FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- The U.S. Army Forces Command senior enlisted adviser met with Soldiers and leaders from the 10th Mountain Division (LI) during a visit Jan. 10-11 to Fort Drum.
On his first morning with the division, Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Schroeder participated in snowshoe physical readiness training with 10th Mountain Division Sustainment Brigade Soldiers.
"Snowshoe PT was probably the (most enjoyable) thing I'll experience for the rest of the week," Schroeder said during a briefing with 10th Mountain Division leaders. "It isn't very often leaders get to experience something like that."
Following the PRT session, unique to Mountain Soldiers, Schroeder spoke with division leaders about ongoing challenges and training initiatives in preparation for upcoming real-world missions and deployments.
With 10th Mountain Division having one of the highest deployment rates in the Army, the division command team stressed the importance of readiness and resources needed to provide realistic training to set Soldiers up for success.
In addition to the command perspective, Schroeder wanted to hear from junior-enlisted Soldiers. He attended a round-table luncheon with representatives from each brigade and other organic Fort Drum units to gain insight and field questions.
During the session, he shared personal stories of his leadership experiences and encouraged Soldiers to take the initiative.
"When are you going to be a leader?" Schroeder asked as he directly engaged those in attendance. "I'm looking at my (private second class) over there.
"Here's what I'll tell you. You start getting ready now, because guess what? You might not get to choose when you have to be a leader."
He described how, in the midst of an attack, 101st Airborne Division Soldiers were forced to step up and take charge regardless of grade or position.
"Don't underestimate the impact that you have on troopers. Everybody has the ability to have impact on Soldiers, regardless of what your rank or grade is," Schroeder said. "Train, lead and inspect -- that's the only thing you need you to do.
"But you need to master that though," he added. "(You've got to) master that across the technical and tactical proficiencies."
Schroeder discussed possible changes to the Army Physical Fitness Test, troop numbers and integrating women into combat arms.
"This is a big time in the Army right now," Schroeder said. "There's a lot of changes going on. We have social changes, structural changes and force changes, and we're trying to focus on readiness.
We were an Army of 570,000 not too long ago -- about 2008-2009 timeframe, when we were surging in to Iraq and building up in Afghanistan. It's at (460,000) and now we gotta go to (476,000)."
To better explain integration of female Soldiers into combat arms, he shared a scenario.
"If you were doing some form of activity like a release ruck march or release run, and (a female Soldier) was getting ready to pass you, would you run harder?" he asked the male Soldiers.
They responded in unison. "Roger, Sergeant Major!"
"You would run harder?" he asked again.
"Yes, Sergeant Major!" they repeated with confidence.
"So now, not only is your platoon better, but now you're personally better for having that Soldier with you," Schroeder said.
He then addressed the female Soldiers.
"So now what I tell our female Soldiers is 'hey, let's not fool ourselves. The average female will never be able to keep up with the average male, physically,'" he said, shrugging.
"So don't be average. You can't be average. (You've got to) be better than average," Schroeder added.
The Soldiers in attendance were hand-selected by their commands for their stellar performance within their units. In closing, Schroeder recognized the Soldiers for their contributions to their organizations by presenting each of them with a coin of excellence.
Later that evening, Schroeder visited with instructors from 10th Mountain Division's Light Fighters School, which houses many courses to include the Army Air Assault Course, Pre-Ranger School, Machine Leaders Course, Urban Combat Leader Course, Rifle Marksmanship Instructor Course, Mountain Warfare Course and the Mountain Athlete Warrior Course or MAW.
MAW teaches leaders the proper way to re-condition Soldiers and send them back into their formations. Trained leaders use Field Manual 7-22 as a guide in conducting PRT sessions to limit overuse injuries.
"Talking to the leaders across the division, we are seeing a very good benefit from MAW -- the injury prevention, the proper conducting of exercises to prevent injury and then the battalion run Unbreakable Warrior profile PT program -- to where we're focusing on what can you do, not what you can't do, (and push you) until muscle failure," said Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Albertson, 10th Mountain Division senior enlisted adviser, as he described the importance of the course.
Schroeder had a chance to see Unbreakable Warrior PT in action on his last day with the division, and he received a tour of the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade hangars.
"We are the only location with storage large enough to be able to hangar all aircraft for inclement weather and national disasters," said 1st Sgt. Adam S. Barber, D Troop, 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 10th CAB, while describing the unique capabilities 10th Mountain Division offers for its aviation assets.
"What that means is savings in equipment maintenance and man-hours. It also greatly decreases the time it takes to get aircraft off the ground in North Country weather."
"It's really good to see that we have some facilities here that are helping them build readiness in their combat mission," Schroeder said of the aviation facilities.
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