TTC Knox impresses CASCOM quality assurance team

By Sgt. 1St Class Phillip Eugene 80th Training Command Public AffairsMarch 30, 2014

TTC Knox impresses CASCOM quality assurance team
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Master Sgt. Luis Beltran, senior non commissioned officer, Combined Arms Support Command, Quality Assurance Team, Fort Lee Va., solicits feedback from students attending a Unit Supply Specialist reclassification course at 8th/104th Quartermaster Bat... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
TTC Knox impresses CASCOM quality assurance team
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Shane Rich, the Quartermaster and quality assurance team chief of Combined Arms Support Command Directorate of Lessons Learned and Quality Assurance, briefs Tactical Training Center Knox leadership regarding the results of an accreditation assessment... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Sgt. 1st Class Scott Milward didn't know what to expect after a two person quality assurance team from Combined Arms Support Command, Fort Lee Va., conducted an accreditation assessment of the Unit Supply Specialist reclassification course at 8th/104th Quartermaster Battalion, 1st Brigade, 94th Training Division, Fort Knox Ky., March 17-20, 2014.

"I'd never been through an accreditation process with TRADOC (Training Doctrine Command) or CASCOM," said Milward, Tactical Training Center Knox, non-commissioned officer in charge. "We're doing surprisingly well, not really having a benchmark to shoot from except for a few notes from the last accreditation."

The assessment focused on the instructors' ability to teach the Unit Supply Specialist course in accordance with the proponent commandant's guidance and standard. The team's mission is to assess and accredit all U.S. Army Quartermaster training world wide. Team members observe each school's training and testing processes and they review the facilities' policies and procedures. They also interview students and instructors separately to give each group an opportunity to be candid about each individual's experience at the school.

"We can tell if an institution is one of excellence, or whether it meets the requirements, or we can say that the institution is not in accordance with the requirements," said Master Sgt. Luis Beltran, senior NCO, COSCOM Quality Assurance Team.

The assessment occurred at an opportune time for the training center since it's currently implementing One Army School system procedures as directed by the Department of the Army through U.S. Army TRADOC and the school's major subordinate command, the 80th Training Command (TASS).

The OASS standardizes education for Army schools regardless of component, so once TTC Knox is compliant, Active Duty and Reserve Soldiers as well as National Guardsmen will be able to receive quartermaster reclassification training at the school.

Shane Rich, the Quartermaster and quality assurance team chief of COSCOM's Directorate of Lessons Learned and Quality Assurance, said his team doesn't determine whether the school is OASS compliant, but the visit does have a direct relationship to the school's implementation of the system, since the school is expected to be compliant by the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2015.

"We're still looking at the equivalency of training between the Reserve Component and the Active Army," Rich said.

Beltran, who visited the facility in September 2012, said he saw significant improvements since the last visit.

"The quality of the instruction...testing, learning, leadership, the professional environment of the institution; we're pretty satisfied with that," Beltran said.

Rich said the student instructor interaction at the TTC was productive, the Program of Instruction and lesson plans were current, and the testing was properly executed.

Milward said, improvements like the standardization of class rooms and changes to the school's Standing Operating Procedures have helped the instructors, and could contribute to helping them meet of the OASS requirements.