Drill sergeants take on additional responsibilities                      Mike A. Glasch     Leader Staff

What’s been called the hardest job in the Army is in the process of becoming a bit more demanding. Drill sergeants are being tasked with teaching the classroom portion of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical training. “We’re transforming it into something we are doing at the company level where the drill sergeants are teaching all the common tasks,” said Capt. Dominic Payne, commander, Company A, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment. The drill sergeants will be responsible for teaching Soldiers how to don the protective mask, clear the mask and maintain the mask and how to react in an NBC environment. “This allows the drill sergeants to see if the Soldiers can put it all together under a controlled condition that we create before we even take them to the NBC chamber,” Payne explained. Payne’s battalion is the first to implement the new training procedure. “Instead of us taking the Soldiers over to the NBC training area and having NBC cadre teach it, we are turning it over to the drill sergeants,” Payne said.  “Seeing how this is a skill level one task, and all drill sergeants should know these tasks, then we should be able to teach it. It gives us a more efficient teaching environment.” For Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Wheele, drill sergeant, Company A, 1st Bn., 34th Inf. Reg. taking on the additional responsibility will allow him to ensure his Soldiers are learning the material.   “It will allow us to gain an understanding whether or not the Soldier is grasping the concepts that are being taught,” Wheele said. “They can be reinforced later on if the Soldier is not picking something up, as opposed to when the cadre (NBC committee) were teaching them and we weren’t always able to be aware if the Soldiers were tracking or not.” Wheele and Payne anticipate other benefits from drill sergeants teaching the classroom portion of NBC training. Wheele foresees having more time to spend on all areas of training where Soldiers might be lagging, while Payne said he believes it will instill more confidence in BCT Soldiers. “With the drill sergeants being the primary instructors, the Soldiers will get that example of the drill sergeant being the true leader in all training,” Payne said. “That instills the instinct they can follow them, trust them, trust their training and then go ahead and execute it.” “I think it gives us more time to spend on the tasks that need emphasis,” Wheele said. “We run the tempo, so if Soldiers aren’t grasping certain concepts we can spend more time on that area, and if Soldiers are picking something up we don’t have to spend a great deal of time in that area. It allows us to move at our own speed.”