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505th Quartermaster Battalion Leader Certification
By SGT Michelle Johnson and SPC Natasha Lam, 505th Quartermaster Battalion, Okinawa, Japan.
SGT Michelle Johnson and SGT Jhassel Delossantos conduct a course on Field Sanitation at the South Maintenance Site operated by the 505th Quartermaster Battalion.
(Photo: Courtsey USARJ, Okinawa)
Commissioned, Noncommissioned Officers, and Junior Soldiers of the 505th Quartermaster Battalion on Okinawa, Japan, recently conducted Leader Certification training. This training was designed to enhance leaders' preparedness for future missions they will encounter, reinforce how they conduct training for their Soldiers, and to help them "get back to the basics." Command Sergeant Major Greg Binford, 505th QM BN, stated, "It is the responsibility of leaders at every level to help build the bench of talent for our Army by sharing knowledge, skills, and experiences gained over decades of service." Binford added, "We hear about this topic quite often from each headquarters above our battalion; it is our moral imperative to train those leaders now who will be guiding our Army during the challenging times our Nation faces in the future."
This realistic training was very beneficial, and well received by all, as an excellent opportunity to grow professionally, while improving training skills. The training provided senior leaders the opportunity to refresh leader task skills, while teaching new skills to junior leaders. First Sergeant Rufus Lewis, HHC, 505th QM BN, explained, "Soldiers are planning and conducting training by going back to the basics and understanding what Tasks, Conditions, and Standards are used for." This allowed leaders to dig deep within themselves and share their knowledge and experience with other junior leaders, as well as train our Soldiers.
Leaders were taught blocks of instruction on many administrative subjects like financial liability investigations, command supply discipline, drivers' training, and vehicle maintenance. They were also trained and evaluated on their Warrior Tasks and battle drills. All were tested on each required leader task and needed to pass with a minimum score of 70 percent in each event. Lewis stated, "During our first two weeks of training, we had six to eight training stations well equipped with camouflage netting, field tables, and easel boards. This allowed our Leaders and Soldiers to get back to the basics when it comes to Warrior Time Training and understanding what it looks like and how to resource each individual training task."
During the training, the Soldiers were separated into small groups, and rotated to each station under the watchful eye of their instructors and the senior leaders within the unit. At one station, the Soldiers were given great visuals on land mines, hand grenades, and different types of improvised explosive devices. The Soldiers then had the opportunity to locate and identify each unexploded ordinance (UXO), while navigating from one point on the ground to another to practice land navigation skills. At another station, Soldiers were given a class on first aid, where they had to evaluate a casualty properly, as well as move the casualty to a safe location. Soldiers trained on weapons' familiarization classes to include the MK 19, M249, and M9 weapons. They were then required to disassemble and inspect their personally assigned weapon and reassemble it within three minutes. Soldiers also learned proper hand signals and communication skills before they conducted and were evaluated on moving under direct and indirect fire. Soldiers remained highly motivated during the land navigation class and had great hands-on training in all areas of map reading, as well as the opportunity to find eight digit grid points on a map. Soldiers were required to use their map reading skills when locating points within the training area. Having great resources readily available definitely helped the training go smoothly. Lewis explains, "Our Training Support Center on Torii Station allowed our Leaders to attain the proper training aids and resources to conduct realistic training; by doing this we had more Soldier interaction during training."
One of the more arduous tasks within the leader certification program was the 12 mile road march. The unit laced up their boots, strapped on their rucksacks, and hydrated themselves for multiple practice marches of six, eight and 10 miles before completing the 12 miler in December. The process of getting the unit's leaders certified on such a wide array of physical, warrior, and administrative tasks will help to ensure that they are able to pass along their skills to build the strongest possible bench of leaders for our Army's future. Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Leeds, 505th BN CDR, commented, "Jobs, requirements, deployments, etc will constantly change. Developing Soldier and Leader skills will ensure success for the unit and Army."
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