HRC pilots AG Pre-Command Course on Fort Knox

Photo By Daniela Vestal | Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Seamands, commanding general, U. S. Army Human Resources Command, speaks to attendees of HRC's pilot Adjutant General Pre-Command Course. The five-day training is typically held at Fort Jackson, S.C., but was moved here for a trial run.  

FORT KNOX, KY, UNITED STATES

11.30.2015

Story by Daniela Vestal 

U.S. Army Human Resources Command

FORT KNOX, Ky. - U.S. Army Human Resources Command conducted a pilot Adjutant General Pre-Command Course here Nov. 16-20 to demonstrate the benefits offered by moving it from its current home in Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

The course is currently held under the umbrella of the Soldiers Support Institute in the Adjutant General School located on Fort Jackson. The weeklong course is attended by Soldiers slated for battalion command or division G1 positions.

Moving the course to HRC can offer a better fit for the students, said Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Seamands, commanding general, HRC, during a teleconference with the attendees.

“Especially for those of you who are going to be G1s,” Seamands said. “HRC is really where the connections you make will be successful in taking care of your commanders and Soldiers.”

Lt. Col. Joe Ratcliff who attended the pilot course at HRC in preparation for his upcoming assignment as the G1 of the 25th Infantry Division, said he was pleased with attending the course at HRC.

“I thought it was a great move to HRC,” Ratliff said. “This is what we do as HR and AG officers and this is where we do our work. The proponency is the schoolhouse but our work is not there. So, I thought it was a great move.”

In addition to meeting and learning from many current staff members at HRC, students were also given the opportunity to speak with a panel of previous commanders and G1s.

Lt. Col. Jacqueline Smith attended the pilot course and is slated to be the commander for the 82nd Special Troops Battalion. She said the course was fantastic and taught her the latest and greatest policies and initiatives at HRC. She said the class also derived particular value from speaking with the panel of former commanders and G1s.

“We would continue having the panel of previous G1s as well as commanders to provide us with their experiences and advice on how to be a better leader and how to enable and help our Soldiers in the field and enhance the Army,” Smith said.

The task of coordinating the move and setting up the course at HRC fell to Lt. Col. Chad Reiman, the Training Branch Chief at HRC, and his team. Reiman said he was pleased with how the course went and credited its success to the enthusiastic cooperation of both his team and the participants from other directorates within the command.

Reiman said the primary concern in offering the course here was to make sure the students got everything out of it they would need as they progressed in their careers.

“The main reason we moved this course is to make the Army better,” Reiman said. “To make those battalion commanders better for their future jobs and, in turn, make the Army a better place. So my concern was that they would not get what they needed out of it, and I think that proved to be the opposite. I think from the comments from the students so far it needs to stay here and it was a success here.”

Looking to the future, if the course is moved to HRC permanently, Reiman said it could be opened up to more Soldiers on the command and division G1 team.

“It will be opened up to sergeants major as well and in the future there’ll be warrant officers coming,” said Reiman. “So, I think from the officers side we had it about right, I think we just need to tweak it to where we can bring in more sergeants major and more warrants officers and cover the whole spectrum of those command teams, not just the battalion commander.”

Sgt. Maj. Jon Williams was one of those sergeants major. He is slated to be a battalion command sergeant major for Army South.

Williams said the course was useful to him as a future battalion command sergeant major.

“It was a great course, informative, and it really allowed us to connect with the different agencies within HRC to help us to navigate a whole lot better in reference to how we can support our command and support our Soldiers,” said Williams. “The great thing about me as a noncommissioned officer being in the course was being able to interact with identified battalion commanders and G1s. I could see their insight and their views going into command, which is going to help shape me as a battalion sergeant major and gives me a little bit of a head start and help to shape me as a battalion command sergeant major.”

• Date Taken: 11.30.2015
• Date Posted: 11.30.2015 16:56
• Story ID: 183129
• Location: FORT KNOX, KY, US