SCHOFIELD BARRACKS -- Deployed a staff sergeant is tasked to receive vital information from a village elder. The unit and the village have a good working relationship and trust is beginning to form.

The staff sergeant meets up with the elder's security guard to escort his squad safely into the village. As he approaches the elder to introduce himself things take a drastic turn. "Who are you and why are you here," the elder says. The squad leader replies with, "We are here for a meeting, and your security guard escorted us."

The elder has no security guard and was unaware of any meeting. Now, what does the squad leader do? It's time to think on his feet and make decisions that could save the lives of everyone involved. Just imagine the degree of difficulty involved in this life-changing decision.

This scenario given and others like it is given to leaders during the 25th Infantry Division's Lightning Academy Adaptive Leaders Program. This program mirrors the Asymmetric Warfare Adaptive Leader Program hosted at Fort A.P. Hill, Va.

Asymmetric warfare is defined as warfare in which opposing groups or nations have unequal military resources, and the weaker opponent uses unconventional weapons and tactics, such as terrorism, to exploit the vulnerabilities of the opposing force.

"The Army's Asymmetrical Group (AWG) has invested a lot of time to make sure we are putting out the best product," said Staff Sgt. Timothy Robinson, LALP Instructor assigned to the Jungle Operations Training Center. "We believe this is very important to the Army because producing agile and adaptive leaders could potentially save lives."

"We go deeper than check-the-block training. This course shows a person who they really are and hits your core values as a leader," Robinson said.

LALP instructors are the primary instructors for each event and AWG personnel gave additional guidance to ensure the best training possible.

The program itself is driven by the Army Learning Model 2015 and forces participants to think about every aspect of a decision.

"This program makes you think outside the box," said Michael Hollis, jungle operations senior instructor. " I would rather have an adaptive Soldier who will be able to think on their own."

"There's a possibility that my Soldier sees something I didn't see, which could save lives," said Hollis. "I believe this course should be at every division. It really challenged me," he added.