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    OC/Ts use JRTC as opportunity for professional development

    FORT STEWART, GA, UNITED STATES

    03.10.2015

    Story by Sgt. 1st Class Stephanie Widemond 

    188th Infantry Brigade

    FORT POLK, La. – Observer-Coach/Trainers of the 188th Infantry Brigade traveled to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La. to augment cadre in the training and mentoring of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York. The mission afforded them the chance to enhance their skills as professional OC/Ts and impart knowledge they have acquired over many years of service.

    “I have taught my job for many years now and am proficient at it,” said Sgt. 1st Class Guy Lamb, 2-306th Field Artillery Regiment fires OC/T. This was not always the case. His first experience as an OC/T came in 2005 at JRTC as a staff sergeant; since then he has grown.

    JRTC is a combat training center and a power projection platform which mobilizes and deploys active duty, National Guard and Reserve forces. It helps build confident adaptive, agile leaders and train units as part of the Army Force Generation cycle.

    “It was much different than the first time. I have a few deployments under my belt and more knowledge of how fires is integrated into the TOC atmosphere and how importantly it is to communicate consistently,” he said. The tactical operating center is the central hub of operations for a unit when they deploy. It’s where all elements, fires, infantry, intel and others come together to develop a shared understanding of the battlefield.

    The fires element provides support to offensive and defensive missions, in order to prevent and deter conflict in a wide range of contingencies. Communication among the different elements is crucial to the success of a mission.

    “Trying to coax the team and helping them to understand the dynamic of responsibility was paramount to their success,” said Lamb. He understood that many units come to JRTC with a mindset of skepticism and defensiveness.

    “When I was at JRTC, as a part of a rotational unit, I thought, ‘Oh this is going to be horrible, I’m not going to listen to them; what do they know that I don’t’.”

    One of the ways OC/Ts know that training units are listening and incorporating doctrine over the course of a field exercise is by providing after action reviews between missions.

    “It was a unique opportunity for me to do multiple iterations with the platoon as a senior OC/T. Throughout STX we did AARs. It bolstered my confidence,” said Capt. Justin Chabalko, 1-306th Infantry Regiment OC/T. He served as the senior observer-coach providing direct mentorship to the platoon leader and the platoon sergeant.

    They led the platoon through situational training exercises focusing on their collective level training, in accordance with the core competencies of combined arms maneuver and wide area security as defined in ADP 3-0. The training comes from Army Doctrine Publications and Army Doctrine Reference publications.

    “It’s an opportunity to take that doctrine, apply it to my own experiences as a commander and platoon leader, then provide it to the training unit and allow them to absorb it and become better because of it,” Chabalko said.

    Finding balance between coaching and allowing the training unit to develop on its own can be a challenge.

    “It’s mind opening, trying to preach doctrine’s role in training. At the same time, coming off as much more of a coach and teacher rather than an observer is difficult. It’s a difficult process of wanting to fix things, but not fixing them yourself and instead guiding the training unit to the right path,” said Lamb.

    Understanding and attaining such a delicate balance is part of being a professional OC/T and a professional Soldier.

    “I see it as an opportunity to give back to the Army,” Chabalko said.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 03.10.2015
    Date Posted: 03.11.2015 11:36
    Story ID: 156635
    Location: FORT STEWART, GA, US

    Web Views: 258
    Downloads: 1

    PUBLIC DOMAIN