PLDC turns young
NCOs into leaders
Sergeants train to lead troops
By Pfc. Eliamar Castanon/The Bayonet
FORT BENNING, Ga. (TRADOC News Service, Oct. 1, 2003) -- Every day Soldiers of the Primary Leadership Development Course recite the NCO creed. It outlines what an NCO needs to be, know and do, which is what they are training hard to learn, with the help of PLDC.
“PLDC doesn’t make you a good NCO; it gives you the foundation of the Army standards, and it is up to you as an NCO to ensure Soldiers are up to standard,” said 1st Sgt. Grady L. Martin, first sergeant of PLDC.
“We are here to ensure that they understand the basic leadership skills as junior NCOs,” said Staff Sgt. Anthony N. O’Baner, senior small group leader at PLDC.
The PLDC Soldiers are treated and addressed as sergeants, O’Baner said. “They need confidence to be here. We’re not here to be an intimidation factor.”
The Soldiers are assigned a battle buddy to promote teamwork.
“The Army is a team. It takes a team to accomplish anything,” Martin said.
The course is 30 days long, and the goal is to teach students to maintain self-discipline and professional ethics while learning to lead, discipline and develop Soldiers.
There is a strong focus on the Army standards and making sure they know how to meet them and make corrections when needed, Martin said.
The Soldiers learn to plan, execute and evaluate individual and team training, as well as to plan and execute missions and tasks assigned to team-size units.
To begin the course, the Soldiers must pass a physical fitness test to ensure they are able to handle the physical requirements necessary to complete the training.
If they cannot pass the PT test the first time, they are given a second chance a week later. If they fail to pass the test the second time, they are dismissed from the course, Martin said.
As part of PLDC, the Soldiers receive battle-focused training, O’Baner said. They review basic rifle marksmanship training; nuclear biological and chemical warfare; and land navigation, he said.
They need to know how to inspect a Soldier’s weapon and how to make sure the NBC gear is on correctly.
At the land navigation site, each Soldier is given four points. They must plot these points on a grid and convert them into magnetic azimuths. They have three hours to find these points.
“The hardest parts of PLDC are the PT test and the land navigation course,” said Sgt. Tiffany Martschink, who’s going through the course.
The Soldiers learn Army regulations that deal with leadership, personal hygiene and wear and appearance of the Army uniform and insignia. They also learn about environmental awareness, O’Baner said.
The training they receive allows them to learn to train and evaluate Soldiers in drill and ceremony, Army standards and physical fitness, he said.
Along with the physical requirements come the mental and emotional necessities. Soldiers are expected to learn to care for their soldiers and their families.
The Soldiers receive classes on how to counsel their Soldiers, O’Baner said.
In the last days of the third week of training, the Soldiers participate in a three-day event that is required to graduate PLDC. The troop leader procedure allows all the Soldiers to be squad leaders and apply everything they learned, O’Baner said.
“They give us student leadership and expect us to take care of ourselves. However, they are always there to make sure we’re doing things right,” said Sgt. Brian Lamar.
During the fourth week, the Soldiers are allowed to recover from their training and practice for their graduation.
“Everyone is here for the same thing, to become good NCOs and graduate, so we all help each other out,” Martschink said.
"The most important things are to accomplish the mission and ensure the welfare of our Soldiers while upholding the Army standards," O’Baner said.