Surrounded by hundreds of new U.S. Army recruits who lined the track right outside the 35th Combat Engineering Battalion’s barracks on Fort Leonard Wood, 29-year-old Hunter Young gained some respect and empathy for what recruits' experience before becoming future green suiters after completing his first Army Combat Fitness Test.
“These are totally different standards than what you find in your average gym or weight room. So, it feels good to be able to meet those standards and to test myself out here because it's extremely hard to do,” said Young, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers natural resource specialist at Clinton Lake in Lawrence, Kansas.
On a brisk October morning, Young was not alone in his newfound admiration for the U.S. Army’s training and capabilities. He was alongside 11 other Kansas City District employees who were selected for the 2025 Leadership Development Program.
Paul Ceesay is a drill sergeant for the 35th Combat Engineering Battalion and led the group of civilians through some of the various training exercises like donning their Army uniforms properly, and how to make their bunks inspection ready per Army standards.
To the 11-year Army leader, there is much value in teaching the group of civilians U.S. Army values.
“I want them, for the rest of their life and in their careers, to be able to be in the right place, right time and right uniform,” Sgt. 1st Class Ceesay said. “Part of what we drill in them is the Army’s culture and traditions.”
Although a civilian leadership program is conducted by all USACE districts, the LDP kick-off event at Fort Leonard Wood is unique to the Kansas City District’s year-long program. The major point of the four-day event is to give these civilians a quick look at a soldier’s lifestyle by taking them out of the comfort zones their cubicles or project offices provide.
Each day was packed with educational classes and team building exercises such as living together in the barracks and performing physical fitness as a group. But most importantly, the civilians witnessed some of the Army combat engineers’ capabilities out in the field like diving, demolition, arms training and bridge building.
“Coming down here, we get to see a little bit of what that life's like. It helps us design better and construct better on the civilian side. I think that helps us better serve them,” said Bob Schoen, the Kansas City District construction control branch chief and 2019 LDP program coordinator.
Other senior military officers, program mentors and upper management within the Kansas City District were there to support the 2025 LDP class every step of the way throughout the various trainings.
Col. Andrew Niewohner, Kansas City District commander, says structuring the program this way is both purposeful and strategic since USACE, as an institution, has no formal leadership development system.
“The LDP program is absolutely critical and if you look across the district, pretty much every senior leader we have has been through the program. So, this is an opportunity for us to take what we see as the future leaders of the district 10 to 15 years from now and put them in challenging situations particularly during the first week, so that team gets a good chance to find themselves and come together,” Col. Niewohner said.
Arguably the most challenging situation or team building exercise the class faced during their time at Fort Leonard Wood, was what has been dubbed the U.S. Army’s “Confidence Course.”
The daunting 22-stage obstacle course simulates many of the impediments Army soldiers may experience in theater. Its secondary or subconscious purpose is to build confidence within soldiers and civilians as they complete each task successively.
“Today has been my favorite day because we got to do the obstacle course and this crazy thing behind me looked insane and intimidating,” Bridget Marie Lewis said, referring to the “Slide for Life” obstacle that she completed successfully.
Lewis, the Kansas City District project manager for the environmental section and 2025 LDP class member not only expressed gratitude for being selected to the program, but her first experience with U.S. Army culture and history as well – although her USACE position doesn’t work directly with active-duty soldiers as others within the enterprise do.
“It's really impressive the pride they have in everything they do here, and you just get a sense of how seriously they take their task,” Lewis said. “So, we should also take our task very seriously since we're providing for them (U.S. Army). They’ve inspired me to do that.”
The week of new experiences at one of the U.S. Army’s premiere training installations is the foundation for the many new skills and governance tactics the 2025 LDP class will gain exposure to over the next 12 months.
“We have multiple different points of instruction on different leadership things such as empathy negotiations, presentations and public speaking, to help give them those tools to really bring out what's already inside of them,” Col. Niewohner said. “We want to bring that forward and make them comfortable with it.”
As the current Kansas City District commander, the 2025 LDP class is his first and his expectations on what they bring back to their positions within USACE are high.
“Ultimately, what we expect from them is to go back to their day-to-day jobs after this and use the skills they've built [in the program], to build that internal team within their sections and branches, so we’re a stronger district throughout,” he said.
The Kansas City District selects 12 Department of the Army civilians through an application and interview process to participate in the LDP class each year. The program begins during an orientation in September, but truly begins at the beginning of October with the training event at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Throughout the year, the class participates in 10 academic classes; are tasked to read and report on specific literature; conduct group and individual projects; take a trip to Washington D.C.; and use mentorship and shadowing opportunities to learn and understand how to grow as leaders. The program ends every August with a graduation ceremony at the Kansas City District headquarters.
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