JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –Maj. Gen. Dennis P. LeMaster, Commander U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence, or MEDCoE, visited units during a rotation at the National Training Center, or NTC, and Weed Army Community Hospital at Fort Irwin, California.
“We visited the National Training Center, which is the world’s premiere training opportunity, to observe the Army Health System at the Brigade Combat Team Level,” said LeMaster. “I was very impressed with the operations group staff, the observer controller/trainers, and the realistic training they provide to the operating force.”
While at the NTC, LeMaster, who is also the 19th Chief of the Medical Service Corps, conducted an aerial terrain tour with Brig. Gen. Curtis Taylor, Commanding General of Fort Irwin and the NTC. LeMaster also received an NTC Surgeon and Rotational overview brief from the staff, conducted medical key leader engagements and observed Medical Command and Control and Evacuation capabilities of Role 1 and Role 2 medical operations training. LeMaster took the opportunity to conduct a leader professional development session during a visit to Weed Army Community Hospital LeMaster.
LeMaster was accompanied on the three-day trip by Maj. Davarius Sharpe, an instructor at the Captains Career Course, or CCC, and Officer Project Warrior Manager.
LeMaster said, “During the visit, Maj. Sharpe helped us assess the Project Warrior program to ensure we get the right talent in observer controller/trainer positions as well as manage their follow-on assignments well.”
Project Warrior is a four-year course designed for Army officers with the objective to infuse observations and experiences gained from multiple, immersive Combat Training Center, or CTC, rotations and Army exercises back into the Army Professional Military Education system as instructors. The goal of the program is to pass on insights and knowledge from the CTCs to benefit the U.S. Training and Doctrine Command Centers of Excellence and the force.
Project Warrior Officers like Sharpe serve two years at a CTC followed by years at a CoE as a small group instructor. Sharpe, who served two years at the NTC, now shares his knowledge with students at MEDCoE since his arrival, June 2021.
“I chose the Project Warrior program to take everything I learned and pass it on to junior leaders,” said Sharpe in an interview just after his arrival to the MEDCoE. He said the program helps bring operational experience from a combat training environment and insight from different Brigade Combat Teams and doctrine back to new leaders at the centers of excellence.
“As a small group leader in the CCC, I will be providing more insight on the operational side of medical operations,” Sharpe continued. “A lot of the times, junior leaders come to the CoE without a lot of operational experience in the combat environment, so I will bring that to the table and teach our junior officers how to employ themselves operationally.”
LeMaster, who has commanded the MEDCoE since January 2020, views his first visit to NTC while in command as a success. He said Sharpe brought a great perspective during the entire trip. He was most impressed by the entire NTC command and staff. “Many thanks to Brig. Gen. Curt Taylor and his team,” said LeMaster. “It was a wonderful and productive visit.”
The Army Project Warrior Program is open to Active Component captains in the following branches: Infantry, Engineer, Armor, Field Artillery, Air Defense, Aviation, Signal, Military Police, Military Intelligence, Chemical, Logistics, and Medical Service. Officers and/or the chain of command interested in the Project Warrior Program should contact the individual’s Assignment Officer for more information about the program and specific questions regarding an individual candidate’s status. Assignment Officer contact information may be found at the appropriate branch link on the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Officer Personnel Management Directorate homepage, with additional information available at https://www.hrc.army.mil/Milper/19-208.
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