Leader's Training Course

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Ops center keeps watchful eye on LTC

Posted on July 20, 2011 by PAO

Second Lt. Jonathan Hudson, a member of the LTC tactical operations center, talks with other TOC members. Two TVs in the center are constantly project weather information, and a slide is projected showing the current training status for each company at the course. Photo by Bobby Ellis/LTC PAO

By Noelle Wiehe
Staff writer

Whether it is a Cadet dropping the course, lighting striking near Fort Knox or a heat casualty on a training site, the crew manning the tactical operations center is dedicated to informing and protecting everyone involved in the Leader’s Training Course.

The TOC, as it’s called, is a 24-hour operation that serves as the course’s nerve center. Those who work there must know at all times where Cadets are training, when they are on the move and what might hamper their planned activity.

Second Lt. Matt Holstege, a lieutenant assigned to the TOC, is new to Fort Knox and has his own method of staying alert during his night shifts.

“I rely on 5-Hour Energy,” he said.

Holstege and Sgt. 1st Class Terrence Coel, an NCO assigned to the center, worked the night shift earlier last week. They spent part of their time summarizing the day and receiving check-in calls from companies as they occupied training sites.

Holstege described the operations center as the “information nerve center for all of LTC.” Officers and Soldiers are assigned to monitor weather, check e-mails, write and proof incident reports, monitor the extensive Nextel phone system and, occasionally, field phone calls from families of Cadets through the LTC hotline.

There is also a flat-screen TV in the TOC, but those who work there aren’t watching their favorite shows. Instead, the TV is constantly tuned to news channels, in the rare case a world event might affect those on post.

While most nights can be slow, that can change if an incident unfolds. Information must quickly be relayed to course leadership, a report written and reviewed. They might include heat injuries or something that requires a Cadet to visit the hospital.

With Kentucky’s volatile summer weather, one of the key roles for the TOC is to watch the ever-developing weather patterns throughout the day. That can pose unique challenges, particularly in an area where feisty, humidity-fed storms can pop up in a matter of moments.

Soldiers were monitoring the weather maps one afternoon last week when a thunderstorm rolled in.

Earlier that day, at 7 a.m. it was already 81 degrees and nearly 90 by noon. At such times, site check-in calls are more critical than cadre merely calling to report a site being occupied.

“They’ll call in and give us their numbers of Cadets on hand, and we’ll match it to our numbers,” Holstege said. “If there is some big discrepancy, we’ll call the companies.”

Capt. Pedro Martinez, the TOC battle captain, has helped the center get more organized by setting up constantly updated training status slides that project on the room’s front wall, coming up with a standard operating procedure for incident reports and devising the emergency maps that overlay a route onto main post maps should certain events such as a tornado occur.

“The command had specific guidance on what they would like to see and how the TOC was supposed to operate,” Martinez said. “I just took their basic guidelines and implemented my experience.”

Martinez developed his knack for TOC operations by working at a company-level center as part of its primary staff.

“I picked up on certain things, such as what is reportable and the expectations of the commanders,” he said. “Being flexible and being able to adapt has been a key attribute this summer because there is a lot of input and a lot of ideas.”

It was important to Martinez that the notification processes be simplified and checklists be used at all times to ensure the safety of Soldiers and Cadets at training sites.

“Everything that we are doing now, he implemented from scratch,” Coel said. “Basically how the TOC runs now, he’s seen it from the ground up.”

Keeping tabs on all the LTC goings-on, the operations center serves a vital purpose in th eyes of Fort Knox. Without it, the center’s tasks would have to be parceled out to various post directorates. With a dedicated TOC, it also is easier for commanders to find information in a central location.

With a team of six lieutenants, three NCOs, one first lieutenant, a civilian and Martinez, each brings unique talents to keep the opeation functioning smoothly.

“The whole concept of the TOC, all of the personnel we have, it is a lot of teamwork,” Coel said. “We’ve got a good group.”

