NH Army National Guard Trains Officers to be Leaders

New Hampshire Army National Guard Sergeant First Class Jason Collins has a pretty good idea about the type of officers they need to lead soldiers. As one of the primary instructors who trains new officers each year, Collins says cadets receive top-notch skills, discipline and task-specific goals to gain a commission.

Collins trains an average of 25 to 30 cadets each year who are either part of the Reserve Officer Training Corp detachments linked to the Battalion based at the University of New Hampshire, Southern New Hampshire University, Plymouth State University or Norwich University in Vermont.

Cadets are part of the Simultaneous Membership Program, which means they have the option of serving in the National Guard, the Reserves or active-duty Army after they complete the ROTC / Simultaneous Membership training program (SMP).

Collins has served in the New Hampshire Army National Guard since 2008 and worked as an officer training instructor for two years.

ROTC candidates receive some officer training in addition to their college life, and are awarded a commission as a second lieutenant, Collins says. OCS candidates enlist in the Army National Guard and ship off to basic training before attending the state’s officer training schools in Strafford or Pembroke. All told, it is an 18-month training program.

“It sounds scary, but it’s 18 drill weekends,” Collins says. The drill weekends happen once during the month. Once the OCS candidates complete those drill weekends and all the training requirements, Collins says they are commissioned as officers in the New Hampshire Army National Guard. Each officer training facility offers different training, Collins says.

“Pembroke has gigantic classrooms and pretty good technology for that type of training, and then Strafford has an in-house shooting range,” Collins says. He describes the shooting range as a simulator with a screen like an indoor golf driving range. Officer candidates fire pistols at targets and familiarize themselves with different weapons. ‘It’s pretty cool,” he says.

The officer candidates will also do some outdoor training in mountainous terrain where they take land navigation courses in Colchester, Vermont, Collins adds.

Collins sees men and women officer candidates. Not all of them will succeed, he says.

“They need to maintain a certain GPA (grade point average). So most of the time when folks are dropped from ROTC, it is because they drop below their GPA. OCS is a different story,” Collins says. “It could be whatever mission they were given or whatever task they were given, they just didn’t make the cut.”

Sometimes officer candidates drop out because they don’t do well with military structure, and they decided the military is not for them, Collins says. “I think most folks struggle with the structure of the program, like what’s expected while you’re here.”

For young people who are in their late teens or early 20s, reporting for structured drill weekends once per month, wearing a uniform and following orders is always a great choice, Collins says. Switching gears from being a college student to becoming a leader in the U.S. military is not an easy transition for some, he adds.

“You can train them how to read a map. You can train them how to write different operational orders. You can train them how to do physical fitness. But what you can’t train them to do is get used to that structure. And I think that’s the hardest part,” Collins says.

Collins points out that newly commissioned officers serve with the New Hampshire Army National Guard or any other Guard unit out of state for eight years. During that time, they know they can be deployed as part of an active-duty force overseas as evidenced by the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ultimately, the training that Collins and other Army National Guard instructors provide would-be officers will help them be successful leaders regardless of the mission.

The best Second Lieutenants that Collins has seen are those who listen to their platoon sergeants.

“Their Platoon Sergeant that they work with have probably been in the Army longer than them,” Collins says.

Instead of coming in as a dictator, Collins says new Second Lieutenants should make it a point to listen to the Senior Noncommissioned Officers and learn from them. They will earn their NCO’s respect, and it will strengthen their leadership skills and their overall effectiveness, he adds.

Serving as an officer in the New Hampshire Army National Guard and the U.S. military also carries great responsibility, Collins says.

“And you know, if your people are facing hardships, you’ve got to face them with them. If you’re in battle, you have to lead them. You can’t just sit back and say, ‘OK, you guys go forward, and I’ll sit back here and stay on the radio,’” Collins says.

As the training instructor who plays his role to show officer candidates the way forward, Collins appreciates what he does. “I like training our future leaders.”