Tactical training strengthens individual leadership
By Pierce Yarberry
U.S. Army Cadet Command Public Affairs
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – During Operation Warrior Forge, a significant portion of Cadets perform various tactical exercises. From individual squad tactics to larger patrolling, Cadets are evaluated on their leadership potential in stressful situations.
“We want to help them develop their leadership skills while they’re out here. We want to reinforce their strengths and help them find out where they need to improve,” said Maj. David Ramsey from the University of Cincinnati.
Cadet Robert Zebrowski from Kent State University along with other members of his squad from 10th Regiment, B Company, 4th Platoon patrols the dense undergrowth during the Squad Situational Training Exercise phase of Operation Warrior Forge on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. U.S. Army photo by Al Zdarsky
Cadets spend a total of eight and a half days doing maneuvering, squad exercises, patrolling and a 10-kilometer march. Cadets are evaluated numerous times in various leadership roles to include squad leader, patrol leader and assistant patrol leaders.
Of those eight and half days, four are spent at STX lanes. Each squad conducts six lanes a day, with each lane lasting two hours. Cadets have 45 minutes of planning, another 45 minutes to execute their mission and 30 minutes for review.
“The hardest thing to plan for was the terrain,” said University of Alabama in Huntsville Cadet Ty Myatt. “Adapting to a new environment was challenging.”
Following the four days of STX, Cadets have a transition day before they begin two days of patrolling. There, two squads will come together to form a patrol, or section. Three missions, each lasting four hours, are completed per day. For patrolling, Cadets have 90 minutes of planning, two hours for the mission and 30 minutes for review.
“Some Cadets have a little more experience and domain knowledge,” said Ramsey. “We’ll try to throw in some developmental challenges for them. It won’t hurt their evaluation in most cases. It usually helps them excel even more. Sometimes it’s a change in mission, and sometimes it’s different than what they thought they would see.”
“I guess the hardest part was overcoming confrontations amongst people and overcoming differences during all of that training together,” said Myatt.
“Everyone has their own way of doing things and have different expectations,” said Cadet Natalie Thiel from Capital University. “You’re working with a squad that you haven’t been with and working with people you aren’t familiar with. You really have to be on your feet.”
There are 268 cadre and an additional 77 lieutenants who are part of the tactics committee at Operation Warrior Forge this year. They act as evaluators, as well as functioning as part of each scenario. All of the supporting cadre are divided into four teams that cycle through as different regiments come to tactics.
The most important leadership skills that Cadets should know are troop leading procedures and the tactics they have to employ. Cadre assesses each Cadet’s potential in a variety of leadership positions throughout tactical training.
“Some cadre are taking note of your domain knowledge of tactics, and others are assessing leadership ability,” said Thiel.
“They’ll explain what you did right, what you did wrong, and how to correct it,” added Arielle Bazulka from East Stroudsburg University. “It’s definitely constructive criticism and you learn a lot.”
Lastly, Cadets will march 10 kilometers while wearing their rucksack. They are given a route map and an operations order, while their regimental command runs the march.
“I think the most motivating part of the 10k was the energy from the cadre,” said Bazulka. “They were really into it – running up and down and cracking jokes. It was fun because we knew we were finally leaving.”
