Photo By Spc. Ryan Lucas | U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to various battalions within the 173rd Airborne...... read more read more
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Vicenza, ITALY - The second iteration of a virtual learning Basic Leaders Course (BLC) began here on April 13. It is being taught via video teleconference by instructors at the 7th Army NCO Academy in Grafenwoehr, Germany and facilitated by assistant instructors from the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
For U.S. Army personnel stationed in Europe, BLC, a program that helps transform specialists and corporals into sergeants, has traditionally been held in-person in Grafenwoehr, but creative alternatives had to be developed after the implementation of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
After leadership from the 173rd Airborne Brigade reached out to the Noncommissioned Officer Academy for approval to host a modified program, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Carrasco, noncommissioned officer in charge of brigade schools, began working to allocate classroom space, choose assistant instructors, and collaborate with other units within the Vicenza Military Community who also had soldiers requiring BLC.
“Everything that we need is here,” said Carrasco. “There’s hurdles, but every hurdle can be overcome, it’s not that hard.”
Less than one week of planning was available to develop the program before the 40 soldiers of the first iteration began BLC virtually alongside their counterparts in Grafenwoehr, all graduating on April 2. 36 soldiers graduated out of Vicenza, while four graduated from Naples, who also participated in the video teleconference.
"We had to build this plane in-flight," said Sgt. 1st Class David Foster, an assistant instructor for the virtual learning BLC from the 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion (BEB), 173rd Airborne Brigade. "We learned on the go, but we were still able to get these future sergeants to a course that has never been done online," said Foster.
Spc. Joshua Schnoop, a combat engineer assigned to the 54th BEB, worried that his opportunity to go to BLC would disappear because of the COVID-19 restrictions. His worry subsided when he learned that an alternative would be available in Vicenza.
“It’s good,” said Schnoop. “They definitely put a lot of effort into trying to make sure people are still progressing and not coming to a halt in their careers.”
Although separated from the parent class by over 400 miles, the training in Vicenza is entirely consistent with what the students would have received in person. Rigorous protocols have been implemented to ensure the high standards of the course remain unchanged.
The training that cannot be completed online is given by assistant instructors who were chosen based on their history as instructors themselves.
“Most of us are prior instructors of some sort, whether they were drill sergeants like myself, BLC instructors, or even BOLC [Basic Officer Leaders Course] instructors,” said Foster. “All of us have some sort of instructing background.”
Soldiers attending the training have been chosen from across the Vicenza Military Community by their standing in an order of merit list. Although the list is long, the number of soldiers in the classes had to nearly be cut in half from the first iteration to the second, as social distancing measures designed to fight the spread of COVID-19 have tightened. From physical training, to drill and ceremony, to classroom instruction, students and instructors are adhering to the strictest of restrictions.
“It’s still the same task, it’s still the same standards, it’s just a little bit more spread out,” said Foster.
| Date Taken: | 04.21.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.21.2020 12:40 |
| Story ID: | 367964 |
| Location: | IT |
| Web Views: | 846 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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