More than 40 Thunderbirds of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team have begun the next step in their military education while deployed to Ukraine at the Yavoriv Combat Training Center.
"Basic Leader Course is an institution for teaching future leaders," said Staff Sgt. Michael Semanko, an instructor from the 7th Army Training Command's Noncommissioned Officer Academy. "It is the first level of NCO professional development and covers many topics, like drill and ceremony, resiliency, equal opportunity and physical readiness training."
The Basic Leader Course is considered the first step in an NCOs professional education and is the first formal school many Soldiers attend after advanced individual training where they learn the specifics of their military occupational specialty.
Unlike AIT, BLC is non-MOS specific and is geared toward Soldiers getting ready to become NCOs. During the course, they will be tested both physically and mentally. They will learn about land navigation, tactical situational training exercises, and fitness training as well as resiliency, equal opportunity and ethical problem-solving.
The Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 279th Infantry Regiment, 700th Brigade Support Battalion and the Brigade headquarters who are deployed with the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine are attending the course during a 22-day break between helping Ukrainian army cadre train Ukrainian units.
"They'll take away what the standard looks like, what they learn from each other, and they'll have better understanding of what it means to be a leader," Semanko said.
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