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PLDC training started on 22 April 2000 and lasted until 06 May 2000. We spent our first week studying various aspects of the military including military leadership, what a leader must "Be-Know-Do", effective communication, soldier team development, training the force, combat orders, etc.
At the end of the first week our instructors (SSG Morse and SFC Patrick) began to teach us the necessary skills needed to become proficient in map reading.
The Field Exercise (FTX) began on Tuesday and we returned to the barracks on Thursday evening. At the FTX, we stayed in a small building with spring bunk beds. We spent our first day practicing for the Map Reading test by developing individual 100 meter pace counts and making sure our compasses were on-line with magnetic north. We received a practice test and had three hours to plot 4 separate grid coordinates on our maps and physically find them by terrain association and grid and magnetic calculations of azimuths and back azimuths. After the official map test on Wednesday morning, we put on our MILES gear and engaged in a battle mission. In order for our instructors to evaluate our leadership skills, we had to show proficiency in leading a platoon, squad, or team during the FTX. 1st squad carried out three missions on Thursday and we worked really well as a team on each mission.
The accompanying pages have some pictures of our two weeks in training.
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