The 2021 class of American Legion College meets in the National Executive Committee room at the American Legion National Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Thursday, December 16. (Photo by Ben Mikesell/The American Legion)
Applications for the 2022 National American Legion College are open. The 2022 NALC cohort will meet Dec. 11-16 in Indianapolis for an intensive week of instruction in organizational leadership and Legion protocol, challenging student leaders to think critically and creatively about issues confronting The American Legion.
Those interested are encouraged to file an application with Department of California Headquarters by June 1. Email materials to adjutant@calegion.org and use “2022 NALC application” in the subject line.
Selection of the most appropriate students for the National American Legion College (NALC) has been a subject of discussion for several years. An August 12, 2020, memo from Internal Affairs Chairman Robert Newman specified the criteria that would be used in the selection of the students. Since that memo was released, it has become apparent an update is necessary.
Departments will rank their candidates with their top seeded candidate having a seat at the college. All other candidates’ applications will be submitted to the NACL application review committee where they will be scored and ranked. The final score of the student’s application will determine their placement on the alternate list. Annually there are 55 seats in each class, one seat per department. Unfortunately, not every department submits a student application to attend the college. The remaining seats, after each department is granted their seat with their preferred candidate, are filled from the alternate list. The prerequisites to apply for the National American Legion College are as follows; all candidates must be a member in good standing, be a member for a minimum of three continuous years, have completed Basic Training online with a certificate dated after August 2016 and must be vetted and endorsed by their department leadership.
The National Organization considers that the maximum potential benefit of NALC is achieved by investing the education in sufficiently committed leaders that are young enough to impact Post, Department and National programs for at least 8-10 years. Valuable leadership and future potential criteria can be measured by careful evaluation of age, military experience, post-military career experience, and contributions to The American Legion. While these criteria are not mandatory, experience has proved that graduates of NALC that meet these criteria provide the most long-term value to their sponsoring Department.
Age
• Preferred – Ability to provide upward mobility in continued service and leadership for 8-10 years.
Military Experience
• Preferred – Active service during Desert Storm or later.
Legion Career
• Ideal Student – Candidate for or recent election to a county or district office.
• Acceptable Student – Candidate for or recent election to their first department office, department adjutants in their first 18 months to two years of service and who has not held a county or district commander or department office.
• Inadequate – Candidates who have no experience beyond the post level
• Overqualified – past department senior officer*, leading candidate for senior* department office, current or past national officer, ANEC or NEC.
*Definition of senior officer – senior vice commander, area, department or zone-vice commander, commander, whether they are currently in office or serve in a past capacity.
Basic Training
• Online Basic Training certificate must be dated February 17, 2017, or later. Applications with certificates dated February 16, 2017 and older will not be accepted.
The 2021 class of American Legion College at the American Legion National Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Thursday, December 16. (Photo by Ben Mikesell/The American Legion)
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