Career-minded officers interested in developing language skills and regional cultural knowledge are encouraged to apply for the FY-18 Olmsted Scholar Program, announced Feb. 11 in NAVADMIN 034/16.

Currently available to unrestricted line, information dominance and supply corps officer designators, the Olmsted program is a unique scholarship opportunity offering two years of graduate study using a foreign language while providing overseas cultural and travel opportunities, often leading to a graduate degree at a foreign university.

The Naval Education and Training Professional Development and Technology Center (NETPDTC) is currently accepting applications from regular or full time support officers in the approved designators. Applicants should be available to start language training in summer/fall 2017, begin study at a foreign university in 2018 and complete study in 2020.

The ideal candidates will display the qualities of dedicated career officers and aspire to command assignments. Applicants must have demonstrated strong leadership qualities, solid overall performance, strong promotion potential, and proven superior scholastic ability. Candidates must have three years of commissioned service - but no more than 11 years of total active federal service as of April 1, 2017, to apply for the scholarship. Specific designator eligibility is listed in the NAVADMIN.

Historically, Olmsted scholars have benefited from the program and continue to promote to senior leadership positions, including 12 past Navy scholars that achieved flag rank.

One Olmsted scholar currently progressing toward command, following his international experience in Sofia, Bulgaria at the University of Sofia, is Lt. Cmdr. Mark Anderson, executive officer of the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Florida.

"Upon selection as an Olmsted scholar, I found myself well outside the standard career path, yet this detour has proven to be one of best decisions I have ever made," Anderson said. "I experienced profound personal and professional growth while earning a master's degree and embracing life in a country very different from mine. These changes left me a better leader, problem solver, and person. As the Navy continues to operate across the world, often among multiple partner nations, Olmsted scholars are uniquely positioned to provide culturally and strategically relevant solutions in every clime and place."

According to the Olmsted website, scholars interact daily with locals and immerse themselves in the culture of their host country, but a background in a specific foreign language is not a prerequisite to selection. Scholars are expected to live on the local economy and travel widely. Olmsted scholars receive their normal pay and allowances, and if married, are normally accompanied by their family.

Applicants are required to meet a list of qualifications and prerequisites and submit a command-endorsed nomination package that must be received by NETPDTC, Code N2A2-Olmsted, no later than Aug. 26. In October, the applications are reviewed and a final, Navy-sponsored list of nominees is selected. For the past five years, the Olmsted Foundation Board of Directors has selected five Navy scholars.

The Olmsted Foundation, established and endowed by the late Army Maj. Gen. George and Carol Olmsted and the Department of Defense, have jointly sponsored this scholarship program since 1959. Since its inception, the foundation has focused on educational and charitable purposes.

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Bruce Scott serves as president and chief executive officer of the Olmsted Foundation and was an Olmsted scholar from 1979-81 at the University of Freiburg (Albert Ludwig) in Freiburg, Germany. Scott believes the success of the program is a direct result of the vision of the man for which the foundation and the scholarship program is named.

"General Olmsted, our benefactor and founder, certainly possessed great vision when he said that the world's greatest leaders must be educated broadly," said Scott. "For more than 50 years, our program has educated young officers in foreign language fluency and foreign cultures, which are becoming more and more important in today's world and in supporting the Navy's Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower."

With the selection of the 57th Olmsted scholar class in March 2015, 618 scholars have completed, are completing or are preparing for two years of study abroad. Their studies to date have been in 40 languages, in 202 different foreign universities, spanning 60 countries worldwide.

The Navy nominations are submitted to the Olmsted Foundation Board of Directors, along with nomination packages from the other services. During a comprehensive personal interview, the foundation staff will examine the nominee's academic and professional background, motivation to be a scholar, choice of foreign university, proposed course of study, language aptitude and career goals. Taking all this data into account, the interview panel will make its recommendations to the board for final decisions on the nominees at its meeting in March 2017 for the FY-18 Olmsted scholar class.

All eligible and interested officers should visit the Olmsted Foundation website at http://www.olmstedfoundation.org for details. Specific information on the Navy's application procedures can be found on the Navy College Office website at http://www.navycollege.navy.mil/olmsted.html and additional information can also be found in NAVADMIN 034/16.

Get the latest information on education opportunities by liking Navy Voluntary Education on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NavyVoluntaryEducation/.

Additional information about the Naval Education and Training Professional Development and Technology Center can be found at: http://www.netc.navy.mil/netpdtc/Default.htm

For more news from Naval Education And Training Professional Development And Technology Center, visit http://www.navy.mil/.