One team, one fight, One Army School System

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Phillip Eugene | Students enrolled in a Human Resources Specialist Advanced Leader Course train on a Virtual Combat Simulator at Fort Knox, Ken., March 4, 2015. The 94th Training Division’s 4th Brigade conducted the class based on a Department of the Army directed Concept Plan developed by the 80th Training Command to accommodate the One Army School System which standardizes education for Army schools regardless of component.  

FORT KNOX, KY, UNITED STATES

03.05.2015

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Phillip Eugene 

80th Training Command (Reserve)

FORT KNOX, Kentucky - Sgt. Christopher Flowers, an active duty Soldier assigned to U.S. Africa Command, was surprised when he found out that he was scheduled to attend an Army Reserve school taught by Army Reserve instructors.

The Human Resource Specialist said he was confused because Soldiers in his career field usually attend the Advanced Leader Course at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

“I was a little afraid at first, you know? ‘This don’t sound right’,” Flowers said he thought to himself.

He was one of 5 active duty soldiers who attended the pilot Human Resources Specialist Advanced Leader Course at Fort Knox Ky., in March 2015.

The 94th Training Division’s 4th Brigade conducted the class based on a Department of the Army directed Concept Plan developed by the 80th Training Command to accommodate the One Army School System which standardizes education for Army schools regardless of component.

“We’re one Army, we’re one team, I don’t understand why we’re split up to begin with,” said Sgt. Lisa Shipp, HHC 4th Sustainment Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas. “We should always have been attending classes with the Reserve and the National Guard.”

The 80th also wanted to verify that Fort Knox has the capacity to enable 4th Brigade instructors to train approximately 5,000 Soldiers annually.

“It’s a bigger post with more to offer as far as billeting,” said Sgt. 1st Class Daphne Cox, a Human Resource Specialist Instructor assigned to 4th Brigade. “We have the space we need, and we have the training areas we can utilize.”

One of the more effective training tools available at Fort Knox for Human Resource Specialists is a command and control software interface called the Command Post of the Future. In combat, CPOF allows commanders to view a battlefield in real-time and collaborate with superiors, peers and subordinates over live data.

“You can see where your troops are moving, who’s been hit, you can see the casualty report; that comes in immediately almost in real time,” Cox said.

If the test is successful, then 4th Brigade instructors could end up having a permanent home at Fort Knox, teaching Active Duty and Reserve Soldiers as well as National Guardsmen.

Flowers said the Army Reserve facility he trained at has the same discipline, and the same caliber of training that he received at Fort Jackson when he attended basic training.

He also said that he wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the course to a fellow Soldier.

• Date Taken: 03.05.2015
• Date Posted: 03.05.2015 22:14
• Story ID: 156113
• Location: FORT KNOX, KY, US
• Hometown: FORT KNOX, KY, US