Advanced Training

Speaker 1: As soon as they told me about the job I wanted it.

Speaker 2: I possess the ability to hold a top secret SCI clearance.

Speaker 1: I am a Cryptologic Technician Collection, so I specialize in the analysis and collection of signals. Sounds a little bizarre but how vague the description was actually made me want to find out more about it.

Speaker 2: They look at the socio-political climate and try and predict what cyber-related incidents could be created due to what’s happening in the world.

Speaker 1: This way has ensured that our ships stay safe at sea, ensures that we can bring our Sailors home safely, it ensures that the big letter agencies, NSA, CIA, can do their job in protecting the homeland. It gives you situational awareness of what’s happening in the world so you can keep everyone safe coming home.

Speaker 2: They protect from viruses and make sure those networks are secured.

Speaker 2: Being a CT does not exempt you from the rest of Navy life. You will be working on the decks with everyone else; you will get to experience what it’s like to be a real Sailor working at sea. Working topside, preservation, maintenance, standing on the flight deck with everyone else for ceremonies. There’s definitely moments of camaraderie like you see amongst the Sailors when we get together. You can’t learn this level of teamwork or flexibility anywhere else.

Speaker One: Yo, get in! Get in! Get in! Clear! (Gunshots)

1st Lt. Akhil Iyer: What excites me to be in the Marine Corps, and to be an infantry officer is, honestly, the people around you. It’s working with the fellow platoon commanders and, ultimately, your Marines. The thing that strikes me most is their ability to learn from their lessons, learn from the experiences, and use the experiences of those around them, and within their team. So, in preparing my Marines for an operation, whether that’s in training or on deployment, there’s a lot of prior rehearsals and prior training that goes into it.

(Addressing Marines) The fact that we’re looking for is that enemy machine-gun bunker, that anti-tank guided missile, is suppressed in order to allow us occupy Red Beach, and deal with that threat on the go.

Briefing’s a very important part, communicating, you know, as much detail as possible to those Marines who are executing that attack, and there is a — a structure to that that provides them with the framework that they need to successfully conduct that exercise. You’re communicating not only that enemy situation, what can they expect on that objective, but also what that general scheme maneuver is, where is each platoon moving and where is each squad moving.

(Addressing Marines) We are able to advance through the corridor unimpeded by those OPs, those IEF or those overwhelming positions.

The time right before an operation gives us an opportunity to confirm what the Marines are doing and to get back briefs to ensure that they understand the plan and that any details are covered. I’ve learned, you know, one, you’re always going to learn something every day. Second, that, you know, you really gotta know your trade in and out, and be confident in providing that — that plan.

Prior to actually conducting that attack, you’re doing that last-minute confirmation with — with your fellow platoon commanders, with the squad leaders, ensuring that they understand the plan. If there’s a detail that they’re unsure about, that’s the time to just hone it in and ensure that everyone understands. (Gunshots)

Here in training, the objective is always to stress some sort of decision-making. You know, find a way to make the situation complicated, and have everyone from that rifle-team leader, that squad leader and that platoon commander, to give them opportunities to exercise some decision-making. And it’s definitely a very quick process. I think a lot of that goes in that prior planning. We have multiple urban setups, and it gives us an opportunity to work through clearing of urban terrain. (Shouting, gunshots, explosion)

An explosion goes, you have an aggressive team leader, an aggressive squad leader who’s going to continue that attack, and continue the momentum forward, and that’s something that definitely is a little more complex, requires a little bit more detail and coordination, but is definitely valuable to the Marines, and to our training as we think about how we maneuver through a town and how we seize that objective.

It’s a great opportunity. You know, where else as a young 23-year-old, do I have the opportunity to work with the people here and the assets that we have to accomplish that mission, and serve at the same time?

Airman 1st Class Jamil Harrell: I had always had an interest in anatomy and physics, and I always wanted to help people, but I didn't know how I could put them all together, and then as soon as I ended up in the diagnostic imaging course, I realized it was exactly what I wanted to do.

Lynnette Biglane: We teach the students how to take X-rays, but just learning how to take X-rays is not the only thing they have to learn.

Airman 1st Class Jada Forney: I'm Airman 1st Class Jada Forney, I'm from Sacramento, Calif.

Airman 1st Class Jamil Harrell: I'm Airman 1st Class Jamil Harrell. I'm from San Antonio, Texas, and I am a diagnostic imaging student.

