Photo By Cpl. Naomi May | Master Sgt. Michael Taft, a Marine Corps Recruiting Command National Training Team...... read more read more
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In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Marine Corps Recruiting Command National Training Team created new, web-based classes to continue training Marine recruiting personnel.
Department of Defense-wide travel restrictions meant to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus have prevented many service members from being able to attend in-person training.
“I think change is important and necessary for everyone to improve, adapt and grow,” said Master Sgt. Michael Rudin. “COVID-19 caught everyone by surprise, but it gave us the gift of evolution, and we will continue to evolve and do our best to prepare for the unknown.”
The team, based at the command’s headquarters aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, develops curriculum for courses recruiters and other recruiting personnel attend, including the Basic Recruiter Course, Career Recruiters Course, Recruiter Management Course and more. Hundreds of Marine recruiters and command group members graduate each year from the courses NTT develops. The NTT also occasionally contributes to training that Fleet Marine Force units host, teaching them modified communication skills packages. The NTT is currently using the Adobe Connect program to facilitate web-based training. It enables two-way communication through video teleconferencing, while supporting the display of a Power Point slide and sharing documents and text chats with the group.
The NTT also created a virtual training library, which consists of best practices and tools to assist recruiting operations at all echelons of MCRC. These tools are continuously being updated based on feedback.
The team currently consist of five Marines and one civilian: Chief Warrant Officer 5 Christopher Mayfield, the officer in charge of the NTT; Master Gunnery Sgt. Juan Hernandez, a prior service recruiter; Master Sgt. Michael Rudin, and Master Sgt. Michael Taft, and Master Sgt. Victor Montanez, all training team members; and Matthew "Mark" Manieri, who is the training specialist.
The team worked with MCRC’s communication section to find a digital solution that would help them overcome the COVID-19 related travel restrictions that threatened to derail their training plan. They settled on the Adobe Connect program because it was already in use for distance education in the Marine Corps and could meet their requirements. Working eight to 10-hour shifts, they had the virtual curriculum ready for trial in just four days.
After they finished creating the curriculum, they invited Erika Jacobs from the College of Distance Education and Training to conduct an Adobe Connect tutorial and answer questions.
“She was impressed with our work because it was something she had not come across before,” Rudin said. “She requested that we join her Podcast on April 29.”
The team has discovered over the last few months that training virtually can help instructors maximize efficiency, reduce the number personnel required and increase frequency of training while saving travel costs to the government.
“The biggest impact will be at the lower levels [like recruiting stations] in time savings and training frequency,” Mayfield said.
Master Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Kolniak, the recruiter instructor for Recruiting Station Raleigh in Raleigh, North Carolina recently attended the NTT’s Recruiting Instructor Course virtually.
“Utilizing the Adobe Connect program was easy to learn from a student’s perspective,” Kolniak said. “I feel that any Marine can use and understand the basic functions of Adobe Connect.” He also added, “When on a break, lunch or end of the day, I was able to handle daily duties while still in my area of operations.”
Currently, the NTT is considering uses for virtual training to compliment traditional courses in the future, but said that it will not entirely replace in-person training. Still, the team members are proud of their accomplishments during the pandemic.
“The National Training Team Members as a whole — we are one team and support each other daily,” Rudin said. “We worked together simultaneously to get this done, and it showed.”
| Date Taken: | 06.01.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 06.02.2020 18:36 |
| Story ID: | 371174 |
| Location: | QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 113 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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