U.S. Army noncommissioned officers with the 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Stewart, Ga., join their peers in eastern Afghanistan during a video teleconference developmental training s...
LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - U.S. soldiers with the 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, used the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic's program called America's Army - Our Profession Education and Training Program or AAOP as part of their developmental training.
The new training guide, published by CAPE in June, is aimed at revamping the Army's core values and redefining professionalism in the Army.
U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Mosier, the senior enlisted advisor for 703rd BSB or the Maintain Battalion, recognized the importance of the changes and wanted to train the noncommissioned officers of the Maintain Battalion using the AAOP model. He immediately organized weekly Noncommissioned Officer Development Program sessions, on Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan, to prepare his NCOs for the future changes in the Army.
"The Army is always changing and we have to be adaptable and embrace the changes," said Mosier.
Over the course of 10 weeks, Mosier used the CAPE program as the focus of these sessions which placed an emphasis on the five fundamentals of the Army profession - trust, military expertise, honorable service, esprit de corps, and stewardship of the profession.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Isabel Ruiz, an electronic warfare and operations sergeant with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 703rd BSB, attended the NCODP sessions and has seen the positive influence they have had on the battalion.
"The NCODPs [sessions] not only prepare us to be a step ahead of our peers, but they also help strengthen the NCO Corps within our battalion," she said.
Ruiz, a native from Yauco, Puerto Rico, along with the other NCOs in the Maintain Battalion discussed new ideas to help strengthen the NCO Corps during the NCODP sessions.
The 703rd BSB NCOs at home station, in Fort Stewart, Ga., also joined Mosier and their deployed peers through a video conference which allowed them to interact with the each other and helps enhance the discussion portion of the courses.
Mosier's commitment to developing the Soldiers of the Maintain Battalion, both deployed and at home station will help distinguish these soldiers from their peers in a positive manner.
"The goal is to inform our leaders so they can pass the information down to their Soldiers and educate them on what is going on in the Army profession," he added.
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