Corey Johnson: You're always going to be dealing with anatomy and physiology. We need to know the physics side, and you understand the techniques and how you can acquire a good quality X-ray from a small patient versus a larger patient, it goes all into the physics.

Lynnette Biglane: Not only just you know the bones of the body, but we also learn and X-ray the soft tissue structures. We learn about the brain and X-ray the brain, the spinal cord. So we're able to do every bit of anatomy that's in the body.

Airman 1st Class Jada Forney: They want us to get training in every aspect of our career field, whether that's just shooting regular routines, going to surgery, doing portables, which is like going up to a different floor to do a chest X-ray on a patient that can't come down to our floor, we get to do all that.

Lynnette Biglane: They don't know from one minute to the next what type of X-ray they may be confronted with.

Airman 1st Class Jada Forney: I was thrown in a surgery the second week I came here as being a student. It's just — it's an unreal experience because you're working right alongside the doctor, and they want everything, like, stat.

Airman 1st Class Jamil Harrell: We do roughly about six hours of X-rays a day. That's about the time that we spend actually hands-on shooting, and then two hours of class time.

Corey Johnson: So it's being reinforced with the teaching, but the hands-on is really important because that's when they're interacting with the patients.

Lynnette Biglane: Once you get your X-ray training completed, then you can advance into what we call the special modality areas.

Airman 1st Class Jada Forney: I'm thinking about either mammography or ultrasound.

Airman 1st Class Jamil Harrell: It doesn't just feel like a job. And it doesn't just feel like school. It feels like I'm doing something more, and I'm doing it with other people who are struggling the same way I am, you know, the students who are just trying to say, you know, I feel like I don't know enough. And people are trying to tell us, you know more than you think. Just keep pushing yourself.

Narrator:
Military occupational specialty.

Practical Nursing Specialist

As an army practical nursing specialist, you will have the opportunity to make a direct contribution, to improve the well-being of those who are truly in need.

You will be providing the highest level of quality medical care to our nation's soldiers, veterans and their family members from infants to seniors.

Practical nursing specialists serve in a variety of medical treatment facilities throughout the world or deploy in combat, peacekeeping or humanitarian operations.

This army career requires individuals who are service-oriented and are willing to learn more about themselves our exceptional communicators and have a deep sense of professionalism and compassion while caring for the lives of others.

To succeed as an Army practical nursing specialist, you should have an interest in and understanding of chemistry, biology, general science and algebra, be action-oriented with a caring temperament and a strong ability to empathize.

With patients, you should have strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively with, a high sense of responsibility attention to detail and the ability to perform your duties while remaining calm under pressure.

Practical nursing specialists advanced individual training consists of 51 weeks of intensive classroom, field and clinical instruction with testing in two distinct phases.

After completing army basic combat training, you will begin phase 1 of advanced individual training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Phase 1 consists of an intensive 11-week introductory phase to Army practical nursing in both classroom and field settings.

In phase 1 you will receive instruction and testing on basic nursing skills, the duties and responsibilities of practical nurses, basic science for practical nurses includes the cardiac and pulmonary systems, nutrition, microbiology, pharmacology, physiology, pathophysiology and field nursing

You will also receive training on computer-based communication and information systems used an army medical patient care, documentation and tracking.

Testimonial:
The pace of this course is difficult to say the least. A lot of civilians go through the same course in two years and we do it in a year and we do it while also being a soldier. It's the best MOS in the entire army.

Narrator:
After successfully completing phase 1 you will relocate to one of five Army Hospital training sites for 40 weeks of phase 2 of your training.

Phase 2 consists of medical surgical didactic hands-on training and integrated classroom instruction with multiple skills laboratories and testing for each block of instruction, followed by a final graded medical examination.

In phase 2 you will learn how to perform duties such as preventive, therapeutic, emergency, and routine patient care, administering medication prescribed by a physician, assessing the patient's current condition and monitoring changes, obtaining vital signs such as blood pressure, temperature and weight cleaning, irrigating and bandaging wounds, providing immunizations and recording medical history, managing IVs, coordinating patient discharge, supervising nursing assistants, observing fluid and food intake and the transporting and release of patients.

While being supervised and observed by instructors you will also spend time working directly with hospital staff members and rotations through various patient care areas to include medical surgical, ICU and ob/gyn

Testimony:
Just remember that at the end of this you're going to have your license, you're going to be a soldier you're going to be helping other soldiers and their families and it's very rewarding.

