10th Mountain Completes Training with Senegalese Army

THIES, SENEGAL

05.01.2018

Story by Staff Sgt. Brandon Ames 

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

THIES, Senegal – 13 Soldiers of United States Army 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division and soldiers of the Senegalese Army completed a three-week training course that began on April 30, 2018. The intent of the course was to better prepare the 30 Senegalese instructors for leading their upcoming Advanced Infantry Training, which begins this week. In order for the teaching skills and knowledge of the instructors to become more advanced, 10th Mountain Soldiers had to first identify where they were currently at in their proficiencies.

"We started out by teaching the classes fully on what methods we utilize in the U.S. Army, but quickly realized that the Senegalese soldiers are far more advanced than initially anticipated in terms of what they already know and how they do things," said Cpt. Byron Cassidy, 3-71, 10th Mountain Alpha Troop Commander. "We switched gears by letting their instructors teach some of the class to us, and by doing so we were able to better identify ways to correct possible deficiencies or at least provide ways to do something in a different way."

Of the three weeks, two of them were spent in the classroom where 10th Mountain Soldiers taught over 30 classes to the Senegalese instructors. Some of the classes were on things such as the Combat Life Saver course, Counter Improvised Explosive Device, Urban Terrain and Room Clearing. Interpreters were available throughout the course to translate English to French, and French to English. Upon completing the two weeks of classroom work, the Senegalese instructors spent the final week building three lanes in which they were then validated on by 10th Mountain. The lanes included Quick Reaction Force, Convoy Escort, and Patrolling. To best communicate the effectiveness of the training, an After Action Review was conducted following each phase of training.

"The Senegalese instructors are a very professional group of soldiers. They take pride in what they do and it makes things easy when the level of motivation is high. You could truly tell that they were all-in during these three weeks and dedicated to making themselves better," said Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Clingempeel, Noncommissioned Officer In Charge of the overall course with 3-71, 10th Mountain.

Upon the completion of their Advanced Infantry Training, the Battalion of the Senegalese Army will be deploying to Gao, Mali to conduct Peacekeeping Operations.

• Date Taken: 05.01.2018
• Date Posted: 05.22.2018 07:26
• Story ID: 277846
• Location: THIES, SN