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ENTEBBE, Uganda - Cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis participated in a weeklong leadership training workshop this month in cities throughout Uganda with the Ugandan Peoples Defense Force.
The first phase training, which began June 8, consisted of classroom instruction with Tanzanian instructors, physical training and familiarization with Ugandan military tactics. Tanzanian Army Maj. Paul Masinde, officer in charge of training at the Junior Staff College, at Jinja, said that if you are a leader, this platoon leadership instruction will be crucial in ones career.
“The school instills [methods] to help junior officers perform,” he said.
U.S. Military Academy Cadet 1st Class Mark Freeman said he was surprised to see that the military training disseminated in Uganda is similar to U.S. military training.
“I was impressed with the junior officers at Jinja with how much professionalism they showed,” he said. ”I will take that back to America to us in my career.”
The platoon course instruction ranged from understanding differing leadership styles, planning methods and execution, platoon formations and movements.
U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen 1st Class Patrick Bagnick agreed that the training was important for his own military career.
“I learned how Ugandans learn,” he said. “They were all junior officers and they were learning how to interact and work with their peers on the battlefield.” “It the real deal for them,” Bagnick said. “They will be going to battlefields in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This really hits home, for us and them.”
Every morning and afternoon, the cadets and midshipmen participated in formation runs with their Ugandan counterparts in a team-building exercise.
The UPDF are very enthusiastic about physical training, said Freeman. “It is a bonding experience for them,” he said. “They are singing and smiling. The teamwork and moral is inspiring.”
During the next phase of training, the cadets and midshipmen travelled to Entebbe to work with Ugandan soldiers training for selection into the UPDF special forces. U.S. Army 1st Lt. Tim Wilkens, officer-in-charge for the Army training team working with the soldiers participating in the advanced infantry combat course, said it is very important to understand the militaries that you are working with in order accomplish any mission. Partner nations are critical to the mission of the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa’s mission, as well as in other theaters, such as Iraq or Afghanistan.
“It’s my hope to see how other nations train and what they go through,” said Wilkens. “When other nations are viewed through the U.S. perspective, it may [seem] they are not up to our standards. In fact, [the UPDF] are close to those standards, so the cadets should be impressed by the level of training they have and the level of professionalism here today.”
“It should open their eyes that [the U.S.] is not the only military out there and these guys can do the same stuff,” he added.
| Date Taken: | 06.06.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2011 06:27 |
| Story ID: | 73709 |
| Location: | ENTEBBE, UG |
| Web Views: | 39 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Cadets, midshipmen, UPDF partner throughout Uganda, by PO1 Timothy Wilson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
