Photo By Nathan Rivard | Event participants and cadre from the 164th Regional Training Institute, North Dakota...... read more read more
Two 164th Regional Training Institute instructors with the North Dakota Army National Guard participated in an instructor knowledge exchange in Temedja, Togo with the instructors from the Togo Non-Commissioned Officer Academy from Feb. 26 through March 1.
This was the fourth exchange between the two schoolhouses as part of an eight-part exchange. Each trip expands on the previous exchange of teaching styles and expands the capabilities of instructors.
“As an instructor myself, this is a great opportunity to work with other instructors to see how we teach and how the Togolese Army instructors teach,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jacob Thompson an instructor with the 164th RTI. “We have the same goals of mentoring and building the best students.”
Thompson, who deployed in 2012 to Afghanistan with the 818th Engineer Company, has participated in four State Partnership Program engagements. He has been to Ghana twice as a combat engineer to focus on combat engineer demolition tasks and safety. This is his second trip to Togo following his prior NCO engagement in Dec. 2023.
“Walking into the classroom in Togo and seeing familiar faces from the previous exchange was incredible,” said Thompson who started instructing for the U.S. Army in 2020. “They’ve seen my face, they are definitely eager to see me again and then they are super eager to see these new faces that we’re bringing in, so they are super adaptive to the courseware as well.”
One of the new faces was Staff Sgt. Adelard Hoffarth who is a project manager by trade, a combat engineer, and then became an 164th RTI instructor in 2021.
“This is my first time leading discussions to fellow instructors in Togo and it went extremely well,” said Hoffarth, who prior to becoming an RTI instructor was also a licensed mechanic and apprenticed electrician. “The Togo Soldiers in this course are training the next generation of NCOs for their country and I want to make sure I am doing the best I can to assist with that.”
Thompson’s previous exchange in Togo focused on leader core competencies and this visit expanded on that topic as well as others.
“I learn a lot that I can take back to the courses I teach in North Dakota,” said Thompson. “When I’m showing the U.S. Army training methods that I use at our RTI to the Togolese Army instructors here, they ask a lot of questions, and they give examples of what they do when they instruct. This is a mutual learning environment.”
On the first day of the exchange, the Togolese Army instructors were presented with how the 164th RTI instructors teach their courses based on the Common Faculty Development Instructor Course principles that they use. The Togolese instructors presented their own classes two days later to Thompson and Hoffarth.
Hoffarth said that the professionalism and hard work of the Togolese instructors is on par with what they see for their NCO development.
“They are just as engaged and just as wanting for knowledge and discussions as the regular NCOES [Non-Commissioned Officer Education System] from the United States,” said Hoffarth.
Throughout the five-day knowledge exchange, Thompson and Hoffarth instructed on the foundations of instruction, ethical leadership, and instructing as a professional amongst other courses. They received courses on drill and ceremony, measuring distances by pace count, and military movement drills.
“Hopefully get to see them teach some of their classes to Togolese students and get to have more discussions on the way that they teach vs. the way we instruct,” said Hoffarth. “We’re actually having real discussions about current topics.”
The two North Dakota natives saw their Togolese counterparts find parallels in their training mindset.
“Some of the similarities are in the applicability, they are very mission-oriented, we're very mission orientated, they want to make those comparisons,” said Thompson. “They’re able to put some terminology and make comparisons between the U.S. and Togolese Army.”
The exchange was assisted by U.S. Air Force Capt. Jeremiah Colbert, the bilateral affairs officer from the North Dakota National Guard who works in Togo. Colbert also delivered computers during the event for future use.
“We are happy to contribute to helping Togo grow and learn because it helps us grow and learn as well. It is a mutually beneficial partnership,” said Colbert. “We learn a lot. Togo’s success is our success. “
That success is a conversation that Hoffarth wants to keep going.
“I’m looking forward to coming back to Togo. It’s a wonderful place, they treat us well and I’m excited to continue all the discussion we’ve been having,” said Hoffarth.
| Date Taken: | 03.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.04.2024 11:16 |
| Story ID: | 465263 |
| Location: | TEMEDJA, TG |
| Web Views: | 56 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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