Twitter
Facebook
A cadet from the U.S. Military Academy recently participated in a 20-day mentorship program with junior officers of the 212th Combat Support Hospital, 30th Medical Brigade at Miesau Army Depot from June 23 to July 13.
Cadet Richard Price, who is currently between his junior and senior year at West Point, worked alongside multiple lieutenants in the 212th CSH through the cadet troop leader training program in an effort to experience leadership and learn about the various staff functions he could work in as a newly commissioned Army lieutenant.
“My experience here has been really good so far,” Price said. “I’ve never been around the real Army before, so it’s been good to see what the military is like and how it functions on a day-to-day basis.”
The basic idea of the program is to give “familiarization to cadets and incoming future officers,” said 1st Lt. Jorge Delgado, 212th CSH deputy S4 and Price’s primary mentor. “The program is designed to allow a cadet to shadow an active duty lieutenant, and it gives them a summarized view of what they will be doing when they graduate from college.”
Throughout his time with the 212th CSH, Price learned that as a young officer he can’t do everything on his own and needs to rely on his noncommissioned officers and Soldiers to help ensure the mission is accomplished.
“I hope he takes back with him the willingness to learn different ideas from his NCOs and encourage the involvement of his junior enlisted,” Delgado said.
Delgado said his goal is to ensure Price “understands the concept and importance of the officer and enlisted relationship, and if he’s able to balance that he’ll have a good base to work from.”
“The NCOs here have been great,” Price said. “A lot of them are really squared away, and they’ve been really helpful in showing me the ropes. They’ve been really respectful, and they treated me like an officer, which I really appreciate.”
The 212th CSH has ensured that Price and other cadets participating in the program have the opportunity to experience all aspects of what a new lieutenant can expect coming into a new unit. While each cadet is assigned a primary mentor during their time with the unit, they will spend a little bit of time with each staff section learning the roles and responsibilities of each part of the organization.
“Lieutenant Delgado exposed me to a lot of different functions that I could possibly be doing as a lieutenant instead of just staying with him the whole time,” Price said. “The organization has done a really good job in making sure I’m versed in everything, and that was really helpful to make my experience here great.”
Price said the only experience he has had with the military up until coming to Germany has been what he was exposed to while attending the USMA. While he did not know what to expect when working with an active duty unit, he said the instructors at West Point had done a great job preparing him for what to expect when entering the military as a new officer.
“It’s made me realize how good of a job West Point has done training us,” he said. “I thought I would be underprepared, but there hasn’t been too many things that have taken me back or things that I wasn’t prepared for. West Point has done a really good job making sure I know the things I’m supposed to know and that I can perform tasks at a competent level.”
Leaving Germany and returning to West Point for his final year, Price said he hopes to bring back with him the knowledge and experience he learned while working with the 212th, especially the ability to take care of his Soldiers.
“One of the biggest takeaways I’ve got while being here is understanding I need to do whatever it takes to help out my Soldiers,” he said. “I’ve seen Lieutenant Delgado staying late a lot to make sure people are taken care of and doing whatever it takes to help them out. It’s the mindset of putting others ahead of yourself.”
