CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Infantry Marine students are learning their military occupational specialty hands-on in a new way through a pilot infantry Marine course. The course is geared toward modernizing infantry training to improve how efficient and lethal the next generation of infantrymen are.
What You Need To Know
Infantry students on Camp Lejeune are training in a new way
The course started at the School of Infantry West at Camp Pendleton, California in January
Requests have been sent to Headquarters Marine Corps to continue this program long-term
Staff Sergeant Jackson Felshaw is the chief instructor for Echo Company, School of Infantry East. He says this pilot training course extends the traditional training from 8 weeks to 14 and changes how the young Marines learn.
“We are transitioning from the industrial age - 'teach somebody, have them show it back to you, okay you're good, move on with life' model of teaching - to what we're calling the 21st century method of learning," Felshaw said.
The new training is student-led. They are given the information they need, shown what they've learned, and then coached on ways to improve. Changes to the entry-level training comes from the commandant's plan to prepare for future missions.
“So what we did at the two SOI's (schools of infantry), in conjunction with TE-COMM, was to develop a program that we hoped would give entry-level students the idea to think, but also move and communicate at a higher level,” Felshaw said.
Thirteen years ago, Felshaw went through the school of infantry himself. He says the changes from the time he went through to now are that this style of training allows both the students and the instructors to learn something every single day.
“We keep those combat instructors with those same group of students so that they can develop that rapport and have an understanding of what the student needs from the combat instructor, so that the combat instructor can then give it to them,” Felshaw explained.
The current structure doesn't support this training over a long period of time, but requests have been sent up to Headquarters Marine Corps to adjust and keep this training going long into the future.