 was 22.2%. Assuming that all officers still in the two- tour Department of Defense utilization window were assigned to utilization billets as their next assignment, the utilization rate would rise to 52.5%. This was deemed unacceptable, and the recommendation was to require an eighteen-month utilization tour immediately following completion of the curriculum. This would cause the utilization rate for MPTA graduates to rise to 97%.