"(and let me tell you—when I say acumen, these folks are sharp. If only all of our training classes and certifications could be as thorough as their capstone program, where students spend up to a week or more building out an entire platform from scratch...)" Microsoft Learning Community and Evangelism Team member (The following is a reprint from the Microsoft blog on the events of the 11-day bus trip that began at Fort Gordon found at http://blogs.technet.com/mslcommunity)

Microsoft Learning Community and Evangelism Team

We started the day at Fort Gordon, at the U.S. Army College of Information Technology—the flagship school for U.S. Army Soldiers entering IT roles in the service. Many of the students will be going into theater in IT support, security, network admin roles across the service from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond. In addition to US Army students, the Army IT College also hosts Soldiers and officers from militaries in other countries.

The US Army IT College by volume of students pursuing certification is likely one of the larger IT Academies in the world: Every student/Soldier is expected to pursue certification, based in part around requirements of DOD 8570 (Pentagon directive for certifications of personnel in IT roles). In many academic environments, certification is optional, but in the military, it's an expectation and a requirement. Most of the students are at the college environment for several months as they pursue training/education in cohorts or tracks of study on base.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Chief Armond Rouillard, brand new MCT and the lead Army instructor for the college. Chief Rouillard is a Get on the Bus winner, who along with retired Army instructor but current civilian instructor Scott Sunday will be joining us at TechEd!

Chief Rouillard introduced us to combined classroom of about 50 servicemen and women attending Windows Security and Windows XP training, using our Microsoft Official Curriculum.

Over the next 90 minutes, Dana gave a great overview of our certifications and explained how Microsoft certification can help these Soldiers gain the recognition they deserve for their technical acumen when they transition from military service to civilian life. (and let me tell you—when I say acumen, these folks are sharp. If only all of our training classes and certifications could be as thorough as their capstone program, where students spend up to a week or more building out an entire platform from scratch the way they'll need to do it in the field. The stakes are always high in IT, but never higher than in a combat theater, and the Army is constantly refining and strengthening their program based on feedback from every class that comes through.)

Following Dana, I gave everyone an advance look at some new Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 features that we thought would be of particular interest, like AppLocker and BitLocker to go. Meanwhile, our guests Chris (who blogged our pre-tour prep here) and Christopher were interviewed by local Augusta station WRDW 12.

Ryan wrapped up with a rousing round of "Are You Certifiable" that really brought out some competitive spirit, and we concluded our visit with a visit to their capstone facilities, and a photo shoot (two group shots: one where we yelled "I'm a PC!," and another where we all yelled, "Army Strong!")

We left the base tired but profoundly impressed by their dedication and accomplishments and deeply appreciative of their service.

After a quick roadside lunch, we hightailed it back to Atlanta for a visit to New Horizons Atlanta, where we met with an equally large group of students and trainers.

Louie Bernstein and his New Horizons team were wonderful hosts—and judging by the sharp questions we were asked, they're doing a great job training Atlanta-area IT Pros and developers!

With sharp students, we needed sharp presenters, and after Dana's Cert 101, Ryan's Win7 and my WS2008 presentation, we brought out one of the big guns: Psychometrician Extraordinaire Liberty Munson shared some of the secrets of our certification exams—like why a score of 700 doesn't really mean you got 70% correct. (What, you think I'm going to explain? C'mon out and ask Liberty!)

We wrapped up with another round of Are You Certifiable, this time with eight head-to-head players. Even though we can only have one winner, everyone seemed certifiable, so we gave a free exam voucher to everyone in attendance!

Oh, and we won too: Senior Developer Evangelist Glen Gordon came out to speak to the group at New Horizons and surprised us by giving us an Xbox to keep on the bus! I'm not sure whether that's going to result in happy bus riders or cranky bus riders (from lack of sleep due to late-night gaming), but we're sure grateful to Glen for his thoughtfulness!

Back on the bus, a quick trip to the Buckhead Barnes and Noble, where we joined Microsoft Technical Strategy Advisor (and MS Press author) Eric Griffin for a Friday evening book signing. Not a strong turnout—it seems folks have other things on their mind in Buckhead on a Friday night :-) —but it was great to meet Eric, and we thank him for helping us round out our first day of an already-eventful trip.

Almost 11:00 pm now, and we've been on the go since 5am… time to get some sleep: we board the bus at 7am tomorrow for a trip to Gwinnett Technical College in Lawrenceville, Ga!

Posted by Krosen 2 Comments

nochange Friday, May 01, 2009 10:53 AM

Day 1: On the Road

THIS IS A CROSS-POST: THIS BLOG IS NOW LOCATED AT HTTP://BORNTOLEARN.MSLEARN.NET

PLEASE UPDATE YOUR FAVORITES, WE WILL STOP CROSS-POSTING LATER THIS MONTH

Just had a fantastic visit with 50 fine service men and women at the U.S. Army IT Schoolhouse at Fort Gordon, Ga.!

Too impressive and inspiring to do justice to while in transit to our afternoon event, so look for a full account with some great video in about 5 or 6 hours. Suffice it to say for now that we're all very impressed with the depth and rigor of the Army's IT training and certification program, deeply appreciative that they choose to use our products as part of their solutions, and profoundly grateful for their service to our country.

After a quick roadside lunch, we're off to an open house at New Horizons Atlanta, followed by a book signing with MS Press author (and Microsoft Technical Strategy Advisor) Eric Griffin at the Buckhead Barnes and Noble at 7p.m.

Come out and see us if you're in the area.