Sledgehammer Brigade fosters learning environment

FORT BENNING, GA, UNITED STATES

08.28.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Aaron Knowles 

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

FORT BENNING, Ga. - Soldiers of the 203rd Brigade Support Battalion and the 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, participated in a Leader’s Academy Aug. 24-28.

The academy was a plan executed on behalf of Col. Michael Simmering, the 3rd ABCT, 3rd ID commander, said Lt. Col. Eric McCoy, the battalion commander for the 203rd BSB, 3rd ABCT, 3rd ID. It was an opportunity to build on the fundamentals of junior leadership within the brigade.

“What we tried to look at was how, in the operational domain of leader development, we could bridge the gap of things that our Soldiers may not get until they get to professional military education or subjects that aren’t delved into in such great detail,” McCoy said.

The academy was set over the course of a week. Each day was filled with classes that leaders, from their respective battalions, participated in by taking part in hands-on learning and executing missions out in the field. Classes included land navigation, preventive maintenance procedures, and even reaching out to the Inspector General’s office for advice.

McCoy was very intent on facilitating classes that would make a difference in his Soldiers operating environment.
“In order to choose what would be taught, we formed focus groups comprised of leaders from all over the brigade,” McCoy said. “Then we put together desired programs of instruction for that. From there, each battalion’s quarterly training guidance was to conduct a team or squad leader academy before the first of October.”

“This academy was exactly what I needed,” said Sgt. Angela Nails, an unmanned aerial vehicle maintainer with the Military Intelligence Company, 3/1 Cav., 3rd ABCT, 3rd ID. “I can apply everything to my leadership methods and I learned how to push my Soldiers to become better leaders.”
“I have learned a lot,” Nails said. “It is a lot of stuff that I haven’t done and a great refresher for the skills that I have.”

McCoy is personally invested in the idea that during the transitions that the 3rd ABCT, 3rd ID is currently facing, taking care of Soldiers and equipment are the most important missions.

“The proper divestiture of equipment and taking care of Soldiers are the two main priorities during this brigade’s transition, so the materials that we covered during this class allow them to do these two things more effectively,” McCoy said.

“As the brigade transitions, any short comings that these leaders face will allow us to figure out what to add to the next iteration of the leader’s academy,” McCoy said. “It’s not where you instantly go, ‘hey, I am right, wrong or indifferent,’ but you think about how you can become a better leader. Often times, as people think about that consciously and say I am going to improve a little bit each day as a Soldier or as a leader, if every member of the formation takes that attitude, I think that we can permeate long term change across the organization.”

• Date Taken: 08.28.2015
• Date Posted: 09.15.2015 13:48
• Story ID: 176102
• Location: FORT BENNING, GA, US