Training “Training is the Army’s top priority; it prepares us to fight. As leaders, our sacred responsibility is to ensure that no soldier ever dies in combat because that soldier was not properly trained.”

LEADER BOOKS What is a Leader Book? What publications discusses Leader Books? What is a Leader Book used for? What is a METL and how do we use it to plan training? Is the Leader Book inspectable? 2

What is a Leader Book? Leaders are responsible for identifying and training essential soldier tasks that support the unit's mission essential collective tasks. To ensure soldiers are trained on their critical tasks, leaders must fully understand the unit's collective tasks and how soldier tasks are planned, trained, and evaluated to support their accomplishment. Because of limited training resources and time, soldiers normally cannot train on and reasonably sustain every task. Therefore, leaders must use the battle focus process to refine the list to mission-related soldier tasks essential to the soldier's duty position and responsibilities. A tool to aid in this process is the leader book. 3

Publications FM 25-101, Battle Focus Training, Appendix B AR 350-17, NCODP AR 350-41, Training in Units 4

Uses of Leader Books Leaders record in the leader book information addressing administrative data, common tasks, skill qualification assessment, and specific collective tasks which support the unit's METL. They also record personal information that affects soldiers' training performance and that leaders need to know to provide training which meets their soldiers' personal needs. The information recorded is tailored to meet each unit's specific needs. 5

Uses of Leader Books TRACK TRAINING STATUS Leaders list in the leader book the common tasks found in the Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks that support the METL. They track soldier proficiency on these selected tasks. They may also record the results of Army soldier training requirements, such as marksmanship and APFT. Leaders should record MOS-specific tasks which support the METL and annotate evaluation results. They can quickly identify weaknesses and plan and conduct training to improve proficiency. 6

Uses of Leader Books 7 SOLDIER PERSONNAL DATA CHART HHD, Engr Bde SECTION _______________ HHD, Engr Bde MASK INSERTS REQUIRED DATE LAST WEAPON QUAL WEAPON QUAL (M,S,E) DATE PUT ON WEIGHT CONTROL PROGRAM DATE LAST NBC CONF. DATE LAST PT TEST DATE LAST WEIGH-IN PROFILE (T OR P) BODY FAT % PT SCORE SOLDIER’S RANK/NAME 7

Uses of Leader Books The leader book should contain only collective tasks and drills required to support the METL. Section, squad, and crew collective tasks and drills are derived from applicable MTPs. Units without a published MTP will have to examine each company METL task, determine which collective tasks and drills support it, and enter those tasks in the leader book. For each task listed in the leader book, soldiers first need to be trained and then evaluated to determine if they can actually perform the task. 8

Uses of Leader Books Leaders may perform either a formal or an informal evaluation; however, they should always adhere to the performance standards contained in the appropriate soldier's manual, the Soldier's Manual for Common Tasks, and applicable MTPs. Once the leader determines the proficiency of a squad, team, crew, or soldier, he should record the date of the evaluation as go/no-go opposite the task. 9

Uses of Leader Books 10 HHD, Engr Bde SEE COMMUNICATE NAVIGATE SOLDIER TRAINING TRACKER (COMMON TASK SKILL LEVEL 1) SHEET _______ OF _______ SOLDIER’S NAME HHD, Engr Bde REMARKS: NAME: RANK: MOS: REMARKS: NAME: RANK: MOS: REMARKS: NAME: RANK: MOS: REMARKS: NAME: RANK: MOS: REMARKS: NAME: RANK: MOS: REMARKS: NAME: RANK: MOS: REMARKS: NAME: RANK: MOS: TASK NUMBER AND SHORT TITLE STATUS STATUS STATUS STATUS STATUS STATUS STATUS GO NO GO GO NO GO GO NO GO GO NO GO GO NO GO GO NO GO GO NO GO SEE 301-348-1050 Report Information Of Potential Intelligence Value COMMUNICATE 113-571-1022 Perform Voice Communications NAVIGATE 071-329-1000 Identify Topographic Symbols On A Military Map 071-329-1001 Identify Terrain Features On A Military Map 10 071-329-1002 Determine Grid Coord. f A Point On A Military Map 071-329-1003 Determine A Magnetic. Az Using A Lensatic Compass DA FORM 5165-R

