How To Apply for CP-56 Funded Training
CP-56 announces centrally-funded training opportunities via JAGCNet, the CP-56 Legal Career Program milBook page (https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/career-program-56-legal), and the CP-56 Army Career Tracker community page (https://actnow.army.mil/communities/community/civilian-cp56). The announcement details the training event, training dates and location, who is eligible to apply for the announced training, what expenses will be paid, and how to apply. Generally, the steps to be followed for application include:
In order to apply for CP-56 funded training, you will need to create a GoArmyEd student account at https://www.goarmyed.com/. The student account is required in order to be able to enroll you in the training and to pay for any associated costs. Details on creation of the student account can be found in the GoArmyEd brochure attached below. Please note that in order to create the account, you should only need to complete the fields marked with an asterisk and supervisor concurrence is not required. At the time of application, only the creation of any account in GoArmyEd is required. You will not submit your application in GoArmyEd, but rather via email as specified in the announcement.
The CP-56 Competitive Professional Development (CPD) Application requires a Statement of Interest, a Utilization Plan from your Supervisor, and a Memorandum of Endorsement from the head of your office.
Your Statement of Interest should explain why you desire to attend the training, and how the training will contribute to your professional growth. Remember that CPD training is a competitive process, and your response will be reviewed by a selection panel to determine who will be awarded funding to participate in training. You are encouraged to review your application for spelling and grammatical mistakes.
Your Supervisor’s Utilization Plan should outline how your supervisor envisions the training will help you develop professionally, and how that development will benefit your office and the Army. The Utilization Plan should also describe the Army’s return on investment from the training. Specific examples of how your office will utilize the new training are always helpful. If the head of your legal office signs your Utilization Plan, you do not need a separate Memorandum of Endorsement. However, if the supervisor signing the Utilization Plan is not the head of your legal office, you will need a separate Memorandum of Endorsement supporting your participation in the training.
You will also need to submit a Civilian Career Report with your application. To obtain your Civilian Career Report, navigate to the to the DCPDS site (https://compo.dcpds.cpms.osd.mil), use your CAC to enter the site, select the purple box “My Biz + Army,” on the MyBiz+ homepage under the purple tab "Key Services" select "Civilian Career Report," and then include the following sections on your report: Appointment, Career Program, Current Position, Experience History, Appraisals, and Training, finally select "Preview Report." Be advised if you do not select which categories to include, the full report includes PII (things like pay and TSP contributions) that CP-56 does not need.
Your completed and fully signed CPD Application and your Civilian Career Report must be emailed to Ms. Sarilyn Leary prior to the application deadline indicated in each training announcement.
Once the announcement closes, all applications are reviewed by a selection board made up of a representative from each of the Qualifying Authorities (AMC, OGC, TJAG and USACE). The board members’ scores are averaged and an order of merit list is created from the average scores/ranks, which is then used by CP-56 for allocating seats and funding. The selection board considers the following factors in scoring the applications: (1) whether the application contained all the required components; (2) the strength of the Statement of Interest (was the statement persuasive, well-written, and did it convey how the training will aid in the applicant’s professional growth?); (3) strength of the Utilization Plan (does the supervisor express that the person needs to be trained in the areas training is sought, does the training respond to current duties or an emerging mission of the employee, how will the training better the individual and the office?); and (4) return on investment (based upon the entire application packet does it appear that the training will better the applicant professionally and has the applicant demonstrated potential for future success?). A small deduction is applied for those applicants who have attended CP-56 funded training within the twelve previous months, solely to ensure that training dollars are widely distributed.