Photo By Sgt. Laurissa Hodges | Capt. (CH) Richard Rivers, chaplain for the 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade,...... read more read more
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The Department of the Army has developed several initiatives to enable a “People First” policy. United States Army Forces Command and XVIII Airborne Corps identified the requirement for a monthly day of foundational training. To meet that requirement, the 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade developed the Provider Framework to create and foster conditions for open and respectful discourse to build trust between Soldiers and Leaders.
Senior leaders assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Inf. Div. Sust. Bde., attended the initial Foundational Training Day event Nov. 13, at Victory Chapel on Fort Stewart, Georgia.
“For the STB we put together a training for conflict management,” said Capt. Richard Rivers, the acting Chaplin for the 3rd SB. “The reason why we are doing a lot of this training is because as the world is changing we want to give our Soldiers the best chance to talk about what is going on especially within a diverse population where one group may not agree with what another group is doing.”
The 3rd SB aims to hold this type of training with targeted key tasks such as leader development, the three corrosives (suicide, Sexual Harassment Assault Response Prevention and Equal Opportunity) and installation programs quarterly.
“What we’re doing with the quarterly training is getting the leadership together to discuss the issues that are most prominent amongst our junior enlisted Soldiers,” said Rivers. “We are trying to equip our Soldiers with the tools and resources they need so they can go back down to the squad level and address the situations where it’s most important.”
By providing the leadership with different perspectives, Rivers also gave reasons why it is important to provide a platform for leaders to address conflicts.
“The training is important because it gives Soldiers an outlet to discuss what is happening around the world. If they don’t have that outlet, then if another Soldier has a different opinion than they do, it can create conflict within the workplace,” said Rivers. “And if those workplaces are full of Soldiers who are bickering or fighting because of what’s going on in the world, then we’re not going to get the mission done.”
Commanders and first sergeants that attended the training could take their training further by passing the torch of information down to the leaders within their companies.
“I would hope that those of us that are in leadership positions will gain perspective as to what it is that we need to train our Soldiers, how we need to speak to them and ultimately how do we reach them at their level,” said Rivers. “In order to do that, you need to get down to their level to understand the most important thing you can teach and talk about.”
Some of the senior leaders have learned additional skills to converse with the Soldiers within with platoons.
“I learned how I can better articulate the division’s and the brigade’s intent as well as help enable my squad leaders, platoon leaders and platoon sergeants to reach out and better meet the needs of their Soldiers,” said Capt. Donald Knight, the commander of 90th Human Resources Company, STB, 3SB.
For other leaders, the training reinforced information that they already knew, but also gave them ways to push the information back to the leaders within their companies.
“It reinforced what I already knew,” said 1st Sgt. Shontavious Wilkerson, the first sergeant of 90th HRC. “Squads and leaders need to know and train their Soldiers and by doing this it’s going to essentially make the organization better and stronger.”
In the future, the Sustainment Brigade plans to host further training on Dec. 4.
“The focus of each training will be different,” said Rivers. “Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 87th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd SB, wants to focus on suicide prevention because with the approaching holidays and COVID-19 restrictions, they want to ensure they address each situation and find the people that will need the help.”
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| Date Taken: | 11.13.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 11.20.2020 10:31 |
| Story ID: | 383445 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Provider Leadership Development, by SGT Laurissa Hodges, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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