Uses of Leader Books PROVIDE INPUT TO THE CHAIN OF COMMAND A leader may use information in the leader book to provide input on his unit during daily "huddles" and company training meetings. For example, if three of five squad members cannot perform "Practice Preventive Medicine" to standard, the squad leader may want to train this task during the next available training period. Some units devote blocks of time for soldier training. In such units, the leader book is an excellent tool to determine what tasks to train during those periods. 11

Uses of Leader Books CONDUCT SOLDIER PERFORMANCE COUNSELING Leaders may use the information in the leader book during soldier performance counseling to quickly identify the tasks or group of tasks soldiers are having difficulty mastering. This helps the leader decide what to tell each soldier about how to improve his performance. For example, leaders can use this information in conjunction with DA Form 2166-8, Noncommissioned Officer Evaluation Report (NCO-ER), to provide specific bullet examples for parts III, IV, and V. 12

Uses of Leader Books Demonstrated performance determines training effectiveness. The leader book is a handy record of how well soldiers and elements have performed tasks. For example, when a platoon leader or platoon sergeant and a squad leader are discussing the training proficiency of the squad or soldiers in the squad, they should have the book available as a reference. The leader book helps them determine which tasks need to be trained. 13

Detachment’s Leader Book Creed of the Non-commissioned Officer Detachment METL/Collective Task   Army Values Soldier Training Tracker Code of Conduct Training Schedule Chain of Command/NCO Support Channel Promotions Privacy Act Weapons/Equipment density List Section Sergeant quick reference sheets Risk Assessment Daily status UCMJ Soldier Personal Data Charts Physical Training Soldier Personal Data Sheet Lineage and Honors Counseling Packing List Section Work Plans Misc. Data 14

Mission Essential Task List Derived from the organization’s wartime mission Applies to the entire organization Supports higher headquarters METL Availability of resources not considered Involve subordinate commanders and key NCOs in METL development to promote organizational battle focus CSM and senior NCOs develop individual task lists for each mission essential task Brigade staffs develop staff METLs which are approved by the brigade commander. 15

METL Development When no MTP exists, leaders may develop task lists using the following sources: Table of organization and equipment (TO&E). Regulations (ARs/PAMs) Tactical standing operating procedures (TSOPs). Technical manuals (TMs). Readiness standing operating procedures (RSOPs). 16

Collective Task Critical to the battle focus concept is understanding the linkage between the collective mission essential tasks and the leader and soldier tasks which support them. The CSM and NCO leaders must select specific soldier tasks that support each collective task to be focused on during training. NCOs are primarily responsible for training soldier tasks. Leaders at every level remain responsible for training to established standards during soldier, leader and unit training. The commander assigns primary responsibility to officers for collective training and to noncommissioned officers (NCOs) for soldier training. NCOs also have responsibility to train sections, squads, teams, and crews. 17

Collective/Soldier Task High Pay Off Task When one or more soldier/collective task supports more than one collective/METL task. 18

METL Flow Chart 19 Detachment METL DETERMINES Conduct Detachment Sustainment Operations Section Collective Task DETERMINES Provide Detachment Supply Support Maintain Detachment Strength Control Detachment Operations Respond to Chemical Attack Conduct Chemical Survey Leader/Soldier Task Perform voice communications Report casualties Provide and submit logistical reports Select temporary fighting positions Common Tasks SUPPORTS 19 SUPPORTS

Training Assessment METL tasks are assessed by the commander using; “T” trained “P” needs practice “U” untrained Collective tasks are assessed by the Platoon Leader and Platoon Sergeant using the same grading method. Leader/Soldier tasks are assessed by the Squad Leader and Platoon Sergeant using the “GO”/”NOGO” grading method. 20

Is the Leader Book Inspectable? The leader book should not be inspected. However, the leader book should be reviewed periodically to insure that leaders are tracking soldier performance. Leaders need to refer to it when talking about the proficiency of their soldiers and units. The CSM and lSGs must teach and mentor NCOs on the importance and use of the leader book. This should be done as a part of leader development. 21

In Conclusion The Army exists to deter war or, if deterrence fails, to fight and win in combat. For deterrence to be effective, our enemies must know that the Army can mobilize, deploy, fight, and sustain combat operations. Effective training molds human and material resources into cohesive, combat-ready units. QUESTIONS? 22