The making of a leader

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHANK, Afghanistan– Twenty-four members from Task Force Brawler participated in the ‘Leadership Certification’ program, designed to test one’s physical and mental prowess while under stress, in early February.

Taking part of this program was a rite of passage, and it challenged the ‘Brawlers’ to make decisions under less-than-desirable conditions.

It was meant to instill the leadership traits described in the field manual of Army leadership- that an ideal leader “has strong intellect, physical presence, professional competence, high moral character, and serves as a role model.” 

 “Nobody leads here because it is owed to them.” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robert Ault, TF Brawler commander. “The stakes are too high in this war. We need leadership that can effectively lead in unusual and challenging circumstances. Whether or not they are called on to do that is a different thing, but they need to be prepared to do that.”

Being a member of TF Brawler, according to Ault, is based off a philosophy with three main pillars: taking care of the Soldier’s family, achieving and maintaining aviation excellence, and developing leaders that are competent, capable and adaptive.

Leadership Certification assesses the individual leader’s abilities through combat-related physical training, stress/reflexive weapons engagements, and combat lifesaving drills. A high level of physical and mental stress is placed upon each leader during the certification trials to simulate the affects of actual combat.

“Our emphasis behind Leadership Certification is that the leaders understand the ‘Big 3’, which is combat-focused weapons, PT and medical, then the demonstration of these skills amongst the other leadership,” said TF Brawler U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Stuart O’ Black. “Leaders must meet the standards and expectation of the command group. You, as a leader, have to be able to lead by example. As a leader you have to be able to do the same things as you expect your Soldiers to do. You can’t just talk it, you have to walk the walk.”

The Leadership Certification event consists of a small-arms range and combat life-saver training lane, throughout which the participants are challenged physically and mentally. The event begins with a 1-mile road-march in full body armor, Kevlar helmet and weapons, to the small-arms range.

Once at the range, the group of leaders are partnered up and then placed into two groups. While the second group observes, the first group runs up a steep hill, back down the other side and then up to the firing lanes of the small-arms range. From there, one of the team members holds a hand-held punching bag while the other punches it for two minutes. After two minutes, the puncher secures his/her weapon and fires control bursts of two rounds at the target, using a reflexive-firing technique. The teammate stands behind the firer acting as a range safety and coach.

Reflex firing has the firer standing with his/her body squared to the target and raising the rifle quickly and level, and firing controlled pair of shots at the target without actually focusing on the target as in a traditional range setting. The firer continues rising, firing, and lowering the weapon until they have expended all ammunition. The firer’s coach stands directly behind the firer with hands in direct contact with his teammate. The coach acts as a safeguard ensuring muzzle discipline and awareness is exercised as fatigue sets in. The pair then alternate roles so each experiences the full spectrum of training.

“Soldiers should be in a stressed environment when performing weapons training”, said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Mark Carl, Company C, 1st Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, TF Brawler. “That way the Soldiers are accustomed to working under pressure. You might be one hundred percent proficient on a task, but bring the heart rate up and add some stress, and the proficiency drops. This training helps build muscle memory on the task so that it becomes instinctual.”

On the CLS portion of the certification, the paired teams first do rigorous exercises, such as kettle bell drills, sledge hammer swings, or hillside sprinting. Then they each give the other an IV and a Nasopharyngeal Airway. The latter is a process of inserting a soft, plastic tube into either nostril to assist causalities if they are having breathing difficulties.

“Familiarity with these two particular tasks is critical in that it helps leaders remove the apprehension of being involved in medical procedures.” said U.S. Army Capt. Caton Hill, flight surgeon for Headquarters and Headquarter Company, TF Brawler. “It is important for non-medically skilled Soldiers to be hands-on during medical situations. The confidence gained through successfully giving someone else an IV under combat-simulated stress can possibly help save a life in a real-world situation.”

According to some senior non-commissioned officers who also participated in the event, the pace and tempo of the training was an effective tool.

“After the range, the leaders should have a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses,” said O’Black. “They should have an understanding of the difference between how they trained, before becoming a Brawler, in relation to what is expected of them now.”
 
Prior to the walk back to TF Brawler’s area of operations, a brief review of the events by the task force commander helped reinforce the key points of the training.

“How do you know you’re right?” asked Ault of the group of officers and enlisted surrounding him. “How do you know you’re proceeding down the right road? I submit to you that you know this when you as leaders are making decisions down range that are right and good and timely. That when you look at your Soldiers, the training shows. That is when you know your training of your subordinates is headed in the right direction.”

Later that day, after the return trek home, Ault explained the goal of Leadership Certification and what was the end state of all his and other senior leader’s efforts.

“Leadership Certification revolves around the third pillar of our [Brawler] philosophy, which really has become the main effort of the task force command group,” said Ault “That is developing competent, capable, adaptive, flexible leaders that are valued based and can operate in conditions of great uncertainty. When we have those, then my job as the task force commander is not so much controlling the task force, my job is commanding it, because now the leaders are, in my eyes, empowered with the command philosophy.”