Essay

My Experience at the Basic Leader Course

My first impression when I was coming to the Basic Leader Course (BLC) was
indifference; I thought it was going to be another school that the Army was
implementing for my Army preparation as a soldier. According to the Army, BLC is the
first leadership course noncommissioned officers (NCOs) attend. BLC is a month-long
course that teaches Specialists and Corporals the basic skills needed to lead small
groups of Soldiers. This course is hard-hitting and intensive with an emphasis on
leadership skills and prepares Soldiers to advance to the rank of Sergeant
(goarmy.com). BLC is a mandatory portion of the Army’s Select Train Educate
Promoted (STEP) Program that ensures that anyone that desires to be a
noncommissioned officer with a pathway to successfully become one. As a junior
enlisted Soldier, and future NCO, successfully passing BLC and taking the knowledge I
gained here is one of the major short-term goals of my Army Career.

Why is it important to attend the Basic Leader Course? After all, is it just a
simple school that is mandated by the Army? After attending BLC I realized I was
wrong about it, and that BLC is excellent training necessary to begin the initial
development of junior NCOs. The various dynamics that the instructors implement in
each class create a solid learning environment for the foundational skills of NCOs.
Each phase that I went through impacted me on both a personal and professional level,
which enabled me to understand the importance of the noncommissioned officer and
the responsibilities of the job. The two classes that had the largest impact on me were Master Resilience Training (MRT) and Followership and Servant Leadership
(Army.com)

.
Master Resilience Training (MRT) is a resilience-training program that is offered
by the United States Army. The goal of the program is to teach Soldiers about
resilience and to train those Soldiers to teach other Soldiers about resilience as well
(positivepsychology.com). In my two years of experience as an active-duty Soldier, the
MRT training I have received at BLC has been by far the most comprehensive. I didn’t
have to watch the old MRT videos or have to read a PowerPoint with 75 slides talking
about resilience. The instructor introduced an open and judgment-free environment and
started the class by opening up about himself and talking about his own experiences in
life. The class turned out to be encouraging and realistic; it was the kind of class that
made me open up about myself to others and discuss my personal struggles as a
Soldier. That encouragement enabled other individuals to speak up, in turn, and
allowed them to be more understanding and empathetic towards others.
Followership is the capacity or willingness to follow a leader (merriam-
webster.com).

This class was very instructive because it helped me to understand my
role as a future NCO and to better develop myself as a leader. The instructors made
the class very understandable and professional, allowing me to think critically about who
I am as a Soldier. Am I a follower, or I am a leader? Do I have the characteristics to be
a leader at all? After having time to analyze myself, I came to the conclusion that I had
to be a follower to learn from others first, before eventually becoming the leader I am
today. After taking some time to reflect, I arrived at the conclusion that I have to be a
good listener to learn from my subordinates and that would also help me become the leader I want to be. Yes, I do have the qualities to be a great leader. I must continue to
lead by example and learn from my experiences and mistakes to become an NCO I can
be proud of.

In conclusion, I would like to say that I’m very thankful for my experience here at
the Basic Leadership Course. I learned a lot from this course and I will use all the
knowledge I gained from my instructors and my experience here throughout my Army
career. My mentality is not the same as a junior enlisted Soldier anymore. I will be
graduating with the mindset of a noncommissioned officer, ready to lead, develop and
be more empathetic with my future soldiers. As a future noncommissioned officer: “I will
not forget, nor will I allow my comrades to forget that we are professionals,
noncommissioned officers, leaders!” (www.army.mil)