During my time at the Quartermaster Officer Basic Course at Fort Lee, VA in 2000, part of our training was to complete the Sling Load Inspector Certification Course. This was a one week course designed to give you an overview of sling load operations in the Army. While the course is available for all Soldiers (E-4 and above) it is still mandatory training for all new QM Officers.
Here are a few things you should know about SLICC.
- It is a five day course
- Service members from any branch can attend
- All students must be E-4 or higher and have at least one year left in the service
- There is also a mobile training course available where the course will travel to your location
- The course is typically taught at Fort Lee
- After graduating the course, students will be “certified” to conduct and inspect Sling Load Operations with their unit
The course started out mostly as classroom instruction. To the best of my memory, we spent a couple days in classroom instruction, learning the basics of sling load operations (the big picture). From there we learned proper ways to rig different types of military equipment. We also learned how to fill out DA Form 7382 (Inspection Form).
We had a couple tests and lots of hands on training. On the last day of the course we got to sling load some actual pieces of equipment, such as a HMMWV and a water buffalo.
Overall, I really enjoyed the Sling Load Inspector Certification Course. Even better, as a young QM Officer, I oversaw several sling load missions at Fort Carson. It was a lot of fun and the training really came in helpful.
I think the SLICC is a great resource for anyone in a support unit or Air Assault unit. Inevitably, you will have sling load operations to perform, so it would be in your best interest to attend the training and get certified.
On a side note, if you have ever attended the Sling Load Inspector Certification Course, I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment to this post to tell us about your experience.
You can visit the Fort Lee website to learn more about SLICC.
Chuck Holmes
Former Army Major (resigned)
Publisher, Part-Time-Commander.com
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
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I really want thank the instructor’s ,directing staff espcially captain smith who encouraged me all the time to work hard in SLICC class as well as BOlC at large and attained SLICC certificate and diploma. I also learnt riging and how API is stored and water purification also use clivis while hooking on shinook , and maintainance .
I attended the course in 2001 (pre-Sept 11th) and thought the course was great. Lots of great training, some pushups, and other typical hooaa stuff the Army puts into courses. For anyone going to the course: Pay attention, listen to the instructors, and maintain your mindset, as this can be a dangerous job. The instructors will try to stress you out some during the training, but this is to get you used to many sounds (yelling) and activities (banging on trash cans) going on while you are trying to operate under pressure while training. Good luck.
SSG Weber,
Small Town, USA
I have a friend that worked as a Quartermaster for the Army, and I’ll be honest I had no idea of how much attention to detail is required for this job. In my mind I thought a QM just sat behind a desk, checking inventory off of some list. Aerial school, fueling aircraft while the engines are running, and loading cargo while an aircraft hovers overhead is pretty exciting stuff! This just goes to tell me there’s no such thing as an insignificant job function within our military. Thank you for providing this valuable insight!
QM folks do some desk time, but they get to do a lot of other cool things too!
I attended SLICC during my OBC, just like you did, Chuck. I really enjoyed the training and got to put it to good use during my first duty assignment with the 101st!
That’s awesome! It was my favorite week of BOLC, too, because it was a new certification for me and the instructors put on a great course. I haven’t gotten to use it where I am, yet. But it will come in handy someday I am sure.
I attended the SLICC course about five years ago with a bunch of people from my unit. They did on site training at our unit. I really enjoyed the training and have used it many times since.
I’ve heard this is a great course. The mobile training is a great option, as well, but proper procedure must be followed. Units wanting the mobile training must submit a Training Requirements Arbitration Panel (TRAP) through their installation Training Coordinator. The QMS will not schedule time for a mobile training without proper coordination. Units requesting mobile training must appoint one point of contact (POC) identified in the TRAP. Also, the Sling Load Advance Party will not set your training site up for you. Upon scheduling, the unit will receive a packet and instructions of what needs to take place to be ready for training.
It was a great course.