Garrison Army Training

CPT Daniel Walk, M.B.A. — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 09:52:26 -0500

We are transitioning back to a Garrison Army. Deployments will become fewer. Many of those who will be expected to maintain proficiency of our troops have never experienced a truely garrison environment. How are you going to create and prioritize your unit's training calendar so it supports skill sustainment, allows those most deserving of promotion to distinguish themselves, and does it with nearly no budget?

Response by LTC Jason Bartlett made Dec 12 at 2013 10:46 PM

LTC Jason Bartlett — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 22:46:08 -0500

Be creative and use your imagination. 

Response by SFC James Baber made Dec 12 at 2013 10:47 PM

SFC James Baber — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 22:47:09 -0500

Sir, most installations on the TRADOC side already have templates within the training Brigades, so I am sure many of the TDA units at installations have borrowed those as well for their new training calendars related to the new requirements for the peacetime Army that is going to take effect beginning in 2014.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 9 at 2014 6:27 PM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 18:27:55 -0400

Sir everything we do is training and leader development, it is how you implement it in your unit that determines if it is effective and positive growth training or negative counterproductive training.Shifting focus to home station life and training has the appearance of wasted time and not a challenge, so many feel a loss of mission command and the authority and responsibility they had deployed.  I would tell anyone that home station training, authority, and responsibility is harder and is just as critical.  Home station is where your biggest challenges of enforcing standards and discipline to ensure the safety and discipline of the soldiers are maintained.  You can not have an attitude that leaders checks in the billets, taking care of everyday Soldier issues, and administrative requirements are not training.  everything we do build the leaders of tomorrow and we have had the ability to have others take care of the training of Soldiers, maintenance of our vehicles, and much of our administrative requirements.  Sir focus your organization on learning training management and using it for everything you do.  Your ability to train and sustain Soldiers MOS proficiency and combat skills is not as hard as most Soldiers are thinking.  Get your unit systems and programs developed and functioning.  Once you get that you can build and maintain a battle rhythm just like deployed.There is only a few people left in your unit who understand how to do this and that will be the 1SGs, SGM, CSM, BN CDRs and BDE CDRs.  Seek out their expertise and they can help you make the transition and gain the knowledge, it will make your CMD smoother and you will accomplish more with less.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 22 at 2014 8:35 PM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 20:35:21 -0400

You've just described the Army I joined in 1995...and we did outstanding training. 1st: METL Crosswalk. Do it. Know your BDE and BN METL and understand it. Then decide which Company METL tasks have to be accomplished (your BN CDR will probably have a LOT of input into this). Then take that and break down ALL of the platoon collective tasks. Take it out of ATN and put it into excel...ATN and DTMS are great, but not for this kind of work. Take all those PLT collective tasks and break down ALL of the individual tasks that support them. Then SORT it in excel to determine which individual tasks repeat throughout the PLT Collective Tasks. Those are your HPT (High Payoff Tasks). Individual training starts there with SGT's time and testing. Then on to PLT Collective. Start with OPD/LPD/NCOPD, SGT's time training and then move on to TEWTs, vignettes, terrain walks, and sand table exercises. Then dismounted techniques, then mounted techniques...etc, etc. There is PLENTY to be done that doesn't involve spending ANY money. When you get that time to spend, then spend it wisely and go all out. We don't do Garrison Army Training. We do Army Training. The Army that fought so well in the last 13 years did so because it had a great training foundation. We can't rely on the industrial complex to support us anymore. Now it's up to us to build that foundation of training again.