A reconnaissance team of headquarters battery Soldiers from 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade have been sent forward to destroy an ammunition dump surrounded by an electric fence and guarded by a roving patrol.

 

The area around the fence is heavily mined and cannot be breached. Two team members must cross over the minefield and fence, place and set a dummy Claymore mine explosive, and return before the patrol sees them.

 

This was one of 16 obstacle scenarios making up the Leadership Reaction Course that challenged team work and leadership skills for participating brigade Soldiers March 26.

Thirty-six individuals, divided into teams of five, took advantage of this opportunity to develop combat discipline within the brigade, reinforce good decision-making and problem-solving, and incorporate teamwork and differing leadership styles.

 

Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, maneuver a drum barrel down a slope during a Leadership Reaction Course exercise March 26.

 

“It doesn’t matter what rank you are, you’re going to learn to be a leader out here,” said Cpl. Tim Sullivan, the installation facility manager and LRC supervisor for the morning’s event.

 

Throughout the training challenge, Soldiers encountered various tests of their ability to innovate using what tools were available around them, which sometimes meant tying two steel pipes or oil drums together with several of the team’s rigger belts. Such tools were necessary to create makeshift planks or floatation devices required to cross a pre-designated minefield or water hazard.

 

Teams were allotted 20 minutes to negotiate each obstacle. The appointed squad leader, often a junior-enlisted Soldier, was charged with briefing his team on the mission at stake and completing the task. Such protocol aimed to simulate real-world contingency missions whereby an operational order from a combatant commander needs to get down to the lowest level of leadership.

 

“Reacting quick enough is going to save someone’s life,” said Sgt. 1st Class William Sutton, the installation coordinator, who likened navigating the course objectives to thinking critically while operating under sniper fire in Iraq. “Do something – whether it’s right or wrong, do something. But, that said, don’t do the same thing (again and again). The faster you guys work as a team, the easier (the course) becomes.”

 

Sgt. Richard Graham, an 11th ADA Brigade security analyst, passes an ammunition box to Spc. Casey McRoy of the brigade’s motor pool communications section. Photo by Sgt. Jonathan Montgomery.

 

Certain colors represented roadblocks to Soldiers seeking an easy path for each obstacle. A red beam, for example, automatically caused death.

 

“Absolutely nothing can touch red,” said Sutton. “You touch red, you die.”

Yellow-painted objects represented electricity, which meant only non-conductive items such as wood and rope were allowed to touch them, while black chips, or sometimes the whole ground, symbolized a minefield. Soldiers, however, were permitted to “use anything on your person” to include belts, bootlaces and uniform tops to accomplish the task.

 

Pvt. Quicha Alexander, a battery supply clerk and two-time squad leader for her team during the exercise, said she appreciated the opportunity to lead noncommissioned officers across simulated battle scenarios. “This (course) gave me leadership skills and the chance to bring (the team’s) thoughts together (to negotiate each obstacle),” she said.

Spc. Lacy Pitts, a brigade school clerk, said her team’s success depended on trust and talking, which were integral when contemplating the obstacles.

 

“The most challenging (part of the course) was getting the equipment across (the minefields),” she said. “Not being scared of being close and relying on each other (helped promote teamwork).”

 

Course supervisors praised the battery Soldiers afterward for their positive attitudes and strong initiative toward thinking outside the box using what scant resources were at their disposal.