Photo By Maj. Maryjane Porter | U.S. Army Senior Reserve Training Corps (SROTC) instructors from Task Force...... read more read more
Story and photo by:
Maj. Peter C. Hjelmstad, Assistant Professor of Military Science
4th Battalion, 414th Regiment, 1st Brigade, 104th Division (LT)
FORT CARSON, Colo. - Just about any military officer who commissioned through Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) recalls their time at Cadet Summer Training (CST). The name and location for CST has changed over the years, but currently it is a 5-week course at Fort Knox, Kentucky, that cadets must attend between their junior and senior years of college. CST is a time where cadets are assigned leadership positions and assessed on their leadership performance. The assessments are used to determine which component and branch the cadet will receive once they commission.
When CST was cancelled for the summer of 2020 due to COVID-19, ROTC programs were asked to form a Task Force, analyze CST and replicate it on a smaller scale closer to home. This abbreviated CST would be known as Operation Agile Leader (OAL).
OAL is U.S. Army Cadet Command's answer to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here future commissioned officers enrolled in ROTC programs across the country are trained closer to home in small clusters in order to protect the health of the force rather than congregating them at Fort Knox for the annual Cadet Summer Training (CST).
ROTC departments from Colorado State, University of Colorado – Boulder, University of Colorado – Colorado Springs, and the University of Wyoming grouped together to develop Task Force Colorado/Wyoming (TF CO/WY). TF CO/WY OAL was then decided to be held here at Fort Carson, Colorado, in August 2020.
New to planning and staffing such an event, the four schools relied on commissioned officers and noncommissioned officers of 4th Battalion, 414th Regiment, 1st Brigade, 104th Division (LT), to help plan, organize, and conduct the event. Traditionally, members of the 4-414 SROTC supplement the staff at these schools during the school year as assistant professors of military science and senior operations sergeants, but don’t normally participate in or staff CST.
In support of this year's training exercise, eight officers and NCOs helped with the TF CO/WY OAL by planning, managing logistics, evaluating cadets, staffing ranges and land navigation courses, and helping with anything else that needed to be done.
On Aug. 6, 2020, TF CO/WY OAL began with an initial COVID screening and in-processing. Cadets then headed to the field for four days of Situational Training Exercise (STX) lanes. Several 4-414 SROTC instructors served as observers, coaches, trainers and completed cadet leadership evaluations. After the STX lanes, cadets completed both day and night land navigation courses. For the final event, cadets qualified with M16 rifles at the range.
Overall, TF CO/WY OAL was a great success. It met the intent of replacing this year’s CST. Special thanks to 4-414 SROTC staff that included Maj. Lance Cartrite, Maj. Tim Hilke, Maj. Peter Hjelmstad, Maj. Sarah McInerney, Maj. Katie Rojewski, Maj. Jeff Ullmer, and Sgt. 1st Class Joshua White.
| Date Taken: | 08.06.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.27.2020 14:07 |
| Story ID: | 381841 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 182 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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