The Warrior Leader Course which is previously known as the Primary Leadership Development Course (PLDC) is the first NCOES that enlisted soldiers attend. It is a month long course that soldiers in the rank of Specialist, Corporal, and Sergeant attend. The course is designed to teach soldiers leadership skills, training skills, and war fighting skills so they are prepared to lead soldiers in peacetime and in combat.
Some of the curriculum includes:
- Land Navigation
- Training Management
- Leadership
- Map Reading
- Drill and Ceremony
- War Fighting
- Physical Fitness Training
- Individual Training
- Garrison Leadership
- Field Leadership
As you can tell, the Warrior Leader Course includes classroom instruction and well as tactical training and instruction. The class is instructed at an NCO Academy. These academies are located in different locations throughout the United States and overseas. It is a resident course, which means that soldiers who attend the course must stay at the NCO Academy until they graduate. At the present moment there is no Distance Learning option.
Prior to the Global War on Terrorism, soldiers had to graduate from this course before they could get promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Now, soldiers can get promoted to rank of Sergeant first and then attend the course within a certain time frame (2 years I believe).
All soldiers attend the same Warrior Leader Course regardless of their MOS. This includes Active Duty, Army Reserves and Army National Guard. If you have graduated from the Warrior Leaders Course in the past, I would love to hear from you. Please tell us where you attended the school, what you learned and what you enjoyed about the course. Just leave a comment to share your thoughts.
If you have any questions about the Warrior Leader Course, I will do my best to provide an answer. Just ask below. Thank you for visiting.
Chuck Holmes
Former Army Major (resigned)
Publisher, Part-Time-Commander.com
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
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I have also heard that this course is very rigorous, which, because of the topics involved, would not surprise me because there is a lot of material involved. I have also heard that it’s best to do some pre-course preparation, not only for the PT but also for the actual coursework. This would be my plan of action, for I am not keen on taking training that I have no familiarity with.
How are soldiers assigned to the course? By region? It probably would be a great experience for NCOs to learn about leadership in an environment where there are diverse professional backgrounds. From personal experience, some disciplines (information operations, information warfare) tend to stay very close to their own.
I believe soldiers are assigned to the Warrior Leader’s Course by region. While I was a Company Commander my Soldiers attended WLC at Fort Indiantown, Gap. I don’t remember there being any other options available.
Thanks for the comment.
Chuck
The Warrior Leader Course sounds like a great way to prepare an NCO for effectively managing soldiers during a mission. The Map Reading and Land Navigation training, to me, are definitely critical skills an NCO needs to master, and those are skills I doubt an NCO could truly learn via a Distance Learning Program. Is Air Photo Interpretation included in the training?
The map reading and land nav are what gets many Soldiers to fail the Warrior Leader Course. It’s critical that soldiers get some practice doing this before they go. All NCOs should know how to read a map and navigate.
I’m not sure if they include Air Photo Interpretation in the course or not. Thanks for the comment.
Chuck
This seems like an absolutely wonderful and benifical course. It looks like the cirriculum covers everything I would look to have covered. I will definitely recommend this course for anyone in my life who may be interested.
I never attended the Warrior Leader Course myself, but most of my Soldiers and NCOs who went told me the course was great.
Thanks for the comment.
Chuck