JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Last week, 23 newcomers to the 189th Infantry Brigade, First Army Division West took part in Cold Steel Academy at the U.S. Army Reserve Training Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, a unique training opportunity within the First Army framework to ensure their success while serving with the unit as Observer, Coach, Trainers (OC/Ts).
“The importance of this course is to provide an outline of what their job as an OC/T is going to look like and what [resources and doctrine] they will be applying,” said Sgt. 1st Class Ian Moffatt, a vertical construction OC/T assigned to 3-364th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 189th Inf. Bde.
Since its inception, the course has adapted to better meet the training requirements outlined by both policy and doctrinal standards.
“Its mission in its current iteration is to address the majority of Phase I requirements for First Army’s four-phase OC/T certification,” said Staff Sgt. Jessica Foster, a geospatial intelligence OC/T also assigned to 3-364th Bde. Eng. Btn., 189th Inf. Bde. “Our intent is to conduct classroom instruction, to facilitate drivers training opportunities as well as Tactical Combat Casualty Care certification to make sure [students complete] as many of their initial requirements as possible before they go to York Academy for their First Army level certification, which trains them on conducting collective exercises, how to facilitate an effective AAR and how to build and evaluate training lanes.”
Both instructors have been teaching the course for roughly a year, and are constantly reviewing training methodologies to ensure efficiency.
“There are always improvements that can be made, but despite the class size being much larger than usual, I thought it went absolutely phenomenal,” Moffatt said.
Brigade Leadership has long had an appreciation for the educational benefits the program provides in ensuring its Soldiers are ready to train units effectively.
“Cold Steel Academy actually started off as the ‘Rampant Academy’, a program solely serving under the brigade engineer battalion,” Foster said. “The [brigade-wide] program in its current form has been around for about two years, but the idea of having a centralized course that takes care of all Phase I requirements took place within the battalion well before.”
The course also helps introduce new OC/Ts to other OC/Ts throughout the brigade.
“I think when you show up to something like this, at first you don’t know what to expect,” Moffatt said. “As they start working more within their shops, talk to more people and start understanding the language we use here, it really helps them break in.”
Cold Steel Academy is structured to assist Leaders build upon their previous experiences to develop their proficiency as OC/Ts.
“We facilitate discussions and get out that 85 percent the training audience knows and help lead them to the 15 percent that we are trying to make sure they are learning with us,” Foster said. “You have a lot of people with a lot of knowledge coming from different backgrounds, and then having that standard pushed out through the academy, we get everyone at least aware of who others are and train them on the specifics and how we all fit together.”
The course bolsters the brigade’s goal of cultivating a culture of learning and development.
“I’m always impressed by that spirit of collaboration and willingness to learn and grow as individuals within the organization,” Foster said.
Ultimately, the program has been recognized as a best practice throughout the division by providing a common knowledge base.
“It definitely makes a huge difference when they go to their next level of certification in terms of the knowledge base they have going in there compared to [those from other brigades],” Moffatt said.
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