WASHINGTON - Senator Edward M. Kennedy yesterday urged Army Secretary Pete Geren to "provide the resources needed" to deter soldiers from cheating on Army correspondences courses to earn points for promotion.
more stories like this

The Massachusetts Democrat, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed concern that the Army Correspondence Course Program has been compromised by a proliferation of websites - some operated by active-duty Army personnel - that provide copies of and answer keys for hundreds of official military courses and more than 1,000 separate exams.

Kennedy was reacting to a Globe investigation published Sunday that found the Army's Training and Doctrine Command has known for at least eight years that thousands of enlisted soldiers have been cheating to earn points for promotion to the rank of sergeant - a violation of at least three articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Yet no soldiers have been prosecuted, nor has the training command implemented a series of common security measures recommended as early as 2001 by a group of computerized testing analysts convened by the Army, the Globe reported.

FORT EUSTIS, Va. - For eight years, the Army has known that its largest online testing program - which verifies that soldiers have learned certain military skills and helps them amass promotion points - has been the subject of widespread cheating.

In 1999, testing officials first noticed that soldiers were turning in many tests over a short period, something that would have been almost impossible without having obtained the answers ahead of time. A survey by the testing office showed that 5 percent of the exams were probably the subject of cheating. At the time, soldiers were filing roughly 200,000 exams per year.

But it wasn't until June of this year, when an Army computer contractor complained about a website providing free copies of completed exams, that the Army acknowledged that it had a problem.

A five-month Globe investigation has since found that by then, hundreds of thousands of packages of completed exams had been downloaded by soldiers over many years.

But the Army never prosecuted anyone for cheating - which is a violation of three sections of the military code of justice.

In addition, the Globe found, the Army had been warned by a panel of experts it convened in 2001 that it needed to improve test security. But it did not act on the panel's recommendation that the most important tests be given in a proctored classroom. Nor did it take even more modest steps, such as changing the questions at regular intervals to deter those who obtain the answers in advance.

After a recent search on eBay we noticed that a CD with ACCP post-tests was being auctioned off with a starting bid of $25. This disc also had about 100 less subcourses than that of our own.

This got us thinking and to better service everyone we decided to post our own disk on eBay to give them some competition, and provide services to those who do not have access to ShamSchool. Our auction was started at $0.01.



We will continue to post our CD on eBay without a "buy it now" option. Our hopes are to post one daily if possible, so that everyone has the opportunity to make a bid at a slightly lower price than buying it directly from the site.

You may view the first auction here and further auctions here.

Good luck and happy bidding.

If you may have noticed a lot of things are changing around here and some probably not even working. We are upgrading our servers after a slight system crash. Hopefully everything will be moved over within a weeks time.

At the same time since ShamSchool has been block by the Army, we are working on a new site that has everything here except the ACCP answers that have created such a controversy before. The site will include videos and some other things that we don't have here as well. The videos can be watched in your browser as well like with YouTube. Except since we host the videos and the script used to play them, you will be able to watch them on a computer that has blocked sites like YouTube.

All of this is coming in the next week, so stay tuned. ShamSchool patriots get the first glance.

To better service our growing community we have consolidated all of our downloads and made them available in CD & DVD format. The intent is simply to better serve those who do not have easy access to the internet, including those deployed to a combat zone. Due to our refusal to censor this site and legislate what soldiers may and may not share, with the exception of content that violates OPSEC, this site has been blocked by on some military installations. The sale of these discs gives soldiers the ability to take this content without spending countless hours downloading the files, and use it on a military computer.

The two newest CD's are the NCO Support Disk and the Army Publishing Directorate disk.

The NCO Support disk contains templates for almost every type of form and document imaginable. There is over 50 different counseling templates for situations like APFT failure, FTR, Domestic violence, DUI, Pregnancy, and WLC. Policy letters that every unit is obligated to have and memorandums and letters for multiple situations. We have also included a collection of leaders books that have already been compiled and broken them down into single files for each section so you can build your own leaders book upon what you need. Study guides for getting ready for the board along with ArmyStudyGuide.com's audio version so you can listen to it in the car or on the go. References and other quick reference guides. Printable version of the 16 Land Nav Tasks and some Common Task Training skills, making it easy to conduct your training with soldiers.


