FORT BENNING, Ga., (July 29, 2015) -- To build more smart, fast, lethal and precise leaders within the U.S. Army, capable of winning in a complex world, the 199th Infantry Brigade is looking at a way to better train their leaders on the development of adaptive thinking, initiative, agility and confidence in all training.
The Asymmetric Warfare Group is heading the Adaptive Soldier Leader Training Education initiative coming to Fort Benning. ASLTE enhances learning in training settings while also encouraging deeper understanding of complex topics in educational settings, said Blaise Cornell-d'Echert Jr., training integration manager for AWG.
"We train for certainty and we educate for uncertainty - that's in our doctrine," said Cornell-d'Echert said.
The last 15 years have taught the AWG that time cannot be spent on specifically Army training and or specifically Army education, Cornell-d'Echert said, but that the two need to be brought together. "... it needs to be Army learning," he said. "And, that is what ASLTE does."
The ASLTE idea brings the critical and creative thinking skills - that knowledge component of education - onto the training site, Cornell-d'Echert said.
The 199th Inf. Bde. houses the Officer Candidate School and the Henry Caro Noncommissioned Officer Academy as well as the Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course and Armor Basic Officer Leader Course. For this reason, the ASLTE concept is being implemented within the 199th Inf. Div. to allow the future leaders of the Army to start thinking and training differently.
"Since (the 199th Inf. Div. is) the leader brigade that has all of the different leader development programs under one unit, it is ideal for us to take advantage of the ASLTE principles and train up our cadre so they can provide world-class training to the students," said Maj. Chris De Ruyter, brigade operations officer, 199th Inf. Bde.
The AWG, a Training and Doctrine Command component, is not bound by structured formats, which allows for improvements based on feedback. The group works as a team to be able to exchange ideas.
Lt. Col. Matthew Butler, AWG program manager, said the Maneuver Center of Excellence was the best possible candidate to take part in ASLTE for a number of reasons.
"We believe (Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, commanding general of the MCoE), to be a very visionary leader who understands, accepts, embraces this new approach," Butler said.
Fort Benning also houses a large concentration of future Soldiers and leaders, which makes it a "center of gravity," Butler said.
Miller directed the 199th Inf. Bde. to lead the effort toward incorporating the ASLTE approach into their education and training.
"Our focus right now is trying to change the methodology for those who are currently teaching," Butler said.
The 199th Inf. Bde. will provide a five-day program, guided by AWG, four times a year where IBOLC, ABOLC, NCOA and OCS cadre will learn the principles of ASLTE and how they can use those in their training. The first iteration will be early in September.
Cornell-d'Echert said through the ASLTE approach, instructors will get this idea planted in them and experience it. Then, by having the experience in an ASLTE learning environment and understanding ASLTE at the same time, they're going to turn around and change their behaviors to become better instructors.
"They'll understand how to be teaching tasks and skills and knowledge but at the same time developing the 21st (-century) Soldier competencies," Cornell-d'Echert said.
Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series introducing ASLTE. A follow-up article will publish in the Sept. 9 edition.
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