Assessment of the FY 05 Basic Officer Leader Course (BOLC) Phase II: Instructor Certification Program (ICP) and Single-Site Initial Implementation

摘要

This report documents the BOLC II cadre Instructor Certification Program (ICP) and the single-site initial implementation conducted during FY 05. BOLC entails a three phase process of officer initial entry training. After Phase I (precommissioning), all lieutenants receive a common core program (Phase II) focusing on leadership, counseling, and fieldcraft in a hands-on, field intensive environment. Phase III focuses on branch-specific officer training. Training observations from the ICP indicated that a disproportionate amount of time was spent on individual skill training versus training the cadre on how to teach, coach, and mentor lieutenants. Critical soft skills training was either abbreviated or not conducted. The training focus of the single-site implementation mirrored that of the ICP. The lieutenants' survey ratings showed significant improvements in how prepared they felt they were to lead a platoon in executing the Warrior battle drills and their confidence in executing the Warrior tasks following BOLC II. However, important gaps in leadership training were identified. Survey results showed that the BOLC training did not meet the lieutenants' expectations of the course. Recommendations based, in part, on these findings, have resulted in noticeable changes in the next ICP and the two- site initial implementation. ARI will continue to monitor these changes and their effects on both cadre preparation and the quality of leadership training received by lieutenants during BOLC II.