Col. James Minick, the director of Enlisted PME, and Sgt. Maj. Rick Hawkins, sergeant major of Marine Corps University, with Marine Corps Education Command in Quantico, Va., spoke about the benefits, opportunities and requirements of distance and resident PME courses.

Hawkins emphasized the importance of PME courses and how they can help Marines achieve their goals and contribute to mission accomplishment.

"That leader you send to a resident PME course will come back better than they were," he said.

Hawkins used a "building block approach" to list PME courses starting with the Leading Marines Marine Corps Institute correspondence course, developed for junior Marines to prepare them to lead in future ranks.

The list ran from the basic leadership MCI to senior staff NCO courses like the Keystone Course, the Joint and Combined Warfighting School and the Army Sergeant Major Academy. He discussed which were recommendations, which were required for promotion and which were prerequisites for a future course.

Hawkins said the list can get complicated, but that Military Occupational Specialty Roadmaps are good resources to keep track of where Marines should be at each rank to stay competitive for promotion. The roadmaps list suggested and required PMEs.

"This produces a better educated, better trained Marine," Hawkins said. "This is an outstanding tool for making sure Marines are qualified."

Minick then told enlisted leaders the method of PME is changing to become more performance-based.

"The multiple choice, 'rote memory,' where you purge it the next day and move on to the next thing - we're moving away from that," said Minick. "Can the Marine actually do it? That's the direction we are going."

Minick said the education command is working on implementing writing into courses.

"We're not looking for Hemingways, but we're looking for Marines who can communicate," Minick said.

Both stressed there is a lack of school seats compared to the number of Marines in each rank.

For promotions and boards, PME may not be the most important element of a Marine's package, but it can help give someone the edge they need to qualify above another Marine, they said.

"PME doesn't solve everything, but it can be a tie-breaker," he said. "Institutionally, we can't educate everyone. Send only your best qualified because it's a promotion precept."

Minick added the command screening to determine applicants' suitability for courses needs to be taken seriously as school staffs are not responsible to be filters. Marines who are not within height and weight standards or physical fitness test standards were examples of screening required prior to an applicant's acceptance to a school.

"If you send a guy to us, we're going to educate him, but if he's a 'food blister' or can't run a PFT, he's going to get an adverse (fitness report)," he explained. "I don't get excited that a guy lost 60 pounds in my course."

"Send the guy you want to lead your son or daughter into battle; send the guy you want promoted," Minick added. "If he's not your best guy, then he shouldn't go."

To learn more about available resident and distance PME courses, visit www.mcu.usmc.mil. MOS Roadmaps can be found at www.tecom.usmc.mil.