SRWTP superintendent to earn prestigious leadership masters degree

   
   By the end of the month, Alan Cranford, a Colonel in the Army National Guard and Superintendent of Murfreesboro’s new Stones River Water Treatment Plant, will earn his master’s degree from one of the most prestigious leadership schools in the country; the U.S. Army War College.
   “It’s in Carlisle, Penn.,” he said in a telephone interview. “I’ll have a Master of Strategic Studies degree.
   “To give you a little background,” he added, “there is a U.S. Army War College, there is a U.S. Naval War College, there’s the U.S. Air War College, there’s a Marine War College and then the National War College. Those are the  five senior service war colleges for senior leaders of the U.S. and some international partners. But it’s not just military. It’s also state department heads – senior leaders of the government are able to go.”
   In fact, he said, the entrance process is a lot more demanding than having a decent A.C.T. score.
    “There were 480 who started the class and only around 350 will graduate,” he said. “At least starting off, you have to be selected by a general officer (a General) and he has to make that recommendation to the Adjutant General of the state. Then the Adjutant selects a list of how many people (seats) are allotted.   “Then the nominations go to the chief of the National Guard Bureau where it has to be approved,” he added, “then to the Department of the Army to be approved. Then you are notified (accepted).”
   Cranford said most of the classes in the two-year course, much of it completed at home on the computer over about 15 to 30 hours per week of personal time, are geared toward strategic thinking and strategy. There are also courses in how the federal government works.

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