Photo By Master Sgt. Brandon Bednarek | Using only two wooden planks, U.S. Soldiers assigned to Alpha Company, 123rd Brigade...... read more read more
FORT BLISS, Texas - Opting for a change of pace, support soldiers from A Company, 123rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, ventured away from their company area Nov. 29 to navigate the Fort Bliss Leadership Reaction Course on main post.
A transportation company by trade, leaders chose to stave off soldiers’ daily routines and provide them an opportunity to exercise troop leading procedures and the military decision making process, which represent key components in a leader’s ability to conduct informed and decisive actions.
At any given instance leaders employ the problem-solving process found within the MDMP to create a foundational formula to help decide if, when, or how they should react during a situation.
Working in tandem with the MPMP process, leaders also apply troop leading procedures to disseminate, execute and refine an established plan to successfully accomplish the mission.
“Those are things leaders do everyday without realizing it,” said 2nd Lt. Travis Cope, the company’s transportation platoon leader. “A lot of people think that TLPs and MDMP is all at the company level and up, but it actually goes into every aspect of Army leadership.”
For their practicum, soldiers worked as a team to complete eight course objectives, each consisting of a brief mission overview and corresponding assortment of equipment necessary to complete the challenge. Color-coated obstacles added an additional element to the training, simulating real-world considerations like mine-fields and electricity.
Following a short brief from the elected team leader, Soldiers had a total of 20 minutes to complete each challenge using only the available resources and their creative thinking skills.
“In the military, we are constantly forced to think outside the box, which is how a lot of missions get done safely and correctly,” said Cope. “At the same time, especially when leading troops, you have to constantly be on your toes and thinking of new ways to complete the objective.”
Aside from analytical processes, the training also placed heavy emphasis on putting junior enlisted soldiers in leadership positions to encourage confidence in plan establishment and the sharing of conceptual ideas.
“We have a lot of younger soldiers out here who haven’t really had an opportunity to step up and lead,” said Cope. “I think it was challenging for them to tell sergeants and staff sergeants what their plan was and how to implement it.”
Spc. Kyle Crumpton, a fueler with the company, acted as the team leader for the initial challenge and quickly learned how important the smallest details of a plan could be in terms of mission success.
“I needed to be more precise on mission briefs, who was next in succession, who had what task, and overall what needed to be done,” he said.
“The mental aspect of looking at it and trying to figure out for your team what you’re supposed to do to get them safely across the obstacle was challenging,” he continued. “Mistakes happen, so the more we made, the better we got.”
Although soldiers were unable to complete each lane in the allotted time, Cope said the training objectives were met and created a unified experience throughout the unit.
“It definitely promoted unit cohesion,” he said. “It got these guys away from the company to have fun and work together as a team, which will make for a better work environment.”
| Date Taken: | 11.29.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 12.18.2012 11:19 |
| Story ID: | 99483 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 444 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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