Due to the onset of COVID-19, classrooms around the world had to drastically change the way they do business. The Army classroom followed suit by embracing the worldwide move to a virtual learning environment to engage its students around the globe.
Junior enlisted soldiers stationed near Kaiserslautern, Germany, are taking part in the first virtual Basic Leader Course being taught in 20 different classrooms across four countries in Europe by instructors with the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy out of Grafenwoehr, Germany.
Although the primary blocks of instruction are being taught virtually, two Army Reserve noncommissioned officers from the 7th Mission Support Command volunteered to fill all the hands-on leadership gaps as assistant instructors for their students attending the class in Daenner Kaserne, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
''We're assisting with any type of computer issues or any follow-on questions,'' said Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Chefan, a detachment sergeant with the 446th Transportation Battalion, 510th Regional Support Group, 7th MSC, and a Basic Leader Course assistant instructor. ''But we're also doing all the grading for physical readiness training, drill and ceremony, and the day-to-day. … The formations, the accountability, the leadership evaluations, that's on us.''
The Basic Leader Course is a required four-week Army leadership course for junior enlisted soldiers who are working to become sergeants. Though it's never been done virtually with locally based assistant instructors, training leaders is nothing new for these 7th Mission Support Command noncommissioned officers, who worked together previously as instructors at the Fort McCoy Noncommissioned Officer Academy in Wisconsin.
''Basic Leader Course requires more hands-on [training], so I think it's been working well with me and Sergeant 1st Class Chefan, because we have the experience as BLC instructors, and we know what's expected,'' said Army Sgt. 1st Class Roi Cavan, the human resources noncommissioned officer in charge with the 361st Civil Affairs Brigade, 7th Mission Support Command, and Basic Leader Course assistant instructor. ''That's the part with leadership, where we need to be here physically. We need to be with the students, because how are they going to get that experience of becoming an NCO without experiencing it through a training environment.''
Abiding by local social distancing guidelines, students in the Daenner Kaserne class are still being evaluated on many different types of leadership roles, from formations and marching to classroom cleanliness.
''I think it's cool to be here in Germany with the first virtual BLC for class instruction,'' said Army Spc. Nicholas Hpkins, a biomedical equipment technician with U.S. Army Medical Center Europe, and a Basic Leader Course student. ''But when we're here, we still have that in-person leadership that helps us develop.''
Cavan and Chefan agree that training to lead, whether virtually or physically, is the fun stuff for NCOs, and it's in their comfort zones.
''You don't really get to lead and train troops all the time, but we're going back to the basics here where we can build that foundation of what an NCO is supposed to be,'' Cavan said. ''And we're hitting both components, active and reserve, so that's really awesome.''
''We're all going through this together,'' Chefan said. ''It's cool to be a part of history.''
(Army Sgt. 1st Class Joy Dulen is assigned to 7th Mission Support Command.)