Courtesy Photo | Capt. Denise Bernard, Headquarter Service Company, 308th Brigade Support Battalion,...... read more read more
Subscribe
JOINT BASE LEWIS- MCCHORD – Thirteen Soldiers from the 308th Brigade Support Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Brigade, shared their military experiences with approximately 75 cadets from five universities across Washington State and Alaska. The panel took place at the Western Region Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) Leader Conference held at the University of Washington in Seattle during a community outreach event held Saturday, Feb. 20.
During the event, the 13 Soldiers separated into four panel categories: life of a platoon leader, officer/noncommissioned officer relationships, leader challenges, and the battalion commander panel. The overall mission of the Soldiers was to provide the cadets an opportunity to develop the critical thinking necessary to solve the real-world challenges they will encounter as Army officers.
"Today was a great opportunity for the cadets to ask insightful questions of our junior officers, specifically related to branch and scenario-based questions that they will face as platoon leaders as they enter the force," said Lt. Col. Michael Labrecque, 308th Brigade Support Battalion commander. “It was also an excellent opportunity for the junior leaders to share what they’ve learned and also leader development for the junior officers and company commanders to mentor these cadets.”
The cadets in attendance were from five participating Universities: the University of Washington, University of Seattle, Pacific Lutheran University, University of Alaska- Fairbanks, and Central Washington University.
The Army ROTC is one of the best leadership courses in the nation. It prepares young men and women through classes and field training to become leaders and conduct missions as officers in the Army. However, being in a school environment, it is often hard to get first-hand perspective of the everyday challenges our Soldiers face.
"The experience with the panel will help me better myself as a Soldier and leader, this will make me a better officer when I have to react to platoon issues, getting the perspective of NCO’s and officers really helps because they have wonderful experiences and great advice to offer," said Cadet Sarah Barnes, Aviation Branch. "I want the opportunity to serve Soldiers, I want to be a leader.”
During their visit, Soldiers presented the cadets with a number of real-world situations in which their skills have also been challenged. The Soldiers shared their experiences with handling difficult scenarios and offered the cadets a perspective of leadership that most had not had before.
Having the 308th BSB Soldiers speak to the students brought the cadets to the reality that the lessons they receive in school are often applied to military life. The importance of the education they are currently receiving cannot be ignored and the experiences they will encounter as commissioned officers will put those classroom lessons to the test.
"I think the panels help cadets get an idea of how to be leaders from currently serving NCO’s and officers. It’s giving the cadets new information to think about and reinforce what they have already learned,” said Maj. Troy Beattie, professor of military science. "If there was one piece of advice I could give these cadets, I would tell them to find out their unit’s standards, to understand what is expected of them, and exceed such standards."
“Cadets were able to ask very specific questions about what is happening ‘on the ground’,” said Capt. Nikki Rizzi, 256th Signal Company commander. “Anything you can do to prepare your future leaders, is right there and then, shaping the future of our Army.”
This community outreach event was the second of its kind for Soldiers of the 308th Brigade Support Battalion.
Capt. John Halbert, former 256th Signal Company, 308th Brigade Support Battalion was guest speaker as part of another panel for cadets at Pacific Lutheran University in October 2015.
| Date Taken: | 02.20.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.23.2016 00:14 |
| Story ID: | 189738 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 322 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Soldiers of the 308th Brigade Support Battalion prepare future Army leaders, by LTC Tania Donovan, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT