Leader Development Training Assessment of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Brigade Commanders

Abstract : This report documents the conduct and results of the evaluation of a Leader Development Course taught to Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) brigade Commanders. After attending the course, 25 brigade commanders received questionnaires to determine (1) what the contribution of the course to enhancing job proficiency relative to costs was and (2) at what stage(s) of an officer's career should such a self/leader development experience occur. Findings of the effort included the following: (1) A leadership development course akin to that provided by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) is viewed as being of very positive benefit to the Army; (2) targets for an intense Leader Development experience should be battalion commander designees; (3) the CCL course as now constituted would not be acceptable for general use in the Army; (4) mentoring as a methodology for developing human resource potential within the Army is not well understood; (5) the most significant mind-broadening experience for senior officers appears to be the Army War College; and (6) communication across field grade and general officer rank boundaries appears to be limited. Keywords: Army training; Leadership training.