# Jordan implements new NCO training program

/ Published March 30, 2018
AMMAN, Jordan, 
Soldiers with the 648th Military Engagement Team, Georgia Army National Guard, worked with service members from the Jordan Armed Forces at their Noncommissioned Officer Academy to enhance their Squad Leader Course training, March 18-22, 2018. 

                U.S. Soldiers from the 648th Military Engagement Team, Georgia Army National Guard, and instructors from the Jordan Armed Forces Noncommissioned Officer Academy receive a sand-table briefing during the JAF NCOA Squad Leader Course, near Amman, Jordan, March 18, 2018. The 648th MET advised JAF NCOA instructors as the Jordanian leaders developed the program of instruction for the course, which is attended by their soldiers and their regional allies. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas X. Crough, USARCENT PAO)                            180319-A-RU074-041                            U.S. Soldiers from the 648th Military Engagement Team, Georgia Army National Guard, and instructors from the Jordan Armed Forces Noncommissioned Officer Academy receive a sand-table briefing during the JAF NCOA Squad Leader Course, near Amman, Jordan, March 18, 2018. The 648th MET advised JAF NCOA instructors as the Jordanian leaders developed the program of instruction for the course, which is attended by their soldiers and their regional allies. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas X. Crough, USARCENT PAO)            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Sgt. Thomas CroughVIRIN: 180319-A-RU074-0041The 648th began working with the instructors at the JAF NCO Academy in November 2017 when the Jordanians began re-developing the training courses for their military leaders.“Our first NCO engagement was primarily geared towards the development of the program of instruction, or POI, for the Jordan Armed Forces NCO Academy,” said Sgt. 1st Class Branden Montero, team leader, 648th MET. “Our second engagement in January was geared towards the implementation of that newly written POI ... at the administrator and instructor level here.” This most recent engagement was focused on observing the field training of the JAF NCOA Squad Leader Course and providing input on their performance. “We are here today to observe the Jordanian forces do an exercise for Modern Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT). How they move through the terrain features, going through ditches, going over hills, and how to assault an objective,” said Staff Sgt. Andrea Gavant, subject matter expert, 648th MET. “In NCO school at the beginning, we teach the soldiers theoretical information, after we finish these process procedures, we start practical training,” explained Warrant Officer Mohammad Ramadan, tactics instructor, JAF NCOA. “So any soldier, if he doesn’t train and practice in the field, he will forget all information he has learned before.”Practical training in the field is a new addition to the POI which was built by the JAF with the assistance of the 648th. “The information our students used to get it in the last year was indoor, inside a class. But for us this is the first time for this NCO school to bring our soldiers to be outside and work in the field,” elaborated Warrant Officer Khaled B. Hamdan, instructor, JAF NCOA. “It’s very important for me and for my soldiers. This way I will guarantee for you that the information which we want from that soldier would be understood. He will be able to work with it, without any problems, and he will be professional and have experience to do that.”

“The old program of instruction was heavy on the classroom side and very light on the hands on side. This new program of instruction is 70 percent hands-on and 30 percent classroom,” said Montero. “So because of 70 percent hands-on, it was very important to implement a lot of that type of training out in the field environment, and that’s what they’ve been doing for the past four days. They’ve been conducting their MRX or culminating exercise utilizing those new skills.”This series of military-to-military engagements enhanced the partnership between the U.S. and Jordan Armed Forces, further allowing for greater interoperability.. “We are working with the U.S. Soldiers and instructors here in this exercise; they are so professional and they helped us to show us new techniques in the field,” said Hamdan. “The importance for the American Soldiers and the Jordanian forces working together, I believe, is for interoperability between the two of us and in the future so that we can work well together,” said Gavant.Ultimately, these engagements have laid the groundwork for future NCOs in the Jordan Armed Forces to develop professionally as leaders. “The importance of the NCO corps can cannot be overstated and I feel like the best thing we can do as a partner nation is to share that school of thought and foster that idea,” said Montero. 

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