Pennsylvania Guard Shapes Army's Extended Basic Leader Course

National Guard members assigned to Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, are leading the validation effort for the Army's expanded basic leader course, refining the curriculum before it is implemented forcewide later this year.

The 166th Regiment - Regional Training Institute, which provides training and support to develop leaders through professional military education and training, is serving as the validation site for the new 29-day course.

Conducted from April 28 to May 26, the validation course expands the previous 23-day curriculum, creating a more field-intensive leadership experience that places soldiers in tactical scenarios designed to evaluate decision-making, troop-leading procedures and squad-level leadership under stress.

The validation builds on a recent active-duty pilot course conducted at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and positions the Pennsylvania National Guard at the forefront of implementing and refining the Army's updated curriculum for junior noncommissioned officers before fielding it forcewide.

As part of the validation effort, Regional Training Institute leaders from Nebraska, Colorado, Ohio, Mississippi and Vermont traveled to Pennsylvania to observe how the 166th Regiment planned and executed the new field-focused training. The visiting instructors reviewed training products, lesson plans and evaluation methods that may later be adopted by Regional Training Institutes across the National Guard enterprise.

"Nothing from the 23-day [basic leader course] is being lost," said Army Master Sgt. James Webb, 166th Regiment basic leader course chief of training. "But a lot is being added - what we're calling reps and sets - which is essentially an additional six or seven days of field training."

Under the updated program of instruction, students now spend eight days in the field conducting leader-stakes training, land navigation and a culminating situational training exercise that evaluates leadership performance in realistic combat scenarios.

During the leader-stakes portion of the course, soldiers rotate through training lanes that hone their skill level 10 tasks - entry-level skills required of junior enlisted soldiers, also known as warrior tasks and battle drills. These include medical skills, weapons proficiencies, patrolling techniques and vehicle recovery operations that progressively build tactical proficiency and confidence while preparing soldiers for leadership evaluations later in the course.

Students train on tasks such as reacting to ambushes and indirect fire, evacuating casualties, requesting medical evacuations, conducting patrol base operations and leading troops. The training grows more complex each day.

The culminating exercise places soldiers in leadership positions, during which they receive fragmentary orders, develop plans, brief subordinates and execute missions under time constraints and simulated battlefield conditions.

"The end goal is to develop team and squad-level leaders by putting students in a tactical position and having them execute troop-leading procedures and make decisions," Webb said. "We're not grading them on their ability to do battle drills; we're grading them on the ability to make decisions in a stressful environment."

During the course, Army Sgt. Maj. Elizandro Jimenez, a basic leader course manager assigned to the U.S. Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Fort Bliss, Texas, visited the 166th Regiment to observe how the team implemented the new program and provided feedback on the evolving courseware.

"Pennsylvania's cadre demonstrated exceptional adaptability while implementing this new curriculum," Jimenez said. "The work being done here is helping shape how the Army develops future noncommissioned officers across the force."

Students participating in the pilot course said the additional training time and increased tactical focus have made the experience more valuable and realistic.

"I think the extra week of training will really help people fully understand their roles as NCOs," said Army Sgt. Tyler Kase, a combat engineer assigned to the Pennsylvania National Guard. "It's changed my perspective as a leader and how I'll handle things moving forward when I return to my unit."

Army Sgt. Drayton Coyle, an infantryman and team leader assigned to the Massachusetts National Guard, said the expanded field training better prepares junior leaders for unpredictable operational environments.

"You don't know what's going to happen in the Army," Coyle said. "The operational environment and the way we fight is rapidly changing. Having that culminating event - that [situational training exercise] at the end of the course - will help us prepare."