Retired senior NCOs participate in CTC Mentorship Program

Infantry Magazine, Nov-Dec, 2007 by Patrick Castin

This article provides an up-close look at the Combat Training Center (CTC) Mentorship Program and reveals significant insights into the extensive contributions senior NCO mentors are bringing to the CTCs. The article includes the history and philosophy of the program, duties and responsibilities of the senior NCO mentors, and information on how they maintain proficiency.

Today, there are many defense contractors that support the U.S. Army by performing numerous operational and training functions. MPRI, Inc. is an L-3 Communications company that supports military contracts throughout the United States and, on average, in 40 foreign countries. Since 2001, MPRI has supported the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy (USASMA) at Fort Bliss, Texas, with senior NCO mentors at the military's four CTCs: Battle Command Training Program (BCTP) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California; Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, Louisiana; and the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) at Hohenfels, Germany (formerly known as the Combat Maneuver Training Center). The senior NCO mentors perform as advisers, trainers, and mentors, and discretely assist the senior NCOs at Army, corps, division and joint task force (JTF) staff levels, the brigade and battalion command sergeants major, as well as the operations sergeants major in units rotating through the CTCs. They also provide significant assistance to many officers at these levels by sharing their military experiences from their own combat careers.

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The senior NCO mentors are retired Army command sergeants major (CSMs) and sergeants major (SGMs) with numerous years of combat experience. They are assigned to either the CTC or operations group headquarters and are integrated into the operations groups' training cycles. Additionally, they are certified through a rigorous observer trainer/observer controller (OT/ OC) training program through their respective CTC OT/OC certification programs. They perform as military contractors and work with the OT/OC teams. They provide assistance to combat units in many different functional areas as the units rotate through the CTCs. The senior NCO mentors provide a common sense look at things that are sometimes overlooked due to the fast pace of combat operations in today's Army. Based on their extensive experience, some mentors also teach selected OT/OC certification classes.

Background

The conceptual treatment of senior leader development at the CTCs has typically been grounded on progressive, sequential training and education primarily directed to the officer corps focusing on junior and senior-level officers. Unfortunately, there have been limited training opportunities for senior NCOs (master sergeant (MSG), first sergeant (1SG), SGM and CSM. In November 2001, the U.S. Army initiated the CTC Mentorship Program to help rectify this shortcoming. The program includes four retired CSMs/SGMs that are responsive to USASMA and are assigned to each CTC (BCTP, NTC, JRTC and JMRC). The senior NCO mentors bring dynamic subject matter expertise to the U.S. Army, CTCs and training unit. In fact, their coaching and mentoring are considered well established in the US Army and CTC community as endorsed by the Army senior leadership. Examples of their efforts and success are identified in this article and substantiate that the mentors are well established, respected and capable of making significant contributions to NCO leader development goals and objectives.

The CTC Mentorship Program enhances the training and combat readiness of U.S. Army units from battalion to Army level, to include JTF-level organizations. In addition to USASMA and the CTCs, the program has been endorsed by training units deploying to lraq and Afghanistan and other theaters of operations. It provides dynamic, capabilities-based training for rotational CTC units, with a priority to combat deployable units. The mentors offer NCO staff leaders unparalleled realistic and rigorous tactical training that fosters warfighting competence. The training experience is valuable in providing senior NCOs opportunities to significantly improve and sharpen their skills in accomplishing wartime missions. Additionally, the mentors have the ancillary advantage of improving senior NCO competence in accomplishing tasks associated with maintaining peace and wartime readiness. The CTC Mentorship Program provides the following:

* Trained and qualified senior NCO mentors to assist CTC rotations;

* Pre-rotational visits to units scheduled for a CTC rotation, when requested, and workshops and training assistance to senior NCOs based on training requirements;

* Support to unit training objectives and focus areas during CTC rotations;

* On-site assistance in planning and executing relevant and administrative tasks in realistic combat settings;

* Feedback for both formal and informal hot washes and after action reviews (AARs) with the training unit;