Photo By Staff Sgt. Christopher Stewart | From left to right, U.S. Army Spc. Andrew Brothers, Lithuanian soldiers Cpl. Tomas...... read more read more
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GRAFENWOEHR, Germany – For the first time, two Lithuanian soldiers are scheduled to graduate the Basic Leaders Course at the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy (NCOA) at Camp Aachen, May 24, 2019 at 11:00 a.m.
The Basic Leaders Course is a prerequisite to promote junior Soldiers to Noncommissioned Officers. The two Lithuanian soldiers, Cpl. Tomas Joniskis and Cpl. Regimantas Baksys, passed all required tests and training requirements to earn their certificate.
The graduation marks a positive step between both nations, said Lithuanian Command Sgt. Maj. Jonas Sipavicius of the Motorized Infantry Brigade "Griffin".
Sipavicius and Lithuanian Command Sgt. Maj. Darius Kolodzeiskis of the Mechanized Infantry Brigade “Iron Wolf” visited their soldiers during the course.
“(These Soldiers) will soon lead the troops on the ground,” said Sipavivius. “Without leadership training, they will fail. Next year we want to send more troops.”
The opportunity for the U.S. Soldiers to train alongside the Lithuanian soldiers benefited both groups.
“We want all of the countries to come together and work as one,” said U.S. Army Spc. Andrew Brothers. “It shows us ways that they work and shows them how we work.”
The two Lithuanian soldiers were separated into two different companies but were made to feel welcome by their U.S. counterparts.
“I was alone,” said Joniskis, a squad leader assigned to the Motorized Infantry Brigade “Griffin.” “I learned that the Americans were so friendly and wanted to help, so I didn’t need to close myself, and I can ask for help.”
The leadership education is similar to Lithuania’s but coming to the NCOA showed different ways to approach lessons, said Joniskis.
“We are taught using slideshows in Lithuania, that’s it,” said Joniskis. “Here we’ve had class discussions. Everyone’s involved and you can think in different ways to help everyone learn.”
Kolodzeiskis spoke on the friendship and camaraderie between nations that continued into this class.
“Americans are good friends, I would fight for them,” said Kolodzeiskis.
“Our main focus is to bring our nation’s Soldiers together.”
| Date Taken: | 05.23.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 05.23.2019 11:16 |
| Story ID: | 323655 |
| Location: | GRAFENWOEHR, BY, DE |
| Web Views: | 771 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
This work, First Lithuanian Soldiers to graduate from NCOA, by SSG Christopher Stewart, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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