709th MPs conduct leader development

Photo By Staff Sgt. Christina Turnipseed | Leaders from the 709th Military Police Battalion, 18th MP Brigade, watch a plan of attack play out on a sand table during a leadership professional development session Sept. 27 at the urban obstacle course facility in Grafenwoehr. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Christina J. Turnipseed, 18th MP Bde., 21st TSC)  

GRAFENWOEHR, RP, GERMANY

10.08.2013

Story by Staff Sgt. Christina Turnipseed 

18th Military Police Brigade

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - The 21st Theater Sustainment Command’s 709th Military Police “Warrior” Battalion gathered 50 mid-grade and senior-grade leaders at the urban obstacle course on Grafenwoehr for a leader professional development session conducted Sept. 27.

The purpose of the LPD was to familiarize all leaders with the purpose and benefits of the eight step training execution model - one of the U.S. Army’s many leadership tools.

“We want leaders to walk away with the ability to use the training execution model in future collective training events,” said Maj. Scott R. Blanchard, the 709th MP Bn. operations officer in charge and a native of Jefferson, Ore.

During the LPD, an element comprised of the battalion’s training section, a MP squad from the 615th MP Company, and a deployable element from the Joint Multinational Training Command Training and Support Center conducted a hands-on, performance oriented demonstration of the eight step TEM.

Leaders traveled from Hohenfels, Vilseck, Bamberg and Stuttgart to attend the training, hosted by Lt. Col. Steven Yamashita, the 709th MP Bn. Commander and a native of Guam.

“It is important for us as professional ‘Warrior’ police to continue to grow through reading, understanding, practicing and applying our doctrine and not become stagnant in our development,” said Yamashita.

Yamashita and Blanchard led the battalion’s leadership through each of the eight steps, culminating in the execution of a squad attack against a notional opposing force followed by an after action review of the day’s events.

“It is extremely important for our Warrior leaders to train to lead as more agile, competent, and flexible leaders who are better able to accomplish the myriad of missions we may be asked to perform in any operational environment,” Yamashita said.

Blanchard added that LPDs are conducted monthly and quarterly to ensure proper, ongoing training of its leaders.

• Date Taken: 10.08.2013
• Date Posted: 10.08.2013 09:43
• Story ID: 114890
• Location: GRAFENWOEHR, RP, DE
• Hometown: JEFFERSON, OR, US