R 261757Z AUG 25 MARADMIN 398/25 MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC MRA MM// SUBJ/ANNOUNCEMENT OF AVAILABLE FISCAL YEAR 2026 EXECUTIVE LEVEL EDUCATION ASSIGNMENTS// REF/A/MSGID:  MCO/MCU/20190530// REF/B/MSGID:  MCO/CMC/20250307// REF/C/MSGID:  MCO/CMC/20080125// REF/D/MSGID:  MSG/CMC/112035ZDEC08// NARR/REF A IS MCO 1524.1, MARINE CORPS GRADUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM. REF B IS MCO 1300.8 CH-1, MARINE CORPS PERSONNEL ASSIGNMENT POLICY. REF C IS MCO 1553.4B, PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION. REF D IS MARADMIN 703/08, OFFICER PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION SUMMARY.// POC/T. J. KITASATO/MAJ/MMOA-3/(703) 784-9284/ EMAIL:  [email protected]// GENTEXT/REMARKS/1.  Purpose.  This message announces Executive Level Education (ELE) assignments available during fiscal year 2026 (FY26), eligibility criteria for interested officers, and outlines the process for requesting assignment to ELE. 1.a.  ELE assignment process.  Director, Manpower Management approves these high-visibility assignments based on the qualities of interested officers who meet the eligibility criteria outlined below.  Unless otherwise noted, Manpower Management will only consider officers who request assignment to ELE via the process outlined in paragraph 5.  Those ELE assignments noted as a Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) nomination will include consideration of all eligible officers. 1.b.  Major timeline milestones are: Date                        Milestone Release of this message     Start of application period 26 September 2025           Applications due 2.  Background.  ELE programs are 10-12 month education or fellowship programs available to post-Top Level School (TLS) lieutenant colonels and colonels. 3.  Eligibility 3.a.  Eligibility criteria 3.a.1.  Colonels who will have 24 months time-on-station (TOS) by 31 July 2026 or are otherwise scheduled to complete their prescribed tour control factor (TCF) in FY26. 3.a.2.  Lieutenant colonels who have completed either resident or non-resident TLS and will have 24 months TOS by 31 July 2026 or are otherwise scheduled to complete their prescribed TCF in FY26. 3.b.  Ineligibility criteria 3.b.1.  Lieutenant colonels in the above zone for promotion. 3.b.2.  Limited duty officers. 3.b.3.  Officers with an approved voluntary separation or retirement date. 3.b.4  Officers who have previously declined education program selection. 3.b.5  Officers in receipt of orders to report in FY26. 3.c.  Contact primary military occupational specialty (PMOS) monitors with questions regarding eligibility. 4.  Available ELE assignments 4.a.  The below assignments to foreign professional military education (FPME) and CMC fellowships are available during FY26. Please see the websites in paragraphs 4.a.1. and 4.a.2., respectively, for further information. (Read in five columns) Assignment                     Quota    Report    Rotate        Note Atlantic Council of the United States                           1 (Washington, DC)                1       Jul 26    Jun 27 Brookings Institution                                           1 (Washington, DC)                1       Jul 26    Jun 27 Center for a New American Security (CNAS)                       1 (Washington, DC)                1       Jul 26    Jun 27 Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)           1 (Washington, DC)                1       Jul 26    Jun 27 Council on Foreign Relations                                    1, 2 (New York, NY)                  1       Jul 26    Jun 27 United Kingdom, Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS)         3 (London, UK)                    1       Aug 26    Jul 27 Note 1: Post TLS assignment. Note 2: Must be a colonel.  Must be current or post commander or receive a nomination from the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Note 3: Must be a colonel.  See FPME website for more information and/or contact the MCU POC listed in paragraph 7. 4.b.  Foreign PME website:  https:(slash)(slash)www.usmcu.edu/Acad emic-Programs/CMC-Fellows-Strategists-Foreign-PME-Olmsted-Scholars/F oreign-Professional-Military-Education/ 4.c.  CMC fellowship website: https:(slash)(slash)www.usmcu.edu/Ac ademic-Programs/CMC-Fellows-Strategists-Foreign-PME-Olmsted-Scholars /Commandant-of-the-Marine-Corps-Fellowships/ 5.  Application process 5.a.  Officers who meet the eligibility criteria outlined above and who are interested in ELE assignment shall complete the ELE application no later than 19 September 2025.  