Narrator:
at the completion of your training you will be required to pass the Texas Board of Nursing national clinical licensure examination, after which you will be awarded the military occupational specialty practical nursing specialist.

As a soldier and licensed practical nurse, you will also have the opportunity to further your military and civilian education with additional specialized training or through college courses which will help you in your transition from the military to the civilian workforce as a licensed practical nurse. Bringing the gift of care military occupational specialty practical nursing specialists.

Testimony:
This course it sets you up for life. It's a career you get a license on the job you're not only getting paid you're also getting paid to do something that's beneficial to you it will help you help others I don't know what feeling beats that, helping others

Narrator:

Military Occupational Specialty.

Allied Trades Specialist.

The Army accomplishes its mission with a variety of vehicles and equipment and when they need a part made or repaired immediately, and there is no other way to get it, they go to the Allied Trades Specialist.

These soldiers fabricate, repair and modify the metallic and non-metallic parts necessary for the Army to keep their equipment operating reliably.

After successfully completing 10 weeks of Army Basic Combat Training, you will attend Advanced Individual Training at Fort Lee, Virginia.

Where, the Army will train you to select the materials, tools and equipment to do the job, and train you to use various fabrication machines to shape metal parts to exact requirements.

You’ll train to operate tools like drill presses, tap and die sets, grinders and other power tools used in the creation of fabricated parts.

You’ll also train to weld using oxy-acetylene, metal inert gas and tungsten inert gas. In addition, you will learn how to use arc and air arc cutting and gouging equipment.

Soldier discusses what attracted them to this MOS.

Instructor describes what type of Soldier will succeed in this MOS.

After your advanced individual training, you’ll work supporting Army Operations where your duties may be in a large or small indoor shop or in a mobile shop that can take you just about anywhere the mission requires you to perform your skills.

As an Allied Trades Specialist, you’ll preform precision work with precision tools, setting up and operating them to produce quality work to prescribed standards.

You’ll perform step by step methods to fabricate from scratch almost any part that the Army needs to accomplish the mission. These parts can be created in a variety of ways, from manual work, to the use of fabrication machines, or you may the opportunity to use 3D printing technology.

Serving as an Allied Trades Specialist can help you transition from the military to the civilian employment sector, because your skills, leadership, team work and problem solving are skills and values in demand by civilian employers.

Soldier describes why they enjoyed the training.

Soldier describes how the skills in this MOS will help them succeed within the Army and beyond.

As an Allied Trades Specialist, you’ll be challenged to work different machines; make or repair different parts; and you’ll use all your skills to keep Army equipment working, vehicles moving and Soldiers in the action.

Military Occupational Specialty.

Allied Trades Specialist.

Tech. Sgt. Lashawondra Bills: The Services career field is one of the best-kept secrets in the Air Force.

Airman Randall Briggs: The four careers in services are food service, lodging, readiness, and fitness and sports.

Tech. Sgt. Lashawondra Bills: What we do is we give them an overall view, an overview orientation of the services career field as a whole. Then we narrow that training down to what their core jobs are going to be, their core areas. And the first thing we do is we go through the lodging and protocol aspect of services.

Airman Talhecia Condlin: Lodging taught us how to have outstanding customer service.

Tech. Sgt. Lashawondra Bills: They're getting that first-line lesson of being a hotel manager. Then they go into block two, the culinary arts portion.

Airman Randall Briggs: So they start out teaching us in the classroom, and then we move into the kitchen.

Tech. Sgt. Lashawondra Bills: We don't just cook a meal, but we prepare food for the masses.

Airman Randall Briggs: At first everything is done by the instructor. They show us how to do it. And then they monitor us while we do it. And then we finally work up to where we can actually do everything on our own.

Tech. Sgt. Lashawondra Bills: From block three, we move into the next portion of training, block four, to learn readiness. We actually take them to a mock deployed location, where they will set up a tent, prepare their own meals. Learning how to go out into the field and provide everyone there with everything you've learned here.

From there, they'll transition into the last level of training, which is block five, and that's the fitness aspect of training. They learn basic fitness objectives, which is being able to go into a fitness center and know how to work equipment, and they can give a basic orientation to a new customer on how to use pieces of equipment, as well as maintaining customer service and facility cleanliness.

Airman Talhecia Condlin: I no longer now look at deployment as a scary situation because I know I'm going to make a difference once I get there.