Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, passed an amendment that requires the U.S. Army to establish Additional Skill Identifiers (ASIs) for soldiers who attend Advanced Mountaineering Courses. Read the amendment here.
“As the Chief Advocate for Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division in Congress I am proud that my amendment to establish additional Skill Identifiers for Advanced Military Mountaineering will be included in this year’s national defense bill,” said Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. “This will enable the 10th Mountain Division to better track, attract, and retain soldiers possessing the advanced alpine skills that are necessary for the 10th Mountain Division.”
Congresswoman Stefanik’s amendment requires the U.S. Army to develop and implement a plan to establish Additional Skill Identifiers for the following courses taught at the Army’s Mountain Warfare School: Advanced Military Mountaineer Course (Summer), Advanced Military Mountaineer Course (Winter), Rough Terrain Evacuation Course, Mountain Planner Course, Mountain Rifleman Course. Additionally, this language also requires the Army to establish a Skill Identifier for Officers and Warrant Officers who complete the following courses: Basic Military Mountaineer Course and Mountain Planner Course.
ASIs and Skill Identifiers (SIs) allow qualified mountaineers to be assigned to organizations where their skillsets are needed by making course completion searchable in U.S. Army Systems. Better tracking measures of skills developed at the AMWS would increase the accession of qualified leaders into their formation, resulting in increased proficiency and reduced training time and funding to qualify each new member for their team.