This disc is a full DVD of everything you can find available on the USAPA website. This disc is both unique and useful because each and every file on the USAPA website must be downloaded individually. Over 20,000 files have been downloaded, including DA & DD forms in every format they offer. Army Regulations, DA Pamphlets, Field Manuals, and several other useful resources have all been compiled onto one single disc that can be used without an internet connection and searching for the right file.

The biggest feature and one of our favorites is having every Army Regulation in one place. Imagine having a soldier that informs you of a regulation you have never heard of or asks you if a certain regulation exists. You can sit there and guess which regulation he is talking about or you can open one regulation in Adobe Acrobat and tell it to search every regulation in that folder. If you have this disk you would be searching every regulation in the Army. This disk has more than just regulations though, so you would be able to take your search farther and quote back everything to the soldier about that situation.

We are starting a contest. This is something new so it’s going to be kind of informal and expect changes. The person with the most posts in the forum for the month of November will win a free item from the ShamSchool store.

This does apply to moderators as well. Moderators are also soldiers; however they went through a process to ensure they were soldiers and can be trustworthy. They receive no other compensation so I do not feel it would be fair to exclude them. The only one that is excluded from this contest is the webmaster (Adium).

There is a new block on the home page that will keep track of the top 15 people that have made posts in the past 30 days. These numbers only keep track for the last 30 days and not for the month of November. Example, on November 15th it will show the total for October 15th until November 15th. Only the posts from November 1st until November 30th count. So these numbers will be a little bit deceiving at first. So if you make 10 posts on the 30th of October, those 10 posts will be on this chart until November 30th and your post count will drop by 10. This should keep things more interesting.

If all goes well, then I will continue this contest the following month and then again thereafter. The prize to be won will be voted on in the forum. This way everyone gets what they want, and not just me getting rid of crap.

Further details will be worked out by the end of the contest, and hopefully some fun will come from it. Of course SPAM will be deleted, and posting just to raise your post count will also be removed. The best way to get your post count up…? Help other soldiers with their questions. I will post some news articles that I find interesting to hear your opinions on them which will count.

I will include more details and create the official rules by the end of November. This is more of an unofficial announcement so you can start posting.

About 30,000 active-component staff sergeants will be considered for promotion to sergeant first class by a board that begins deliberations Jan. 29 in Indianapolis.

The board will meet for about three weeks and will use electronic records and voting procedures.

A new E-7 list should be available for release in March, which means promotions off that list could begin April 1.

Worried than many minority officers are giving up on their military careers because it takes longer for them to rise through the military ranks than the corporate career ladder, a Florida lawmaker vowed Thursday to push for a review of officer promotion laws next year to see if something can be done to make staying in uniform more attractive to minorities.

Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the House Armed Services Committee, said young military officers are impatient and don’t want to wait two decades or longer to rise in the ranks when there are opportunities in the private sector.

There will be 4,488 noncommissioned officer promotions for the active component in November, including 3,652 advancements to sergeant and staff sergeant.

The E-5 and E-6 promotions will go to soldiers in an Army-wide pool of 33,000 specialists, corporals and sergeants who have been boarded by units and are on lists.

After multiple requests and suggestions we have opened an online store offering CD's of what we have here on the site available for sale. The price may be subject to change as this is all still in an experimental stage.

Once we get the general idea of how things should work we will then make adjustments. The only CD we have for sale at the moment is the ACCP master disk. This is a disk of everything that we have available for download. A total of 925 files with word and acrobat readers to view the files.

We welcome any and all suggestions as this is also new for us.

Visit the store here.

We have taken all the ACCP files available here and made a compiled list.  Removed all duplicates, information from files that had personal information, known failing courses, and labeled everything so that they are all "dress, right, dress".

Use the following links to download files individually or a compilation file with all files in that subcourse category.  Our collection has a total of 925 "post-tests".

All ACCP content is back to the way it was originally. The investigation report conducted by the Army against ShamSchool.com and the webmaster, Adam Chrysler, is available for download here.