Training halts some hobbies, but accelerates another

Posted on July 19, 2011 by PAO

By Noelle Wiehe
Staff writer

Being liaison officer for the Leader’s Training Course requires Lt. Col. Kurt Robinson to keep up with parents, training statistics and other information pertinent to Cadets in training — all while trying to keep up on his own students back home as the professor of military science at the University of Houston.

But it hasn’t stopped him from taking up a hobby while at Fort Knox.

“I kind of picked up triathlons,” he said.

Lt. Col. Kurt Robinson rides his bike recently on Fort Knox. Robinson has been in the Army for 23 years and uses triathlons to keep in shape. He mostly competes in sprint triathlons. "I don't want to hurt myself by doing an Iron Man," Robinson said, when asked about his reasoning for doing certain distances. Photo by Bobby Ellis/LTC PAO

Robinson, a husband and a father of three, has worked at LTC for five years. He spent three as inspector general, one as the supply chief and this year in his current role. His kids all understand how busy their father is, but they still keep him in their thoughts.

“Leaving for the second day of the (baseball) tournament,” Robinson’s son, Grant, recently posted to Facebook. “Wish my dad could be here to watch me play, but I understand he’s got work to do! Love you, Dad!”

Robinson tries his best to keep his family close. He actually got the idea for triathlons from his sister-in-law.

“Being in the Army, it wasn’t unusual for me to go running with her,” he said.

There are three different types of marathons, the most extreme being the Iron Man. The others are the Olympic and, the sprint triathlon, in which Robinson participates.

“I do it, not so much for the competition,” Robinson said. “It’s a reason to get out of bed as opposed to going to a donut shop.”

The sprint triathlon consists of a 3,500-meter swim, a 12-mile bike ride and a three-mile run. Robinson generally participates in about four a year. In just the past two years, he has done seven and is looking forward to doing another in October.

Having swum since age 8 and through high school, Robinson prefers to ride his bicycle a few miles in the mornings, as opposed to running to train. While on-post, he has to use a stationary bike when there isn’t time for a real bike ride.

“Eight miles on a stationary bike is just ugly, whereas a 12- to 16-mile ride around Fort Knox at least has scenery to look at,” he said. “You just have to hope you don’t get a flat.”

He enjoys riding his bike at his home in Katy, Texas, more than anywhere else, he says, because there are no hills. His 11-year-old son will occasionally ride his bike alongside Robinson as he runs in the mornings as well.

Robinson’s most recent triathlon was the Buckhead Border Challenge in Jeffersonville, Ind., July 10. But at the event, he experienced his first-ever mechanical problem during the bike portion of the race and got a flat tire.

Only participating for the experience of it rather than for the rivalry and bragging rights, Robinson doesn’t change up his diet much before the races, other than avoiding fast food.

“I’ll hydrate more, but I don’t necessarily pay too much attention to what I eat,” he said. “I’m not a big nutritionist.”

On-post, he lives in barracks with other cadre members and his cooking skills are limited, seeing as there is really only a microwave to cook in. So he wind up eating out more than he’d like.

In his LTC office, Robinson sends reports to various Cadet Command agencies seven days a week and takes “crazy late night calls” from parents and schools, he said. He is in charge of keeping direct contact with all four companies at the course.

When he completes his summer mission, Robinson will return to the University of Houston for one year before he retires. He anticipates having a month off before he has to go back to work. In those days off, he said he might pick up a few other hobbies he hasn’t gotten to do much.

“Probably go fishing and target-shooting,” Robinson said.

Cadets use teamwork to overcome obstacle course

Posted on July 19, 2011 by PAO

By Caitlin VanOverberghe
Staff writer

Cadet Stephanie Raborn had a hard time when she first came to the Leader’s Training Course. She admits her upper-body strength wasn’t exactly up to par.

But since drill sergeants have been making her do push-ups, things have started to look up.

Standing hidden among a growth of trees, Raborn explained the tactics she used to complete the wooden jungle gym of sorts that is the Leader’s Training Course obstacle course.

