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    3rd CAB leaders forge bonds during Falcon Leadership Stakes

    3rd CAB leaders forge bonds during Falcon Leadership Stakes

    Photo By Sgt. William Begley | Soldiers with the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade are evaluated on the application of a...... read more read more

    FORT STEWART, GA, UNITED STATES

    01.23.2015

    Story by Sgt. William Begley 

    3rd Combat Aviation Brigade

    FORT STEWART, Ga. – Cold and wet January weather was not enough to keep the Marne Air Soldiers from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade from taking part in a huge training event to begin 2015.

    Leaders from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade took part in the Falcon Leadership Stakes at several different locations on Fort Stewart, Jan. 13-23.

    Brigade fire support officer, Maj. John Fritz, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd CAB, was the lead planner for the operation. Fritz said platoon leaders and platoon sergeants from around the brigade came out to train and certify on 10 essential tasks such as land navigation, weapons, communication, and combat life saving skills to name a few.

    “The brigade commander and command sergeant major came up with a list of what they thought were 10 tasks every leader should master,” Fritz said. “These events are also a great way of re-introducing the art of field craft to the junior leaders and remind them what it’s like to establish an assembly area. As we all know, we learn more from our mistakes than we do from our success. So the Soldiers will immediately feel the consequences of failing to do pre-combat checks and inspections.”

    According to Col. John D. Kline, commander, 3rd CAB, the idea for the training came from the teachings of retired Army Maj. Gen. David L. Grange, former commander of the 1st Infantry Division. The training, Mangudai, got its name from Mongol warlord Genghis Khan's elite forces.

    Grange would assemble all his officers of lieutenant colonel-level rank and above for an officer professional development trip advertised as a "staff ride" or "terrain walk." For a day or so, the staff ride proceeded just like any other. Then, with no warning, Grange would pull the lieutenant colonels aside and tell them there's been a change of mission, and they will now be given a series of tactical challenges to overcome as a team. Grange used the training to get a first hand feel for what each officer could handle.

    Similarly, Kline used the leadership stakes to bond with his younger officers and senior noncommissioned officers during late evening “fireside chats.”

    “I found that the most beneficial piece for me was the ability to join them during the evening "fireside chats" and share my lessons learned,” Kline said. “Young leaders are more likely to learn from and remember the mistakes I've made during my career than they are from me sharing my successes. I have been completely transparent during these sessions. I think that resonates with the formation.”

    One of the things the training was designed to do was force the participants to experience some of the hardships they routinely impose on their Soldiers.

    “The platoon level training is the most critical building block and arguably the most influential leadership level within our formation,” Kline said. “I wanted to ensure this population of leaders is armed with the right skills to allow them to lead from the front, which is where they belong.”

    One of the instructors in charge of running the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear lane was Sgt. Jack Johnson, Troop D, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd CAB. Johnson, a 74D CBRN specialist, was thrilled to be given an opportunity to train Soldiers in his specialty.

    “This is important because it is a threat that’s real in the world,” Johnson said. “We don’t have a lot going on in Syria, but we are aware that it’s a possibility we could go there. If we do go it will be just like the first push into Iraq where we don’t have an established area, so we need to know how to build our command posts and out posts all over again.”

    Kline was present for the training every day and said he was pleased with the results.

    “The training went very well and the leaders were held to the standard. There was no "free chicken" with the lanes. Either they got it right and moved on, or they were immediately retrained and tested again,” Kline said.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 01.23.2015
    Date Posted: 01.26.2015 10:23
    Story ID: 152702
    Location: FORT STEWART, GA, US

    Web Views: 61
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN