MEDIA RELEASE # 05-001
PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE
82nd AIRBORNE DIVISION
Fort Bragg, NC  28310-5000
Phone (910) 432-0661/0662  Fax (910) 432-5205  
Website Address http://www.bragg.army.mil/www-82dv

 May 1, 2003

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Paratroopers train to be leaders

Story By: Pfc. Michael J. Carden

82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs Office

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Being a leader can mean many different things to many different people.  To Sgt. Naheem Brown and his fellow airborne infantrymen, it means being able to accept difficult challenges and making the right decisions during critical moments. 

          Brown, Company B, 1st Bn., 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, is one of 82 Task Force Panther paratroopers who participated in the Team Leader’s Course April 21 through 25 in the Area J Training Grounds.

          All of the soldiers who took part in the week-long course wore the ranks of specialist, corporal or sergeant.  Many of them are brand new to the 82nd Abn. Div. and all of them are new to leadership roles, said Staff Sgt. William Hutt, infantryman, Co. A, 1st Bn., 504th P.I.R., 82nd Abn. Div.

          “This is an excellent course to go through if you’re becoming a team leader,” Hutt said.  “Our goal as the cadre is to instill confidence and basic leadership skills into the soldiers on the lowest level.  From there they will develop their own ideas and style of leadership.”

 The Team Leader’s Course was broken down into several different events and classes that included land navigation, weapons qualifications, combined table allowance inspections and battle drills, Hutt said.

          On the Land Navigation Course the teams were tasked to plot and find four out of five points within four hours, Hutt said. 

          At the weapons ranges the soldiers qualified and learned to oversee and operate an M4 carbine range, an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon range, an Anti-Tank 4 range and an M203 range.

“Qualifying wasn’t the main focus on the ranges,” Hutt said.  “We were more concerned with teaching the soldiers how to run a safe and competent range.”

          In the TA-50 inspection class, the soldiers showed they could properly assemble Load Bearing Equipment such as their rucksack and Kevlar.  This is important because it gives their subordinate soldiers another person to rely on and “square them away”, Hutt said.

          During the covered battle drills of squad attack, react to contact, break contact and knock out a bunker, each paratrooper assumed roles as a squad leader and team leader. 

          “It’s one thing to go through the battle drills,” Brown said.  “It’s a total different experience going through the drills while being responsible for other soldiers.” 

Being responsible for soldiers is an important factor in becoming a leader and takes a lot of motivation, Brown said. 

“My motivation in having new responsibilities and becoming a good noncommissioned officer is the lack of attention I received as a young soldier,” Brown added.  “I want to lead by example and let my soldiers know I’m here for them.”

To be a good quality NCO, one must always stay motivated and be able to keep the morale high in his soldiers.  What they learn during the team leader's course will be the “bread and butter” they take back to their units, said Staff Sgt. Stewart Hirsh, infantryman, Co. C, 1st Bn., 504th P.I.R., 82nd Abn. Div. 

“We want these young paratroopers to be motivated to do the dirty work,” Hirsh said.  “It’s the team leaders, not the commander or first sergeant, who clear the rooms, fight in the trenches and battle in the bunkers.”