The Charlie Company Cadet from Wentworth Military Academy pulled herself over logs, climbed ropes, scooted over hurdles and crawled through dirt.

“It’s something a lot of people here need to work on,” Raborn said of the physical endurance it takes to complete the obstacle course. “I know I need to work on it.”

Charlie Company Cadets work their way through the over-under obstacle at the LTC obstacle course. Photo by Heather Cortright/LTC PAO

Obstacle courses are something Cadets will continue to encounter throughout their Army career.

“Most of the obstacles you see here are the same obstacles that are in obstacle courses at military establishments all over the country,” said Lt. Col. Sean Ryan, the company tactical officer for Delta Company.

Perhaps the most difficult obstacle for many Cadets is the pyramid – which Raborn called “stairway to heaven” – where they weave their way through wooden boards. Facing sideways, the Cadets must maneuver their way over a board, then under the next while working up and back down an incline. Like many of the other obstacles, it takes a measure of upper-body strength along with leg and abdomen strength.

“With this one, you use everything you have,” Cadet Jamal Jenkins said.

The Delta Cadet from Marion Military Institute said that, like Raborn, his time at LTC has prepared him for the strength he needed to complete the obstacle course.

“If we hadn’t gotten those skills, we would never have been able to complete this,” he said.

Charlie Cadet Zach Larson from New Mexico Military Institute said that even though the drill sergeants and Cadre told them the activity would be easier than the others they have encountered, the obstacle course was extremely challenging.

“We aren’t used to going through obstacle courses all day long or doing push-ups all day long,” he said. “Don’t come here if you’re weak-minded. It’s a challenge.”

Physical fitness is only one benefit to the obstacle course. The activity also benefits Cadets’ confidence and team-building skills, Ryan said.

“We go through as squads, so you cheer on your buddy,” Ryan said. They learn “that ability to work as a team, make sure everybody gets over and make the squads go through each obstacle together before they move on to the next one.”

Larson said watching his fellow Cadets complete the obstacles was helpful.

“When you’re faced with a tough challenge, you can look at everyone around and think if they can do it, I can do it,” he said. “And you just keep on going.”

Raborn said motivation from her peers was the key to completing the obstacle course.

“My platoon was called the cheerleading platoon for a while,” she said. “You hear someone yell out, and it makes you move faster and gives you a little extra strength to finish. You need that here at LTC.”

Deployment experiences of cadre influences past, present Soldiers

Posted on July 18, 2011 by PAO

By Sara Nahrwold
Staff writer

With four deployments, Sgt. 1st Class David Barberet has seen acts of bravery from Soldiers in his 12-year military career. But one Soldier stands out.

Barberet was a new squad leader in Afghanistan in 2005, and then-Spc. Salvatore Giunta was one of his Soldiers.

During one mission, he remembers Giunta saying, “I saw Josh up there, another guy in the same platoon, I thought he had a good rock to hide behind so I was going to go up there and hide behind the rock with him.”

What Giunta did instead was deserving of the Medal of Honor, the first to be awarded to a living Solider since the Vietnam War.

“What he really ended up doing was running up there and shooting a couple Taliban guys and pulling Josh back as they’re trying to drag Josh away,” Barberet said. “And he got recognized for it, and he’s very deserving of it. I’ve actually never seen someone run up there and shoot a couple guys and drag one of their comrades back.”

Soldiers like Giunta inspire Barberet to this day.

“These are the guys I’m leading,” he said. “If they’re going to do it, I have to do it for them, too. You see what that guy does for that guy motivates you and motivates everyone else, reinforcing what they already know — that their buddies will always come get them.”

Besides Giunta’s heroic move, Barberet has seen many other Soldiers do amazing deeds on the battlefield.

“Guys go out of their way for everyone because in the end, all that matters is the guys that are there with you,” he said. “You only care that they’re all coming back, and you’re coming back. That’s it.”

Some purposely put themselves in harm’s way to help their buddy, he said.

Through his deployments and leading Soldiers, he learned how to become a solid leader in the Army.

