Army Basic Leader Course
The Basic Leader Course (BLC) is the inaugural step for Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) in their leadership journey. The course lasts a month and imparts skills to corporals and specialists to lead small groups of soldiers (War College U.S. Army, 2018). The course is an intensive process as well as being hard-hitting with a particular focus on leadership skills. The aim is offer soldiers a pathway of ascending to the rank of a sergeant. Among the course topics covered include leadership, map reading, training management, land navigation, warfighting, and drill and ceremony.
The course is a crucial step because it is the first official step in the learning process of non-commissioned soldier. Army personnel can get a waiver on the course while on deployment, but they have to complete it on Return to the United States. The course can be very beneficial in helping soldiers understand the concepts of fellowship, leadership, and the goals for their careers and personal lives. The army personnel learn how to be servant leaders by helping others achieve their true potential.
The military continues to invest significant resources in developing service members with exceptional leadership competencies. The army in particular is keen on leadership development that is a lifelong process that begins with the basic leader course right after enlisting. The soldier development process is guided by three training domains of institutional, operational, and self-development. Each domain equips the soldier with unique contribution towards their leader development process. The army basic leader course is the start of a deliberate, continuous, and progressive process that conforms to the values of the organization.
The course challenges the soldier to take up more responsibility. The army is the largest service branch in the military, hence the usefulness of the course. The resources and extensive training within the course not only imparts leadership skills but also associated competencies. During the course process, trainees will be routinely placed in leadership roles such as facilitating training sessions, leading physical fitness, and guiding unit missions to see how they handle the pressure. The continuous exposure to pressure during the course enables soldiers to understand the meaning of effective leadership.
The army basic leader course recognizes the technological advancements in the world today. The course is a revised program in response to the new type of warfare seen today. It encourages to innovate by utilizing new strategies for leadership development. The course in-calculates emerging methodologies such as e-learning, emphasizing interactions between superiors and juniors, and even the innovative participant selection process to make it relevant. The traditional training methods have been found to be inadequate in today’s technologically advanced world, thus the emphasis on expanding new learning models such as e-learning programs. The course in-calculating the e-learning model offers learners increased autonomy to complete classes at their own time leading to improved understanding of essential principles of leadership.
The course avoids historical practices of being selective with who completes the leadership development programs by requiring all to participate. It ensures all service members are exposed to leadership growth opportunities (Weiner, 2016). The army basic leader course is one way of ensuring the soldier receives leadership skills early on in their career. The soldiers are challenged to be leaders among their peers and subordinates at one point or another in their career by undertaking this useful course. In conclusion, the army uses the course to expose the low-ranking personnel to the roles other service members plays. Hence, the participants can learn the jobs of their superiors in preparation to fill the roles in future.
References
War College U.S. Army. (2018). HOW THE ARMY RUNS: A Senior Leader Reference Handbook, 2017-2018 (31st edition): LULU.Com.
Weiner, L. J. (2016). 3 Benefits of Military-Style Leadership Training. HealthLeaders. https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/strategy/3-benefits-military-style-leadership-training
