• Commissioning Sources.  Officers from all commissioning sources are encouraged to apply for faculty positions in C&ME.
• Branch Eligibility.  We accept applications from officers of all branches except the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. We have four TDA positions for Aviation officers (15B), who fly our department’s two fixed wing aircraft in support of the aeronautical engineering curriculum. We have 11 TDA positions for Corps of Engineer officers (21D), and one for a Functional Area 51 officer. All remaining positions are branch immaterial (01A).
• Minimum Requirements: Applicants should generally:
  • have less than 17 years time-in-service (at start of graduate school).
  • have an undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of >3.0.
  • have a bachelor’s degree in civil, mechanical, or aerospace engineering, or a closely related field.
  • have a minimum graduate record exam (GRE) scores of Verbal-153, Quantitative-144, and Writing-4.0.
  • be competitive for promotion to the next rank in their basic branch
  • be able to pass the ACFT and meet height/weight standards
  • have the full support of the basic branch/functional area to which they are currently assigned
• Master’s of Science (MS) degree: Officers meeting the criteria above who have earned a BA or BS degree may compete for a full-time, fully-funded 2-year MS degree in a related field.
• Doctor of Philosophy (or Science) (PhD/ScD) degree: Officers meeting the above criteria who have already earned an MS degree in a related field may compete for a full-time, fully-funded, 3-year PhD degree in a related field. The Department typically considers ACS for PhD for a second tour – those officers who have already completed a faculty tour in the Department.
• Direct Hire: Officers with an MS or Ph.D. in a relevant field are often assigned to our faculty. Officers interested in direct hire opportunities should check in with CME.Mil.Personnel@westpoint.edu if they believe a direct fill is possible with C&ME.

We typically select officers to begin graduate school in their 6th, 7th, or 8th year of service for first-tour military faculty members who require graduate schooling; however, starting in the 8th year of service is not our first choice as it requires an exception to the policy. Officers are encouraged to begin building their files as soon as possible and apply as soon as the fourth year of service; however, these files will not be considered by the selection board until they enter their three-year window of eligibility, as described above. 

Only branch-qualified officers will be approved for ACS and a follow-on assignment to USMA. Thus, officers who will not be branch-qualified in time to start school by the 8th year of service are generally not eligible. 

We are committed to ensuring that our officers leave USMA with adequate time for an O-4 key developmental assignment prior to consideration for promotion to LTC in the primary zone. To be eligible for consideration, faculty candidates should have a bachelor’s degree in civil, mechanical, or aerospace engineering, or a closely related field. Most successful candidates have an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or higher, though this is not a rigid requirement.

We hold selection boards in January of each year, with that year being considered the Selection Year (SY). As stated above, officers considered that year will come from the year groups SY-7, SY-6, and SY-5 (selection year 'minus'). The selection board consists of all the department’s senior faculty members. The final decision on all selections is made by the Department Head.