In this application, officers shall also list, in order of preference, the ELE program(s) they request assignment to.  Interested officers are not required to list all available ELE assignments and may request assignment to a single program. 5.b.  Once responses are submitted via the application questionnaire, applicants and MMOA-3 will receive an automatic notification of completion.  Officers can reset their own application questionnaire to make edits, updates, or upload additional documents during the application period.  Officers are required to notify their PMOS monitor via email of their intent to apply for ELE assignment.  The application is located at: https://www2.manpower.usmc.mil/application_cac/edu/index.jsp 5.c.  Following the application window, PMOS monitors will confirm whether or not an officer is eligible and that the officer is now under consideration for ELE assignment. 5.d.  Correspondence. The application questionnaire is the only method MMOA-3 will receive and process correspondence. Documents submitted via any means other than the application questionnaire, such as e-mail, will not be processed for inclusion into an application.  Officers may submit any material not found in their Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) via the application. This includes letters of recommendation.  Officers may submit a letter to Director, Manpower Management, similar to a letter to the board, but are reminded that such letters should either: (1) Explain a discrepancy in a Fitness Report (FitRep) or record; (2) Explain unique circumstances that led to a career path perceived as significantly different; or (3) Explain a discrepancy not covered by case (1) and (2).  Any letters should be brief and limited to a clear explanation of the issue involved. 5.d.1.  Do not submit more than SEVEN documents. 5.d.2.  Each document must not exceed 800 KB and must be in .pdf format. 5.d.3.  File naming convention is very important for correspondence collection/consolidation.  Name the file appropriately according to type of correspondence i.e. "edipi_LOR_lastname” for a letter of recommendation. 5.d.4.  If submitting multiple of the same type of document, such two separate letters of recommendations, label them as such “edipi_LOR_lastname (1), edipi_LOR_lastname (2)”. 6.  Assignment results.  Manpower Management will release assignment results via MARADMIN. 6.a.  Alternates.  Manpower Management will identify officers as alternates for assignment if ELE program vacancies occur.  The results MARADMIN will identify these alternates. 6.b.  Declinations. Officers assigned to an ELE program who decline must do so via AA form, endorsed by the first general officer in their chain of command, forwarded to Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) (MMOA).  Unless otherwise approved by Director, Manpower Management, officers who decline assignment to an ELE program will not be considered for any other ELE program during the slating year and are ineligible for future ELE assignment.  The results MARADMIN will establish a deadline for declination requests. 6.c.  Deferrals 6.c.1.  Officers assigned to ELE who are unable to execute orders due to extraordinary life or personal circumstances may request a deferral.  Officers requesting deferral must do so via AA form, endorsed by the first general officer in their chain of command, forwarded to HQMC MMOA.  The results MARADMIN will establish a deadline for deferral requests. 6.c.2.  If approved, the Director, Manpower Management will defer officers to a future ELE assignment. 7.  Points of contact. Col E. J. Smith   Branch Head, MMOA   DSN:  278-9300, COMM:  (703) 784-9300   Email:  [email protected] Col M. D. Simon   Ground Colonel Monitor   DSN:  278-9300, COMM:  (703) 784-9300   Email:  [email protected] Col R. B. Tompkins   Aviation Colonel Monitor   DSN:  278-9300 COMM:  (703) 784-9300   Email:  [email protected] LtCol E. C. Buxton   Aviation Lieutenant Colonel Monitor   Comm:  (703) 784-9267   Email:  [email protected] LtCol E. F. Bradley   Combat Arms Lieutenant Colonel Monitor   Comm:  (703) 784-9274   Email:  [email protected] LtCol N. V. Bastian   Combat Service Support Lieutenant Colonel Monitor   Comm:  (703) 784-9274   Email:  [email protected] LtCol D. C. Burton   Information Lieutenant Colonel Monitor   Comm:  (703) 784-9274   Email:  [email protected] LtCol J. D. Pineiro   Director CMC Fellowships/Foreign PME, MCU   COMM: (703) 432-4837   Email: [email protected] 8.  This message is only applicable to the active component. 9.  Release authorized by BGen Fridrik Fridriksson, Director, Manpower Management Division.//