“I’ve just learned so many little things that you’re not going to see in any book especially with the cultures,” he said. “Anyone can tell you how it is, but you don’t understand until you see it firsthand. Seeing it for about 40 months all together, you just pick up on little things.”

One thing he found changed over the years from his deployments is his patience.

“When I was younger, it was like move faster, get there quick, but now I’ve learned over time you’ve got to let a situation build,” Barberet said. “You have to see the whole picture because if you just run head on into things, that’s when you’re focused on your front but you’re not focused on your left or right. If you let it build just a little bit, you can figure it out and get a better picture.”

As a cadre member at Call of the Wild at the Leader’s Training Course, his main influence is on the newly commissioned second lieutenants serving as fellow cadre members, not the Cadets.

“We get to really focus on these lieutenants and give them advice,” Barberet said. “We help them, show them how it’s done, what they can expect.”

The place he does have influence over Cadets is in the classroom. He teaches military science at the University of Southern Mississippi to third-year ROTC students, getting Cadets ready to attend the Leader Development and Assessment Course.

One second lieutenant at LTC was taught by Barberet as a junior.

“He sticks to regulations and makes sure everything is done the right way,” 2nd Lt. Calvin Wu said. “He’s a constant professional.”

Wu didn’t know how to swim, and Barberet took it upon himself to teach him his senior year of college so he could make it through LTC’s water training sessions, Call of the Wild and combat water survival training.

“I wouldn’t be a lieutenant without him,” he said.

Former course leader returns with inspirational message

Posted on July 18, 2011 by PAO

Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Green Sr. speaks to Delta Company Cadets. Photo by Sammy Jo Hester/LTC PAO

By Noelle Wiehe
Staff writer

Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Green Sr. can sum up his achievements in one sentence: He’s a soldier, and he loves being one.

Green, formerly the command sergeant major of the Leader’s Training Course and 1st Brigade of U.S. Army Cadet Command who is preparing to retire, motivated the Cadets of Delta Co. with a cocktail of cadences, optimism and an infectious spirit. He also applauded them for being part of a select, elite group of people chosen to attend the course.

Having served in the Army for nearly 28 years, Green admits he is proud of what he did. Looking back, he highlighted a series of events that occurred in 1983. Among them: Michael Jackson’s album “Thriller” hit No. 1, and the movie “Scarface” debuted.

Perhaps the most significant event of that year, at least for him: his recruitment into the Army.

“I had my reason as to why I chose to serve,” Green said. “I wanted to do something different. I wasn’t ready for college, but I wanted to do something.”

Green pointed out that it is not why a Cadet joins the Army that matters, but rather why a Soldier or officer stays in the Army. What is most important to Green is the security being a serviceman provides to his family and the camaraderie it builds.

“I could not imagine my life not being around a group of Soldiers,” Green said.

Green said he was never dissatisfied with the units with which he served.

“I’ve been serving for a long, long time. I’ve had some great experiences,” he said. “I’ve worked with some knuckleheads, but I have never been with a bad unit.”

Cadet Stephanie Kennedy of the University of Michigan wanted to know what Green considered the greatest benefit he received from the Army.

“If I had to narrow it down to one: development,” he said. “I don’t think any other job would have developed me to become such a great American citizen, a father, a husband, a son and a brother.”

Another Cadet wondered how a Soldier can successfully juggle Army and personal family lives.

“The Army believes in family and knows that if your family is happy, you’ll be happy,” Green said.

For as much as Green has seen throughout his career in the Army and for as many awards and decorations as he has received, he still believes it was the leaders in his life who pushed him toward his path of success and to becoming the man he is today.

“It was an officer that convinced me to stay in the Army,” Green said.

When Green was a private, he considered getting out because he did not wish to deploy to Turkey. It was not until a captain confronted him and helped him switch that he gained the love and loyalty to the Army he now conveys.

“Look at this uniform,” said Col. Eric Winkie, the LTC commander, pointing to Green. “Each and every one of you should aspire to be like this man right here. I know I do.”