The Wilcox Project

摘要

As a lieutenant attending the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Basic Officer Leader's Course (BOLC), I looked up to my small-group instructor (SGI) and considered him a "subject matter expert." The immense role that he played in our development and improvement as officers in the U.S. Army cannot be overstated. We were his top priority, and he was capable of fielding questions on any topic we raised. When we had curriculum-related questions, he always provided an answer. When we inquired about various Army installations, he discussed the pros and cons of each. And when he was uncertain about an answer, he did whatever it took to find one. In short, he taught and mentored thirty young, impressionable lieutenants who, at the time, had little or no knowledge about what it was like to be a U.S. Army officer-let alone an officer in the Chemical Corps. I could never have imagined that I would be an SGI just two and half years later!With the growing demand for captains in units executing Army force generation-based rotations in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, senior leaders elected to accept the risks associated with filling U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command instructor positions at only 50-75 percent strength (with no corresponding decrease in student throughput). In response, several U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command schools implemented a strategy to use students from Captain's Career Courses to teach BOLCs.