Warrior Leader Course builds next generation of NCO leaders

FORT POLK, La. -- Throughout 2009, the Army has placed emphasis on the importance of an experienced Noncommissioned Officers Corps and the need for competent NCOs to train a command's Soldiers by designating this the "Year of the NCO."

But how do you develop the quality NCOs needed to be true leaders during a time when the military faces a two-front war'

On Fort Polk, one of the steps in that development happens at the Warrior Leadership Course, formally known as the NCO Academy.

The WLC was initially organized and staffed by the 49th Armor Division, Texas National Guard, when it was called to service during the Vietnam conflict in 1961. It was called the Fort Polk NCO Academy.

Its mission was to train trainee leaders for basic combat leadership slots. In 1965 it began receiving students from as far away as Fort Hood and Fort Bliss, Texas, to take part in the first Drill Sergeant School.

During the following years, the academy taught other courses such as the Leadership Preparation Course, Modified Basic Training, Special Training and the NCO Course. In 1972 the academy was tasked with establishing a special leadership course for grades E-4 through E-6.

The academy received a new name in 1975 when it became the 5th Infantry Division NCO Academy. Over the next few years the academy added such courses as Primary NCO Academy for combat arms, Primary Leadership Course for combat support and combat service support and the Basic NCO Course for combat arms. The PLC course was accredited by the Training and Doctrine Command for the Primary Leadership Development Course in 1984.

On Oct. 15, 2005, the PLDC became the Warrior Leader Course and was redesigned to prepare Soldiers for asymmetrical warfare. The WLC is constantly updated to reflect current tactics, techniques and procedures used by both coalition and anti-coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In January 2008, the WLC absorbed most of the post individual replacement-training program after the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, deployed to Iraq. The WLC trained and certified more than 700 Soldiers to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan and join the 4th BCT, 10th Mtn Div, 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade and 115th Combat Support Hospital. The WLC turned over that mission back to the 4th BCT upon its redeployment in February.

Command Sgt. Maj. Randy McGee, commandant of the WLC, said its cadre trains prospective and newly appointed sergeants in basic leadership skills, NCO duties and responsibilities and how to conduct performance-oriented training.

"We teach young Soldiers and leaders to understand their role as an NCO and what their responsibilities are as a leader," McGee said. "They must figure out that as an NCO, they must provide leadership instead of friendship."

McGee said the course strives to produce battle competent NCOs who are qualified as team and squad leaders. The course is non-military occupational specialty specific and taught using small group instruction with practical application and hands-on performance-oriented training. Students are assessed on their ability to apply lessons learned and effectively lead their classmates in a tactical environment.

It's easy to list the WLC's goals, but a better idea of the program's effectiveness comes from those who have passed through the school's doors.

Spc. Lori Burchfield, C Company, 94th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th BCT, 10th Mtn Div, said she attended the academy to become a better leader and learn how to train her Soldiers.

"Our instructors are all battle-tested veterans," she said. "They've been there; it's not something they've learned from a book, it's something they've experienced."

Spc. Jacob Southern, 5th Battalion, 25th Artillery Regiment, 4th BCT, 10th Mtn Div, assigned to teach a class on first aid for an open chest wound as part of the course of instruction, compared today's WLC with the NCO academies of the past 10-20 years.

"Twenty years ago, this was just a class," he said. "No one thought they would be faced with a sucking chest wound; it couldn't - or wouldn't - happen to them.

"Today, with IEDs (improvised explosive devices), it's a very real possibility. That's why it's important we learn and retain everything they teach us during this course."

Sgt. Arnaldo Gomez, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th BCT, 10th Mtn Div, said he hopes to take away something from all of the cadre and his classmates.

"You can learn leadership skills from everyone," he said. "Then you take the best and come up with your own style."

Spc. Jay Youngblood, 209th Military Police Company, 519th Military Police Battalion, 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, said it's beneficial having combat tested instructors.

"They can teach us out of the book and interject their own personal experiences down range," he said.

Sgt. Joel Cordell, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 509th Infantry Regiment, Joint Readiness Training Center Operations Group, agreed.

"It's good having an instructor who has been to the fight," he said. "You'll listen to them more than someone who has dodged deployments and tells you, 'if I were to go, this is what I'd do.'

"These guys have been there."

McGee said it's his hope that Soldiers who pass through the doors of the WLC return to their units better Soldiers and NCOs than when they began the class.

"That's our goal," he said. "To create the next generation of Army NCO leadership."