CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti – Forty seven Army personnel assigned to Camp Lemonnier and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, attended the graduation of the first-ever Non-commissioned Officer Academy, Basic Leadership Course (NCOA BLC), at the base multipurpose facility, Dec. 22, 2018.
The BLC is the first step in the Non-commissioned Officer Education System. BLC trains Soldiers in basic leadership skills, Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) duties, responsibilities and authority, and how to conduct performance-oriented training. With a focus on leadership, the course produces battle-competent junior NCOs who are qualified team, section or squad leaders, trainers of leader and war fighting skills, evaluators and counselors, conductors and participants in individual and collective training, and performers and teachers of leader skills, knowledge and attitudes.
Course Leader, Sgt. 1st Class Linford Gebhart, 7th Army Training Command, Grafenwöhr, Germany, explained the course is normally held in Ukraine and Kosovo, but, a request was made by the Army at CLDJ to hold the course here. This was the first time the course was held in Africa and he was very happy with the accommodations.
“We normally have facilities designated just for us, so we knew this time was going to be more of a challenge to the mobile training team,” Gebhart said. “With assistance from Task Force Alamo and Camp Lemonnier, we were able to have communications needed to run our plan of instruction,”
Much of the leadership course is classroom and computer based, but Gebhart said having use of facilities on the installation, such as the multipurpose turf field and two 24-hour gyms, definitely helped with running the course. “This was the first time I’ve had an Army Physical Fitness Test go this smoothly,” Gehart said.
He said the course here was a great success achieving a 94 percent graduation rate.
Army Sgt. Kristen Allen, Headquarters Company, Task Force Alamo, was the recipient of the Lawrence T. Hickey Award as honor graduate. She achieved a course grade point average of 100 percent and was selected by course leaders for her participation during the training.
She said the course taught her fundamentals and expectations the Army has for effectively leading soldiers into combat.
“In order to be a good servant leader, we have to get our [people] to be good followers by earning their trust and their respect,” Allen said. “Our soldiers have to know they can look up to us.”
Allen gave advice to those attending future courses – come prepared, be ready to learn and be open minded.
Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. John F. Sampa served as keynote speaker for the ceremony. He said the graduation marked an historic occasion for Camp Lemonnnier.
“This is the first [course] that’s been held in the region,” Sampa said. “This class sets the pathway for many more BLC courses to be conducted on [Camp Lemonnier]. We can make this an enduring class for many more soldiers deployed here.”
He told the graduates today marked a new beginning in their military careers. He said as future noncommission officers, they will be responsible for the training, health and welfare, and development of the Soldiers they lead.
Sampa ended his remarks by encouraging the graduates to take what they’ve learned over the last 18 days, bring it back to their units and build more wonderful warriors.
Camp Lemonnier is an operationally-focused shore installation that enables U.S., allied and partner nation forces to be where and when they are needed to ensure security and stability in Europe, Africa and Southwest Asia.
The mission of Camp Lemonnier is to enable joint warfighters operating forward and to reinforce the relationship between the United States and Djibouti by conducting five key shore missions – air operations, port operations, security, safety and quality of life – and providing core mission enablers such as fuel, water and power for tenant commands, transient U.S. assets and individual service members.