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    Corporal’s course paves way for future leaders

    Corporal’s course paves way for future leaders

    Photo By Brian Parker | Cpl. Maurice Fullenwider takes part in the Combat Fitness Test the morning of Oct. 17,...... read more read more

    JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, VA, UNITED STATES

    11.01.2013

    Courtesy Story

    Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall

    By Rhonda Apple
    Pentagram Staff Writer

    JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. - Marines and a soldier on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall have been acquiring leadership skills in the Corporal’s Course held on the Henderson Hall portion of the base.

    The three-week command-sponsored course, part of the enlisted professional military education program, began Oct. 15 and will run through Nov. 1.

    “Marines are eligible to attend at the rank of corporal. Also lance corporals are allowed to attend if their command believes they’ve earned the right and displayed leadership, maturity and all the qualities it takes to become a corporal and noncommissioned officer,” said Staff Sgt. Joseph Morris, senior instructor for the course. “We have 10 Marines and one Soldier in this course. Six Marines are corporals and four are lance corporals. Two of the lance corporals will be promoted to corporal on November 1, the day we graduate.”

    Morris explained Marines are taught leadership skills including counseling, proficiency and conduct marks, and mentoring during the course.

    “The Marine Corps mentorship program is something we do on a daily basis, so any interaction we have with our junior Marines or even Marines at our same grade level in everyday conversations is [the opportunity] to make that Marine better,” said Morris. “It’s about giving them advice [about] what’s going on in their lives, how they can deal with their problems, what they can do to advance their careers, or if they just want to do four years and get out [of the service], what they can do to prepare for that.”

    The senior instructor said Marines get a really good idea of how to be a leader in this course. “It’s a first look at the big picture of the Marine Corps with operational training – including war-fighting, joint operations with other services, including allies Marines work with in other countries and the makeup of the Marine Air Ground Task Force, said Morris.

    Morris said the course is also available on the Internet, but Henderson Hall command leadership prefers the service members attend the resident-based course. The advantage of a physical course versus a virtual one is the face-time the Marines get with their instructors – senior Marines who have time in service and real-world, working experience to share with junior Marines.

    Trained in motor transportation, Morris is a master instructor and curriculum developer in his job specialty. He taught Motor T courses at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., prior to his assignment at Henderson Hall.

    “I love teaching and being with the Marines. They volunteered to come [to the course] and they want to learn everything we know.”

    Morris said the course also includes the physical fitness test and combat fitness test and includes the opportunity to go out patrolling and using hand and arm signals, as well as practicing land navigation with a map and compass.

    In addition, class members visited Quantico Marine Base to complete both an obstacle and endurance course.

    “Since we are a joint base, I’m hoping more soldiers take the course the next time it’s offered here,” said Morris.

    Spc. Bryan Hinton, human resources specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, United States Army Garrison on the Fort Myer portion of the base, is the first soldier to take the Corporal’s Course on JBM-HH.

    “My first sergeant Nicholas Strong told me about the course and asked if I wanted to attend,” said Hinton. With a goal of being promoted to sergeant, then staff sergeant, attending jump master school, finishing his undergraduate degree, and obtaining a master’s degree, Hinton said he liked the course. “I’ve particularly enjoyed learning the traditions and customs of the Marine Corps.

    “I wanted to see how similar and how different the two branches of service are, and pick up some knowledge that I would have never gained elsewhere because in the operational Army you don’t often get to work with Marines,” Hinton added.

    The soldier said he gained valuable information in the course about leadership styles. “A military leader, in general, has to be flexible. There have to be different leadership styles for different soldiers because what may work for one may not work for another,” Hinton explained.

    “I’m learning Marine Corps-specific information, which is very similar to the Army Warrior Leader Course I took at Fort Bragg [N.C.].” Despite the similar information, Hinton feels learning the Marine Corps way could benefit him in the future. “If I go to a joint unit and have Marines with me, I will know exactly what I need to do to help those junior Marines progress,” he said.

    He also said there was a difference in the services’ physical fitness tests – and the Marines additionally take a combat fitness test, which he participated in as part of the course.

    “The instructors are very knowledgeable about the material they’re teaching, and I’m making new friends with my Marine classmates,” said Hinton.

    “Working inside the Pentagon, getting out of the office is something we don’t do often,” said Cpl. Curtis Dunham, a communications specialist assigned to Headquarters Marine Corps Administrative Resources Information at the Pentagon.

    “Also, when I was in communication school at Twentynine Palms, [Calif.], I was made class commander of our class and our sister class. I had 36 Marines under my charge to take care of, make sure they got to class and take care of them as best I could as a lance corporal,” said Dunham.

    The Marine explained in addition to him being older than most of his fellow classmates, he was reclassified to his present military occupation specialty due to a medical injury while training as an infantryman.

    “After that experience, I look back at the things I wish I would’ve done better as a leader and how I would fix it. That’s why I wanted to take this course – it teaches a lot about leading junior Marines and how to be a better leader,” Dunham said. “Also, it will help me improve myself the next time I’m put in a situation to take care of junior Marines. I can not only do a more effective job, but I can feel better about myself as a leader because I have a better skill set.”

    Dunham said not only was the course a benefit for personal progression, but career progression as well.

    “At the end of the course, I want to be able to feel like a noncommissioned officer. I plan to reenlist and whenever I go to another duty station out in the fleet, whether as a corporal or hopefully as a sergeant, it will be expected of me to know this [information].”

    He said an interesting aspect of the course has been the sword and guidon manuals. “We’re the only enlisted noncommissioned officers in all the branches of service that are allowed to carry a sword, so learning to carry it properly, with efficiency and pride is a big thing — it’s the one thing that sets us apart from junior Marines — that and the blood stripe on our dress blues.”

    Dunham said in addition to learning how to effectively carry out leadership through mentoring and counseling, he places high importance on the “keeper of traditions” section of the course. “The legacy of the Marine Corps has to be taught to junior Marines. If we don’t preserve and carry on those traditions and pass that down, it’s going to be lost.” said Dunham.

    “It’s pure motivation for me to see Soldiers and Marines in our first interservice training, especially since this course is hosted on a joint base. The Corporal’s Course is the first stepping stone to leadership continuum,” said Henderson Hall Battalion Sgt. Maj. Craig D. Cressman.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 11.01.2013
    Date Posted: 11.01.2013 12:07
    Story ID: 116144
    Location: JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, VA, US

    Web Views: 179
    Downloads: 0

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