The Career Education Program for special operations forces enlisted leaders: An action research study

The establishments of leadership competencies are used to define the skills and behaviors leaders must possess in order to manage and lead their organizations effectively. Leadership competency models are the cornerstone for developing leadership development programs within an organization. A competency model was developed by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to identify the competencies required of joint special operations forces leaders. Following the guidelines of the competency model, a Career Education Program was developed for special operations enlisted leaders by the research site to provide the skills and behaviors necessary to think critically and lead successfully in joint special operations operating environments. The purpose of this study was to determine which leadership competencies for special operations enlisted leaders are being affected as a result of the implementation of the Career Education Program. The research questions for this study were (1) how will the implementation of a Career Education Program affect leadership competencies and subcompetencies for special operations enlisted leaders? (2) to what extend does the implementation of a Career Education Program course affect leadership competencies and subcompetencies for special operations enlisted leaders? Surveys were sent to 521 individuals who completed program courses of which 148 individuals participated in the study. Participants were asked to indicate which leadership competencies were affected as a result of completing program courses. The results indicated competency increases were seen in each of the four program courses from a range of 6.30 to 7.63 on a ten point scale with the program having an overall average increase of 6.93.