Registration is no longer needed to access any portion of the site. It is only needed to post in the forum or elsewhere on the site. The investigation ruled that ShamSchool is too anonymous so it would not be beneficial to investigate the members of ShamSchool. However I have blocked the use of AKO accounts for the purpose of registering on the site, to safeguard our members.

ACCP can be found in these locations. Articles, Downloads, & Forum.

In case you didn’t know I have been officially chaptered from the Army under Chapter 14-12c. I am in the process of looking for work. If you know of anyone needed any web pages or other type of computer work I am for hire.

As of today, the webmaster of ShamSchool Adam Chrysler, has been officially chaptered from the Army.  He was chaptered under Article 14-12c, for commission of a serious offense.  This chapter was based on an investigation conducted by the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, under the 101st Airborne Division, on Fort Campbell, KY.  The investigating officer's findings stated "ShamSchool contains content prejudicial to good order and discipline and of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces." 

On 22 December 2006, Chrysler was charged for reckless endangerment when he participated in a platoon effort to rappel off a communications tower in South Korea.  The punishment included reduction to Specialist, 45 days of extra duty, and forfeiture of half a month's pay.  Chrysler was instructed that these charges were dropped.  Evidence supports these instructions when Chrysler was able to PCS from Korea less than 30 days after being charged, excusing him from his extra duty, with a leave form signed by the same officer who charged him. This information was additionally verified by consulting his enlisted record brief and leave and earnings statement.  All official documents stated that Chrysler was in fact the rank of Sergeant, and did not say otherwise until approximately three months when his chain of command heard of his involvement in ShamSchool and made his records reflect this reduction without contacting the commanding officials that Chrysler had in Korea.

As of October 4th, all military orders given to the webmaster will no longer be effective. He has been chaptered from the Army under Chapter 14-12c (commission of a serious offense). The investigation regarding ShamSchool has been completed. A copy will be available for download once the site has been restored. The ruling stated that ShamSchool is only guilty of defaming the Army values and bringing discredit upon the military service.

Once the webmaster has been fully cleared and finalled out of the Army all content that was previously found on the site will return. This includes all forums, downloads, and videos that were specifically labeled to be removed by order of the Department of the Army.

Some changes will be made with the restoration, which will be announced after they have been made. One major change will be in regards to the “Battle Buddy” rank. After Adium is no longer enlisted in the Army this rank will no longer be given out. Instead a new rank will be created and called “Friend”. If you would like to have the rank of “Battle Buddy” you must donate money before the 4th of October.

There will be a notice sent out to everyone who has registered later this week so they are aware of this update. Please keep in mind that ShamSchool is not entirely for ACCP. Visit the articles and downloads section to find 1,000’s of files that are Army related. To include templates for counseling statements, powerpoint files for giving classes and conducting hip pocket training, NCOER bullets, cadence’s, and much much more.

Army Reserve soldiers of the Individual Ready Reserve and Drilling Individual Mobilization Augmentee program have been recommended for promotion to the ranks of staff sergeant through sergeant major by a board that met Aug. 8-17 in St. Louis.

The board selected 441 soldiers for promotion. It also selected 24 master sergeants, 15 of them promotion selectees, for enrollment in the nonresident Sergeants Major Course.

October cutoff scores issued by the Human Resources Command on Monday authorize nearly 4,700 active component promotions to sergeant and staff sergeant.

The 3,004 sergeant and 1,656 staff sergeant promotions represent the best month for stripes since January, when 3,400 soldiers advanced to sergeant.

The promotable soldiers will come from a pool of 17,217 eligible corporals and specialists, and 16,546 sergeants.

Information provided to the Human Resources Command by field units indicates the soldiers are eligible for promotion to sergeant and staff sergeant on Oct. 1. To confirm promotion eligibility, soldiers should contact their unit S-2section, personnel services battalion or military personnel division.

A selection list containing the names of Individual Ready Reserve and Individual Mobilization Augmentee soldiers recommended for promotion to the ranks of staff sergeant through sergeant major will be released Sept. 27.

The soldiers, all members of the Army Reserve, were selected for promotion by a board that met in August at the Human Resources Command-St. Louis.

