AWG course brings Army Learning Model to life

Photo By Supunnee Ulibarri | Training instructors and course developers of 128th Aviation Brigade work together to make a communication during an Asymmetric Warfare Group's Adaptive Soldier Leader Training and Education workshop held at Fort Eustis recently. The workshop focuses on key tenets of ALM, where participants collaboratively work through a series of problem-solving practical exercises -- the “what, how and why” of the lesson is left to the students to discover.  

FORT EUSTIS, VA, UNITED STATES

11.18.2014

Story by Supunnee Ulibarri 

U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command

FORT EUSTIS, Va. -- The Army Learning Model is fast becoming the way ahead for Soldier education throughout the Army, and as U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command develops Soldiers, it must also develop the instructors who teach the future force.

In order to further develop adaptive Soldiers, the command directed the Asymmetric Warfare Group, the "operational arm" of TRADOC, to deliver the Army Learning Model into classrooms and training environments across the Army.

"AWG was charged to spearhead this initiative due to its success with its own adaptability program, the Asymmetric Warfare Adaptive Leader Program, which is a 10-day resident program held at Fort A.P. Hill," said Lt. Col. Pete Lugar, TRADOC AWG liaison.

Comprised of just over 300 members, AWG provides operational advising and solution development to Army and joint force commanders globally, focusing on Soldier and unit adaptability, survivability and combat effectiveness.

Using the material from its own adaptability program, AWG developed the Adaptive Soldier Leader Training and Education workshop for schools and centers throughout TRADOC to assist in ALM implementation.

The ASLTE workshop changes up the norm from passive student learning and being "taught at" by an instructor to a hands-on, collaborative student-centric learning environment.

The workshop focuses on key tenets of ALM, where participants collaboratively work through a series of problem-solving practical exercises -- the "what, how and why" of the lesson is left to the students to discover.

"The new learning environment is dynamic and interactive," Lugar said. "It leverages technology and becomes relevant as the students learn through the process of discovery. It's a competency-based learning strategy that emphasizes critical thinking skills."

AWG's push to incorporate the ALM has reached Soldiers at every level of training in TRADOC, and change is taking place in the learning process of Soldiers, according to Pamela Hicks, chief of TRADOC's Learning Innovation Branch, Army Learning Model Task Force.

"Courses revised based on the ASLTE workshop span a wide spectrum -- from functional courses at advanced individual training to Army professional military education courses for NCOs, warrant officers and officers," Hicks said.

In November, the AWG brought the workshop to training instructors and course developers of 128th Aviation Brigade, where participants were given a series of problem solving exercises to demonstrate how teamwork and collaboration is essential.

The unit located on Fort Eustis, trains aviation Soldiers under the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence. The various exercises over the course of the three-day workshop allowed participants to learn a skill and encouraged them to share ideas and possible solutions to challenges.

"The exercises showed us how our current methods of designing training addresses what Soldiers know and do, but do not effectively show Soldiers what they need to be," said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Tom Parker, an instructor and writer with the Warrant Officer Training Division, Company A, 1st Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment, 128th Aviation Brigade.

Parker said two of the things he learned during the workshop, scenario based training and assessment using a rubric, can be incorporated immediately in training at his unit.

"My students are advanced learners and would definitely benefit from ALM methods. Our courses currently use some scenario-based training, but we have struggled to develop assessments for these sections. The workshop gave me the framework that I was missing," said Parker.

During the final review of the workshop, Parker noted that military and civilians saw the value in ALM methods and began to talk about how to implement changes to their courses.

"The ALM is a turning point in our culture, and it will lead to improvements, particularly for our advanced courses, such as the Advanced Leader Course and warrant officer training," Parker said.

Like the 128th, other centers of excellence are taking what they learned from the workshop and applying ALM tenets to other courses, which sets the foundation for learning across a Soldier's career.

"Learner-centered training is what it's all about," Parker said. "As instructors and developers, we know this, but it has been difficult to keep track of that goal when we focus on a specific lesson or section that is technically complex. I believe that our students will benefit from shifting attention from the topic to the student."

Currently, 30 Army schools, including two non-TRADOC schools, Space and Missile Defense Command and the Special Operations Center of Excellence NCO Academy, have revised courses to reflect the ALM model. TRADOC continues to move forward in developing an intellectually, mentally and physically adaptive force as AWG provides the expertise on adaptability.

"We're going to keep this momentum going to meet the Army's need for adaptive, thinking Soldiers, leaders and organizations" Lugar said. "We have a competitive advantage over our adversaries because our Soldiers can learn faster and adapt more quickly."

• Date Taken: 11.18.2014
• Date Posted: 11.25.2014 14:56
• Story ID: 148810
• Location: FORT EUSTIS, VA, US