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NTC Update (NOV 19)

BSB Maintenance Company Observations & Best Practices

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This paper outlines observations and describes best practices of Field Maintenance Company (FMCs) while deployed as rotational training units (RTUs) to the National Training Center (NTC) during FY19. Identifying lessons learned and best practices allows FMC commanders and Leaders to better assess, plan, and prepare units for Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCO). Successful FMCs come to the NTC prepared and proficient in several key areas, which include but not limited to utilization of the commodity shops, synchronization with BN staff, and battalion maintenance meeting. The Army’s two-level maintenance system (field and sustainment levels) generates and regenerates combat power, which is critical for fight and win during LSCO. The Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) can maximize its FMCs potentials to enhance the Forward Support Company (FSC) capabilities to sustain supported unit’s combat operations. 

Although the number of Army accidental fatalities has steadily declined over the past several years, Soldiers are still injuring themselves in preventable accidents. Courtesy photo. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo)
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What Now Lieutenant?

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The Company Leader community is far-reaching and diverse. As iron sharpens iron, so does one person sharpen another. We are reminded of this with the daily engagements on social media and the email submission we receive. Recently, a Captain from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reached out with a fantastic tactical decision game (TDG) resource for our archives. And now, we share it with you!

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2019 in Books

A Personally Curated Review of 85 Books

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My goal for this year was to read/listen to 100 books. Spoiler…I fell short of that goal. But it was a successful year of reading nonetheless. Studies show that tracking our progress and metrics helps to accomplish our goals. Tracking my own reading helps me in many ways that I discuss below. By sharing these books, I hope to provide some useful recommendations to others as well as gain more insights into my own reading plan to guide my 2020 reading goals. Without further adieu, here is my 2019 in books–a Reading List that includes a Top 10 list for your stocking or a nice gift for someone you love.

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Attacking Razish (ABCT CAB Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 19-12

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Sitting in your MOPP gear, you reflect on your current situation. “Decades of sustained combat against these guys and here we go again…” you think as you dig through your assault pack looking for your map markers. You are in the third month of your battalion’s deployment to Donovian-occupied Atropia. The 3rd ABCT “Bulldog Brigade” of 1st Armored Division cut its teeth during continuous operations south of the Tiefort Mountain complex. Your battalion, specifically, served as the BCT decisive operation–seizing Guba. Now you are being called upon again to apply your expertise in urban operations. This time though, you will be attacking Razish. “I wonder how many times and how many units have fought to take back this city…”

ABOLC Class 19-007 executes a Platoon Situational Training Exercise at the Good Hope Maneuver Training Area; Fort Benning, GA.
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JMRC MASCAL Lessons Learned for LSCO

Exercise Saber Strike 2018

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During one of the annual Saber Strike rotations at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC), a medic team brought a soldier onto a trauma table in the Role 2 with his casualty card attached. The doctor took a look at the injuries listed on the card, examined the interventions in place, and studied the line of Soldiers waiting for treatment. Satisfied, the doctor shouted, “We can’t save him, send me someone else!”

A simulated casualty is prepared for evacuation during Saber Strike in Bemowo Piskie, Poland (photo by SPC Robert Douglass)
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Not Your Grandpa’s Rifle Qualification

Training for the Army's New M4 Qualification

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The new Army marksmanship M4A1 carbine qualification course of fire is a more complex and realistic evaluation of lethality. The integration of barriers, unprompted reloading, and firing position transitions provide leadership with a challenging task for training soldiers.

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Making the Leap

A Letter to Me as a Promotable Captain

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Congratulations on your promotion to the field grade ranks in the U.S. Army. The Army values your demonstrated ability and your observed potential to continue the mission of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. More so, your promotion to major is a testament to the soldiers, NCOs, and fellow officers with whom you’ve served. It’s recognition of their endless dedication and your leadership. But there are some things you need to remember as you move forward. This letter serves as a reminder to stay grounded – as much as things change, some lessons are timeless.

Gen. Michael X. Garrett, FORSCOM Commander, visited the 3rd Cavalry Regiment out in ‘The Box’ while at the National Training Center. While on site he engaged with senior leaders and troopers discussing lessons learned during the rotation.
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Abandon Perfection

A Practitioner's Guide to Mission Command

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Mission Command doctrine empowers subordinate leaders and facilitates mission success. The Irish Defence Forces employs Mission Command doctrine and senior leadership encourage its practice, but not all leaders in the Irish Army embrace the concept. To fully operationalise Mission Command at the tactical-level, commanders need to engage and empower junior Irish Army leaders, particularly NCOs. The successful implementation of Mission Command requires those with the most to lose to do the unthinkable: abandon perfection.

Stepping it out, Marines with 7th Marine Regiment conduct a ruck march. @1st_Marine_Div conduct a hike on Camp Wilson. Photo courtesy of @combatcenterPAO and @USMC.
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The Changing Face of Rifle Qualification

Best Practices to Succeed in a New Era

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Rifle qualification has long served as a gauge of unit proficiency and training. It facilitates risk mitigation and serves as a gate from individual training to more advanced unit training. For years, the Army has used a three position static record fire rifle qualification. This course allowed a modicum of understanding of individual marksmanship from 50m to 300m, but did little to enforce the skills needed to employ the rifle in combat. Soldiers require the skills to react to an immediate threat, reload, use cover, and change positions during an engagement to maximize their lethality and survivability on the battlefield. These skills weren’t effectively represented in the legacy rifle qualification table. The U.S. Army required a test that better prepared and qualified Soldiers for the marksmanship required by the crucible of ground combat. Now it has one.

Soldiers across the 25th Infantry Division with varying skill levels prepared for the new marksmanship standards by conducting a pilot program to assess current installation support capabilities at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. (U.S. Army photos by Sgt. Sarah D Sangster)
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A Holiday Shopping Guide

Gifts for the Tactical Leader

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Halloween and Veterans Day are behind us with Turkey Day just around the corner. With this comes Christmas music entirely too early and Hallmark holiday movies. It also means the queries from family are soon to begin: “What do you want for Christmas?” An easy way to combat this is with a set of public Amazon wishlists for each member of your family. If you are searching for items other than books to put on your list–or looking for practical gifts for the tactical leader in your life– here is your guide.

Attired as Santa Claus, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Mike Morris pushes a pallet of fuel onto a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in Southwest Asia, Dec. 23, 2011. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Nathanael Callon