Military Training Mission

Training objectives must support the mission profile and meet the commanders desired end state. Prior to the 56TH train up at the National Training Center (NTC) the deployment location changed from Iraq to Afghanistan (case study). Changes to mission essential tasks were not identified prior to NTC, resulting in the BCT training on collective tasks and validated during MRE based on the Iraq mission profile. However, the shift to the Afghanistan mission profile created gaps in training not identified until units arrived at Bagram Air Field (BAF). i.e. the BCT had to establish an MRAP drivers training program at BAF extending the RSOI process. Training gaps were not limited to company level shortfalls as battalion and brigade staffs were not able to anticipate potential threats and capitalize on opportunities. (case study 2)

After constantly waking up to get ready for school it's finally over. What now? Time to live life as a real adult. Everything we feared just came to reality. Most of us are going to college, some of us are going into the military, and others are going straight to work. After all we are going to miss it.

For better or worse, the United States, its allies, and the world are in this conflict together. On an overwhelming scale, wars are fought for the protection of a nation’s sovereignty. The ability to self-govern is dependent on a nation’s ability to protect itself from foreign aggressors. Chertoff points out that by the inauguration of President Barak Obama, in 2009, Al Qaeda went from a national-level terrorist organization, to an insurgency with no state sponsor (Chertoff 2009). This, suggests that there has been an increase in America’s ability to protect its borders from the very threat it is at conflict with. The engagement in conflict, however, benefits more than just the nation which initiates the war. During war, new alliances are formed, and old ones are reinforced. The United States is very effective at ensuring the success of our allies, to guarantee future support. The creation of the Civil Affairs branch, of the United States Army, sought to increase international relations by better preparing other countries to support America’s causes, as well as their own. “When our allies acquire U.S. government equipment, it increasingly enhances our interoperability.” (Helfer, Jones, 2011). One area that seems impaired by the GWOT is international security. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, there have been nearly 100 attempted or

Assisted in designing a training program for Afghan Soldiers which included including establishing minimum criteria for trainees: implementing clear learning objectives; selecting appropriate training methods including classroom instruction, practical

Dr. Williamson Murray once declared a want to develop his Expeditionary Warfare School (EWS) seminar students into hand grenades. His comments were, of course, figurative, but Murray communicated a vision: his company grade students would read more deeply, think more critically, write with greater effect, and ultimately be more willing to challenge conventional wisdom than their peers. Murray, with EWS, engineered the course, from initial selection through the final seminars, to meet his goal of a competent, well-armed officer prepared to make and recommend just decisions grounded in history.

Furthermore RAF/BCTs have tactical benefits. A regional alignment concept results in the identification and resourcing of the proper regional studies, training towards language proficiency and cultural awareness. The requirement for these skill resulted from the experiences and outcomes of wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Culture and language awareness training gives U.S. forces a better improved understanding of the operational environment, an asset critically beneficial in contemporary combat environments .

One day while driving to boy scouts with my grandson he asked me “Papa, have you ever been hurt or shot at while you were in the military?”

The level of training required to become a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division was agonizing. The men were taken on night marches, the first one being eleven miles with full field equipment on. While on these marches, the men were not allowed to have a break, cigarettes or water. As for their level of fitness, it was intense. Their fitness was brutal. The men were required to run Mount Currahee 3 miles up and back down and ran at least three to four times a week unless Lt. Sobel instructed otherwise. After getting adjusted to running, the men could run six miles or more in fifty minutes. They were required to go through an obstacle course daily along with other exercises like: push-ups, pull-ups, and deep-knee bends. However, when it

foreign policy, strategic goals, emerging security concerns, and regional affairs. Earning this graduate degree will further develop my understanding in these critical areas and, most importantly, teach me the skills to stay ahead in the rapidly changing international relations and security environment. Furthermore, I want to enhance the effectiveness of the Army in its many existing partnerships with nations around the world and help shape new ones as my career progresses. It only took a few times out in the villages of Afghanistan to realize that without Afghanistan's Government and their Security Forces as the face of coalition initiatives, the people would never support any of those initiatives. After this lesson in counterinsurgency, I then learned the importance of the alliances we hold with other nations from my most recent assignment to Japan. With our military resources spread across the globe and security challenges from countries like China and North Korea it is evident how crucial our allies and partners like Japan, South Korea, Australia and the South East Asian Nations are to help deter aggression and promote regional stability. I strongly believe our international partnerships are one of, if not, the most critical component of international security and will only continue to increase in importance with the growing number of threats we face. Again, it is because of this I desire a professional academic background in all the complexities of international security and I believe the international security program has all the right components to send me back to the Army a leader in this

Moreover, the great experiences during the Maxwell exercise, including the interagency dynamics and benefited from the differences of the missions and go beyond of comfort zone at interagency and international environment. Indeed, the entire JLASS program helped me to understand more the role of Diplomacy, Development and Defense in the theater of operations. Security Cooperation, Bilateral and Multilateral approaches to the problem was key during our preparation and planning. The initial phase of JLASS was to understand the environment and same time to shape the operational approach based on the World

According to the Mission Command White Paper, “mission command must be institutionalized and operationalized [sic] into all aspects of the joint force” (Dempsey, 2012). Instilling mission command throughout an organization is a command team task (JSOFSEA, n.d.). As a member of the command team, the senior enlisted leader is in a unique position to offer something company grade officers or noncommissioned officers may have only in limited supply. That something is years of professional experience and reflection.

As Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford emphasized in his February 26, 2015 statement to the house subcommittee on defense, “The challenges of the future operating environment will demand that our Nation maintains a force-in-readiness that is capable of global response.” Given today's fiscally constrained environment, the United States Marine Corps (USMC) continues to experiment with new tactics, techniques, and procedures to enable mission efficiency and improve combat effectiveness. Recognizing the gap between traditional crisis response capacity and demand, geographic combatant commanders (GCC) require alternative and creative solutions to traditional employment challenges. The Expeditionary Force 21 concept is one way the Marine Corps is answering that challenge. Expeditionary Force 21 is the USMC’s vision and response to threats in the contemporary environment while observing the limitations of

Now that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down and more troops are returning to their home bases.In some cases there are discipline problems that we have not paid as much attention to as we should. If you allow that to go unnoticed it becomes cancerous. As you can see higher up is already realized numerous amounts of problem to where he speaks publicly about it.

While the United States Army is dedicated to promoting peace, stability and security throughout the world, there are challenges that are necessary to address. Russia, North Korea, China, Iran, the rising of non state actors in the Middle East, and future strategic campaigns all present issues that face the Army. Coupled with budget sequestration, these challenges are amplified.

The Army’s mission is to build forces capable of Unified Land Operations, able to operate effectively with Joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational partners across the range of military operations to provide capable and ready forces to combatant commanders (CCDRs) in support of the National Security and National Defense Strategies, while sustaining and maintaining the quality of the All-Volunteer Force. (United States, 2014)