New team leader proves his mettle at validation exercise

FORT STEWART, Ga. - The first leader a young Soldier may have after initial entry training is a team leader. They encourage, influence and mold the future generation of Soldiers.

Team leaders of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division proved their ability to train and employ their young Soldiers during a team live-fire exercise (LFX) Aug. 23-25 at Fort Stewart, Ga.

One of B Co.'s certifying team leaders was infantryman Spc. Jacob Dailey, who earned his position two weeks prior to the LFX.

"It was very exciting!" said Dailey. "Not only me being a new team leader, but most of my team team were new also."

An LFX improves team development for infantry units and helps senior leaders validate their teams. During the training, teams built camaraderie while leaders developed abilities to communicate and maneuver with their Soldiers in a combat scenario.

"A team leader, to me is someone who leads from the front," said Dailey. "A team leader is also a person someone can look up to and learn from."

Team leaders are often challenged with directing Soldiers and maintaining their team's composure under stress, while reporting any deficiencies they may have during an assault to their squad leader.

"Being a new team leader, this was my first training exercise." said Dailey. "There are many things I need to learn, like giving commands and controlling my team."

"Overcoming these challenges was not too difficult when you have great leaders above you that can sit you down and help you on different kinds of problems and scenarios." Dailey explained.

Squad leaders played a role in validating their team leaders by observing maneuvers and listening to commands they gave. Team leaders received an after action review so they would know what they need to improve or what they should continue.

"Dailey performed very well for being his first time leading Soldiers in a team live-fire exercise," said Sgt. Jesse Harlen, Dailey's squad leader. "He never once broke under pressure. He took all the advice and critiques from his mistakes."

As a team leader, it is Dailey's responsibility to always have his team, along with himself, to be ready for the next big training exercise and missions.

"My team did awesome at this team live-fire training!" said Dailey, "That being said, we will always have things we need to improve on. For example, the next big training event we have is a squad live-fire, so my team and I am looking forward to that."