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FORT HOOD, Texas - President John F. Kennedy once said
that leadership and learning are indispensable to each
other.
At Fort Hood, the Phantom Warrior Academy's
Combat Leaders Course increases professional development
among troops.
CLC is a 10-day, two-phase training
course focusing on Troop Leader Procedures and Battle Drills
at the team, squad and platoon level in a field environment
in order to create highly trained and tactically proficient
junior leaders.
“CLC is a competence builder,” said
Staff Sgt. Eddie J. Baker, an instructor with the Phantom
Warrior Academy's Combat Leaders Course. “With all the
battle drills we do, it's going to increase your level of
awareness and build your competence as a leader.”
The
course includes an obstacle course, movement techniques,
battle drills, how to setup an objective rally point and
patrol base, ambush, night and day land navigation, radio
operations, first aid, advance rifle marksmanship, 11
different ways of knot tying, an 8-mile full combat load and
weapon foot march, and more.
Baker said he has
different expectations from students.
“Be proficient
in all the skills and tasks we put out there. Take the
leadership role that we give them, show what they learned,
and retain as much knowledge as they can. The biggest thing
I ask them to do is to ask questions. If they don't ask
questions, I'm not going to know what they need improvement
on.”
The course reinforces basic skill level one
tasks and teaches some advances skills for Soldiers to take
back to their organizations.
“We work on perishable
skills. We give them tools, guidance and the confidence they
need,” Baker said. “They can spread what they've learned
here throughout their unit.”
Students endure these 10
intense days of combat training by working as a team to
accomplish given tasks.
“I walked in here and I
didn't know a single face”, said Spc. Andy Ford, a motor
transport operator with 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd
Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.
“In the
past 10 days I've gotten real close to these guys. Teamwork
is the key, period. With any leadership position you have is
all about teamwork, and that's exactly what this course is
showing us,” he added.
For Ford, the most challenging
part was something he didn't expect.
“The day we went
to the range, it wasn't the range itself that was difficult,
it was walking to the range and back carrying close to 90
pounds including the IOTV (Improved Outer Tactical Vest). It
might not been far, but walking there, doing exercises,
shooting and walking back, that was the worst thing ever,”
he said
Ford wanted to emphasize the amount of
courage needed, the amount of will to push yourself to the
end.
“To see everyone else, all your teammates, your
battle buddies doing the same thing to get to the end, it's
amazing,” he said.
According to Baker, during this
course, junior leaders from the rank of specialist to
captain do not wear any rank in their uniforms to show that
everyone is equal when it comes to leadership position
placement throughout the 10 days.
Students encourage
other Soldiers to come and try something different and
refresh those skills.
“It's good to get out of the
office and lead a small team,” said 2nd Lt. Scott Silvester,
assistant operations, 3rd Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade,
1st Cav. Div. “I definitely recommend it because you get
your basic soldiering tasks down.
“Just make sure
you're physically prepared for this course and practice your
knots,” Silvester added.
The class has 40 available
seats, and Baker said it brings an opportunity for Soldiers
to further their careers, since it is a prerequisite for a
lot of schools, such as air assault, ranger, and pathfinder.
By U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Concepcion
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
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