Soldiers train, build teams, and conduct counseling for First Team Training

By Spc. Paige Behringer, 1st BCT Public Affairs, 1st Cav. Div.August 25, 2014

Soldiers train, build teams, conduct counseling for First Team Training
1 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Staff Sgt. Robert Owen (left) and Spc. Zachary Adkins, both combat engineers assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company "Hammer," 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division, measure distance between two points in a stream to det... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldiers train, build teams, conduct counseling for First Team Training
2 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Spc. Zachary Adkins, a Boscobel, Wisconsin, native and combat engineer assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company "Hammer," 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division, drops a Styrofoam fishing float into a stream while measuri... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldiers train, build teams, conduct counseling for First Team Training
3 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Staff Sgt. Robert Owen (right), a Fort Worth, Texas, native and combat engineer assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company "Hammer," 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division, explains measuring a stream's velocity during First... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldiers train, build teams, conduct counseling for First Team Training
4 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Squadron "Garryowen," 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division practice Modern Army Combatives during First Team Training Aug. 21 at Fort Hood, Tex... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldiers train, build teams, conduct counseling for First Team Training
5 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Daniel Felix (right) and Spc. Wesley Downs, both infantrymen assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company "Hammer," 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division, review loading procedures of an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon durin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldiers train, build teams, conduct counseling for First Team Training
6 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – During First Team Training, Battery A, 1st Battalion "Dragon," 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division rotated Soldiers through four preliminary marksmanship instruction stations, Aug. 21, at Fort Hood... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldiers train, build teams, conduct counseling for First Team Training
7 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to Battery A, 1st Battalion "Dragon," 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division, practice "dime and washer" drills during First Team Training, Aug. 21, at Fort Hood, Texas. During FTT, ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldiers train, build teams, conduct counseling for First Team Training
8 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. 1st Class Marcus Dixon, a Denton, Texas, native and human resource specialist assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company "Hammer," 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division, teaches a class to human resource specialists ac... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

In the midst of preparing for another round of multinational training exercises overseas, Soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division, took a Thursday to focus on professional development during "First Team Training," a 1st Cavalry Division initiative to reinforce and reserve time for the Army's traditional "sergeant's time training."

Throughout the morning of Aug. 21, Ironhorse leaders trained Soldiers on a variety of subjects - from basic Soldier tasks like marksmanship to more specific job-related duties such as determining a stream's velocity before crossing a gap.

"We have our junior leaders - this also includes junior officers - training Soldiers down to the small-unit level with the intent of building their skill sets, but more importantly, building a little bit of camaraderie as well as a more confident, resilient Soldier," said Capt. Michael Falls, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company "Hammer" of the Ironhorse Brigade.

The afternoon hours were set aside for counseling sessions, ensuring individual Soldiers had the opportunity for face-to-face time with leaders.

"We have this presupposition that counseling is always negative, but it also ensures that those junior leaders have the available time to recognize and reinforce those good things our Soldiers are doing on a day-to-day basis," Falls said.

Counseling Soldiers is a means to assist and teach them what they need to improve while helping them understand their responsibilities and duties as Soldiers, said Sgt. 1st Class Casey Brown, a fire support specialist assigned to Hammer Company.

"If (you) don't give someone a guideline and tell them specifically what it is they need to do, then they can't improve," Brown said. "If you tell them (when) they're doing a good job, you've established trust (and) communication, and you've established a standard to which you expect your Soldier to adhere."

Brown said the benefit of counseling is the two-way conversation created between leader and subordinate, which can also help create better leaders.

Between training and counseling, Falls said he believes the camaraderie between leaders and Soldiers improves by setting this time aside each Thursday.