Air defense Soldiers navigate Camp Eagle

By Master Sgt. Douglas Middleton, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense ArtilleryFebruary 26, 2015

Land navigation
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. -- Noncommissioned officers from 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery met Feb. 15 at the Camp Eagle Land Navigation Course here to provide hands-on training to upcoming leaders.

Those new leaders, Soldiers from the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade, are enrolled in the Warrior Leader Course (WLC).

Spending their personal time to provide refresher training to junior leaders was not a command-driven directive but just another example of the NCO Corps' commitment to excellence.

To prepare the brigade's Soldiers for this portion of the curriculum, the NCOs gave in-depth instructions on the fundamentals of land navigation which included reading military maps and navigating using a compass.

Once confident with these basic skills the Soldiers embarked on their task of finding three out of four points. Leaders walked the course with the Soldiers from start to finish ensuring the skills were put into action and providing retraining when necessary.

The 3-2nd ADA "Lethal Strike" NCOs leading this volunteer effort stayed on the course until every Soldier demonstrated proficiency.

"The takeaway from this course is that it is without a doubt incredibly beneficial to the success of Soldiers in the brigade," said Sgt. Francisco Flores, Headquarters and Head-quarters Battery, 31st ADA Brigade. "The intent is to continue to hold land navigation training so long as we have Soldiers who are willing to apply themselves and be successful in WLC."

All of the Soldiers from the "Ready and Vigilant" Brigade successfully completed the WLC land navigation practical exam. Many earned perfect scores and attributed their success to the training they received from the small group of NCOs who taught, coached and mentored tomorrow's leaders.