Photo By Staff Sgt. Matthew Lumagui | Soldiers assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, approach the shore of Grayrocks...... read more read more
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The 4th Infantry Division conducts a Division Leaders Academy (DLA) July 19 through July 21, 2022. DLA, a three day training event staged in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, emphasized the commanding general’s leadership philosophy and instilled the Ivy Spirit - I believe in myself, my teammates and my leaders - into key leaders across the post.
The events began in Fort Carson, Colorado with Combat Water Survival Training and cold load training to prepare participants for one of the main events - helocasting.
Divided into four different teams of ten, participants traveled from Fort Carson to Wyoming and proceeded to jump out of an aircraft into the Grayrocks reservoir. Helocasting is an infortraction technique mostly used by unconventional forces. For most DLA participants, this would be the first and only time in their career where this task would be executed.The next event was a quarter-mile swim to shore.
“I think if I would have thought about jumping out of an aircraft into water, I probably wouldn’t have done it,” Lt. Col. Ebony Thomas, Commander of the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Inf. Div. says. “But just to see my peers do it, compelled me to follow them. I am glad I did - it was amazing.”
Once on shore, teams carried rafts down into the water of the Grayrocks Reservoir, where they raced to the CH-47 landing area three miles downstream. Some teams encountered sandbars that forced them to pick up the raft and carry it into deeper waters to continue the race. The teams brave enough to paddle away from the shore didn’t have to worry about the sandbars, and their journey went smoothly, working together as a cohesive team, just like soldiers had done before them in previous wars.
“This is a chance to change our day-to-day patterns, and experience some of the shared hardships our Soldiers experience.” Lt. Col. Aaron Parks, Commander of 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment says.
“The challenge was rowing the raft against the wind with a bunch of ‘Type A’ Leaders,” who are accustomed to problem solving, says Lt. Col. John Knoedler, 4ID chaplain “But we worked together as a cohesive team, some deferring to follow to allow others to lead within their strengths. It worked really well.”
Training events concluded with M4 rifle qualification. Once the rifles were zeroed, the participants shot up to 40 automated targets at varying distances, building confidence in their gear and themselves.
“The first DLA training event focused on being confident in ourselves. It was roughly a 36 hour Ranger school,” says Lt. Col. Thomas Carroll, Commander of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Div. and a participant in the previous year’s DLA. “This iteration is more focused on being confident in our leaders, as well as understanding the differences in warfare throughout time.”
Once the rifle qualification was finished, the Ivy leaders relocated to Montana for a staff ride on the battle of Little Bighorn. . The remainder of the Division Leaders Academy featured battlefield overviews on horseback and historic orientation of the culture and weaponry of the seventh Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army and the combined forces of Arapho, Northern Cheyenne and Lakota tribes. .
“I think the DLA is outstanding,” Lt. Col. William Bennett, 4ID chief of logistics officer says, “The camaraderie amongst our peers, the command teams here, the cohesion we built here over the last day, it certainly puts things in a different light.”
| Date Taken: | 07.25.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.28.2022 16:17 |
| Story ID: | 425821 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Hometown: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Hometown: | GARRYOWEN, MONTANA, US |
| Hometown: | GUERNSEY, WYOMING, US |
| Web Views: | 51 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Confidence in Our Leaders: Division Leaders Academy, by SPC Samuel Brandon, SGT Scyrrus Corregidor, SSG Matthew Lumagui and SPC Joshua Zayas-Sabogal, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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