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Welcome
National Security Leaders Today and Beyond
A New ROTC-like program preparing future DoD civilians with readiness to support the warfighter
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To remain competitive, DoD must make an enterprise shift to strategically developing talent who can immediately contribute to solve the most challenging problems and adapt to the future.
The Defense Civilian Training Corps is a congressionally-mandated talent development program that provides a multidisciplinary, active-learning curriculum with summer internship projects at DoD organizations. DCTC is a highly selective pilot program and two-year curriculum with a project-based summer internship that prepares scholars for direct pathway into DoD acquisition-related careers.
Recruit and develop resilient DoD civilian leaders who bring innovative ideas and a collaborative mindset to enable and secure the defense acquisition ecosystem.
The development and integrated curriculum approach is a hallmark of the DCTC program. The approach is designed to provide DCTC scholars with the skills and experience to jump-start their professional careers and be productive members of the DoD acquisition community immediately upon graduation. The four elements of the development and integrated curriculum are: the (1) core curriculum, (2) immersive learning experiences, (3) summer internships, and (4) innovation capstone project.
As a pathway to civilian service in DoD, DCTC’s rigorous education and development preparation instills a mindset of teamwork, lifelong learning, and innovation – scholars “make a difference” today in supporting warfighter challenges. DCTC provides scholars opportunity to learn and practice skills, not only in the DoD mission, leadership, and teamwork but also in skills they will use in their future acquisition jobs to rapidly field new capabilities to our military.
The DCTC program operates through collaboration between the DoD and academia. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment (OUSD(A&S)) is the lead organization for the pilot effort, working in tandem with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness (OUSD(P&R)), the Chief Digital & Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), and the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN).
The curriculum introduces scholars to the important partnership between the DoD and defense industrial base. Implementation of the pilot program and curriculum is led by the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC), a university affiliated research center (UARC) located at the Stevens Institute of Technology in partnership with the pilot universities to create a comprehensive talent development program.
DCTC scholars represent the future of the workforce and are selected through a rigorous and highly competitive process. Our partners in Senior Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs and the military academies have shared curricular and extra-curricular models to transform individual Scholars into a mission-driven team.
Partnerships with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and other DoD organizations will provide scholars with student internships, DoD challenge projects, and future DoD employment. Through teamwork and innovation, scholars will contribute as national security leaders today to solving DoD challenges.
The DCTC curriculum is designed to encourage multidisciplinary, project-based learning. At the end of the fall semester, University of Arizona DCTC scholars presented their projects and fielded questions from classmates.
Dive Into our Media Packet for a comprehensive look at our DCTC Pilot Program. Everything you need in one place.
The DCTC curriculum is designed to encourage multidisciplinary, project-based learning, the Illustration of the curriculum that shows the hallmark of the DCTC program.
At Virginia Tech, DCTC Cohort 0 is made up of both civilian and Corps of Cadet students who bonded at the beginning of the school year by conquering the Obstacle Course together.
Mr. Mark Krzysko, PD API and DoD champion, hosted a mentoring coffee chat during a visit with Purdue DCTC scholars in the Discovery Park District of campus.
Members of the AIRC team visited the University of Arizona scholars and faculty as guests in the classroom.
DCTC scholars at North Carolina A&T celebrate upon winning the DCTC Acquisition Game! The DCTC curriculum is based on active learning to foster critical skill development, including the DCTC Acquisition Game, used in the spring semester to educate and engage our scholars on the key tradeoffs and decision points in the defense acquisition system.
