Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Debra Richardson | 1st Lt. Nathan Meyer, assigned to 175th Military Police Battalion with the Missouri...... read more read more
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CHELMNO, Poland—Junior enlisted soldiers assigned to 175th Military Police Battalion with the Missouri National Guard led the way during a joint training exercise with the Polish infantry near Chelmno, Poland, June 13. A combination of privates and specialists taught the Polish soldiers infantry tactics, hand signals and bounding maneuvers as Exercise Anakonda 2016 begins to wind down.
“The goal of this training is to enhance the partnership between U.S. and Polish forces but it’s also an opportunity to utilize and enhance the skillset of our instructors,” explained 2nd Lt. Sean Potter, assigned to the 175th from Harrisonville, Missouri.
Potter wanted to ensure the Polish soldiers received instruction from qualified instructors, regardless of rank but he also wanted to give junior enlisted soldiers the opportunity to develop their leadership skills.
“With the National Guard, rank doesn’t necessarily equate to ability,” Potter said. “You may have specialists that are much older but they’ve been in civilian law enforcement for 20 years.”
Normally, the role of instructor is reserved for noncommissioned officers because they’re classified as subject matter experts in their fields. However, Potter recognizes the additional skills many National Guard soldiers bring to the unit, and he believes in both rewarding and challenging his soldiers by assigning them instructor roles.
This method allowed junior enlisted soldiers to use the confidence they’ve gained from their civilian jobs and apply it to the role of instructor.
Pvt. Timothy Williams from Harrisonville, Missouri, was chosen to be an instructor, and as he began interacting with the Polish soldiers, it was obvious why. He was calm and thorough while instructing the Polish soldiers how to complete basic bounding procedures, which consisted of moving from one position that offers concealment, to another.
“It’s been really fun working with the Polish soldiers,” Williams said. “They’ve been very attentive and like to learn about what we do. ”
Williams said this training gave him the opportunity to demonstrate his knowledge of basic infantry tactics and allowed him to gain valuable leading experience that will help him grow into a confident and capable noncommissioned officer.
Exercise Anakonda 2016 is a Polish-led premier training event for U.S. Army Europe and participating nations and demonstrates the United States and partner nations can effectively unite under a unified command while training on contemporary scenarios. These training events help ensure that participating nations are trained and able to work together during future operations.
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.15.2016 01:17 |
| Story ID: | 201077 |
| Location: | PL |
| Web Views: | 285 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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