ATRRS DL points are credit hours logged in the Army Training Requirements and Resources System when you complete approved online courses, and they convert into promotion points at a rate of one point for every five hours completed. For soldiers competing for Sergeant (E-5) or Staff Sergeant (E-6), those hours can add up to a maximum of 90 promotion points under the computer-based training subcategory of military education.
How the Points Add Up
The math is simple. Five completed hours equal one promotion point. A 40-hour course gives you eight points. To reach the 90-point ceiling, you need 450 hours of completed coursework, which is a real time investment but achievable over a couple of years of steady effort.
Only completed courses count. Drop a course partway through, or fail to receive a completion certificate, and you get nothing for the time spent. The 90-point cap sits under AR 600-8-19 and applies to promotion to both SGT and SSG.1US Army Special Operations Recruiting. Army Regulation 600-8-19 Enlisted Promotions and Demotions
In competitive MOS fields where cutoff scores hover near 798, maxing your DL points is often what puts a soldier over the line.
Which Courses Actually Earn DL Points
Not every online course the Army offers carries DL promotion point credit. The courses that count are generally part of the Army Correspondence Course Program (ACCP), a formal nonresident extension of service school curricula.2U.S. Army. DA PAM 600-25 U.S. Army NCO Professional Development Guide CMF 27 You’ll find eligible courses through a few platforms:
- ATRRS itself, which is the primary catalog of DL-eligible courses.
- The Army Learning Management System (ALMS), which hosts many computer-based courses, though not all carry DL credit.
- Joint Knowledge Online (JKO), where you can filter for eligible courses by selecting “ATRRS DL Points” in the catalog’s search filters.
The reliable test: does the course listing show an ATRRS course number and a DL hour value? If not, it probably won’t award promotion points.
Courses That Don’t Count
This is where soldiers waste the most time. Mandatory annual awareness training, FEMA independent study courses, and general self-development modules are usually online but usually not DL-eligible. DA PAM 600-25 lists several FEMA courses for National Guard self-development without indicating they contribute to promotion points, unlike ACCP courses, which explicitly do.2U.S. Army. DA PAM 600-25 U.S. Army NCO Professional Development Guide CMF 27
Two other rules trip people up. You can’t retake the same course for a second helping of points. AR 600-8-19 states plainly that “Promotion points are not granted for duplicate military correspondence or military education courses.”1US Army Special Operations Recruiting. Army Regulation 600-8-19 Enlisted Promotions and Demotions And Distributed Leader Course completions never counted for DL promotion points, because DLC was an eligibility requirement rather than point-earning training. Old DLC completions sitting on your record will not convert.
Where DLC Stands Now
The Army eliminated the Distributed Leader Course (DLC I through VI) in 2024.3The United States Army. Army Eliminates Distributed Leader Course DLC I-VI That removed roughly 253 hours of mandatory computer-based training from the NCO development pipeline. Under the current rules, DLC completion is no longer required for promotion board eligibility or pin-on. Promotion to Sergeant has no PME prerequisite, and promotion to Staff Sergeant requires graduation from the Basic Leader Course.4Army Reenlistment. ALARACT 030/2024 STEP Suspension Soldiers mid-DLC when it was cut do not need to finish it.
The change doesn’t affect other DL courses. ACCP correspondence courses and other ATRRS-cataloged online training still earn points under the same 90-point cap. Voluntary DL coursework arguably matters more now, because the old DLC hours that used to pad training records are gone.
Reserve and Guard Retirement Points
If you’re in the Reserve or National Guard, DL completions do double duty. The retirement point conversion is different from the promotion point formula: one retirement point for every three credit hours of approved correspondence work completed while not on active duty.5National Guard Bureau. Army National Guard Information Guide on Non-Regular Retirement Those points feed into the total needed for a qualifying retirement year, which requires a minimum of 50 points.
Checking Your DL Points
Your official promotion point totals live in IPPS-A. Log in with your CAC, go to Self-Service, then Promotion Points.6Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army. IPPS-A Self-Service User Guide From there, select the PPW Report button to see a printable worksheet with data pulled from IPPS-A, DTMS, and ATRRS.7Department of Defense. IPPS-A Soldiers Guide
You are responsible for reviewing every section and clicking “Validate Promotion Points” only once the data is accurate. Both official and unofficial board versions are available for viewing. If your DL hours look wrong, don’t validate until the record is fixed.
Fixing Missing or Incorrect Points
Courses sometimes fail to sync from the training platform to ATRRS, or from ATRRS into IPPS-A. When that happens, you need documentation and your unit’s help.
- Save every completion certificate. It’s your proof if the system drops a record.
- If a course shows in ATRRS but not on your IPPS-A worksheet, the break is in the data feed between systems. Your S1 or HR office can submit an update through IPPS-A to correct it.8Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army. IPPS-A Update – PCS Updates, Assignment Errors and Solutions, HR Pro Lite, Help Desk and Resources
- If the course is missing from ATRRS entirely, contact the school or training institution that administered it. They can verify enrollment and push the completion back into the system. Bring your certificate.
Check your PPW quarterly, and always after completing a new DL course. Corrections can take weeks to work through the system, and finding a missing course the week of your board is a frustration that’s entirely avoidable.