Last week I was charged with my Article 15. However there was nothing on the Article 15 that said anything about ShamSchool or any other business related to content I have on any websites. Because it was decided that I was not at fault for wearing SGT as my ERB stated, I was charged with “wearing unauthorized insignia” and not “impersonation a Non-commissioned Officer”. The difference is that impersonation is classified as willful. This charge is the basis for proceeding with chaptering me out of the Army. It is my belief that they are taking this action as severe as they are because of ShamSchool.

Since I will no longer be subject to military law, once my chapter is complete and I have been properly separated from the Army I will bring all the ACCP content back online. I have calculated, with rank deductions, being forced to make back pay payments, UCMJ fines, and the decrease in income from Google for the ads placed here; the Army has taken about $1,800 per month from my household income.

I have debated selling the name ShamSchool on eBay, but I do not feel that with the site down like it is that I will receive any substantial amount of money from it. I am making about $5-$20 a month currently from donations and Google, but I am still paying about $120 for this site. So understand, with my current financial situation, that this is difficult for me to keep ShamSchool online.

I expect that everything will be back online officially, in about two months. I will send a mass e-mail (the first one) to everyone that has an account here informing them that we are back online. Since at that time I will no longer be in the Army, donators will receive the rank of “Friend” and no longer “Battle Buddy”. Those that already have the rank of “Battle Buddy” will keep it for the life of their account.

I know October is the new fiscal year and a lot of people make cut-off more than normal, but I can’t bring everything online prior to leaving the Army. Those that think cheating is wrong and that this site shouldn’t exist, I will read your hate mail, but I will not take it too heart. ShamSchool is not the problem, and I don’t expect anyone other than an enlisted Army soldier to understand.

At this present time it is undecided if the ACCP files will return.

If in fact I am chaptered from the Army, I will re-post them here hoping the traffic returns to what it was and I can receive an additional income from advertisements and sponsors. I will be unemployed and every little bit of money will help.

If I am able to ETS and receive an honorable discharge I will not return the ACCP files. I will not finish my 8 year obligation until 2011, and will not compromise losing my status of receiving an Honorable discharge.

As it stands now, there is a strong possibility that ACCP will not return. Keep reading the news here as I will keep you informed to all the proceedings.

I have recently discovered that the Army is looking to separate me from the Army, based on recent events. I am not solely being chaptered for having this website. However, without the site I would not be in any trouble what-so-ever.

From what I have been told it should take two months to officially complete the process of eliminating myself from being a soldier. I intend to fight as I wish to complete the time I have left and ETS honorably in April of 2008. It has been made apparent to me through my chain of command that the Chapter is inevitable. If that is the case the day I am out of the Army I will re-open all sections of this site that I was previously ordered to close.

I have not deleted anything just simply made it so it is not accessible. The time between now and the time I am chaptered I intend to prepare and organize all information that I have so as to re-release it when the ACCP opens back up.

In the meantime I have suffered greatly financially and will be even worse after the chapter is final. I have made plans to move back to Korea with my wife (a Korean National) whose mother has offered her a job while I go to school. That job is not available until April. I also have a college student currently living with me (brother-in-law) so I am obligated to remain in the Fort Campbell area. If you know of any jobs in the Clarksville area here, I would appreciate that most of all.

This is all shocking and new to me as of earlier this week so I have currently not prepared anything for my separation. If you have any advice I would appreciate any. I prefer your advice to be placed in the forum so hopefully others may learn from my mistakes.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for their continued support. You have made this difficult time bearable at best.

Thank you,
-Adam (Adium) Chrysler

Nearly 800 senior NCOs in the active component have been recommended for promotion to sergeant major, appointments to command sergeant major and Sergeants Major Course attendance.

Selections were made by a board that met in June.

Promotions off the new list will begin Sept. 1.

Specific details will be announced later this week in September sequence numbers to be released by Human Resources Command.

Nearly 4,000 soldiers will advance to sergeant and staff sergeant in September, one of the best months for noncommissioned officer promotions this year.

Cutoff scores released by Human Resources Command on Aug. 16 authorize 2,473 promotions to sergeant and 1,445 to staff sergeant Sept. 1.