Romania – Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), took part in the Talon Team Leader Course (TTLC), a five day program designed to show junior leaders the standard of being a leader in the 1-502 at Mihail Kog?lniceanu Air base in Romania.
“We see the TTLC as a People First initiative because we are committing Battalion level time and resources to invest in our team leaders positions,” said Lt. Col. David Williams, commander of the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). “This has an incredible amount of influence on the lethality, tactical proficiency, technical knowledge, and discipline of the battalion.”
This course was put together after senior leadership in the 1-502 agreed it was time for a refresher in the basics on what roles a junior leader has in today’s Army.
The Course took place over the week of January 9th through January 13th, 2023. The first task was a written test assessing the knowledge of all participants. Then they began the instructional classes on the responsibilities of team and squad leaders in night vision operations, pick-up zone operations, reacting to contact, formation orders of movements and preliminary marksmanship instructions of the M4 and M249 weapon systems.
“The standards are all doctrine to help break down that this is how the Army trains, this is how the Army fights,” said Sgt. 1st Class. Tyson Bright, Assault Company’s Platoon Sergeant assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). “By using the resources of technical and field manuals this shows future leaders where to find the answers to possible future trials, and how to deal with them in accordance with regulation.”
TTLC came to an end after the classes were put into practice with hands-on displays of knowledge by the junior leaders. Another written evaluation after the week of training showed scores increasing 65-70% in the knowledge of their roles.
“We saw a tremendous amount of growth and we are confident that our junior leaders have bought into the culture of training experts at echelon,” said Williams. “The battalion commander’s vision includes living The First Strike Way and part of that is training experts at echelon. We have baselined the fundamentals that enable that expertise and our team leaders will be crucial to instilling this in each new Soldier arriving to their teams going forward.”
