Online Forum Changes ROTC Education By Jennifer Gauntt

L ieutenant Adam Herndon and his platoon

roll through the city streets of Baghdad
in their up-armored Humvees as part of
a convoy security mission.

They encounter a body in the road,

and as they stop to check things out, they
realize the man is still alive. They also spot
a video camera hanging out of a double-
decker bus.
The rules of engagement at the time
permitted soldiers to kill anyone videotaping
an attack, as insurgents in this area often
recorded their killings and exploited the video
for propaganda.
Herndon’s platoon sergeant, looking
through binoculars, confirms the platoon
is being videotaped, and the question now
becomes do they shoot the man leaning out
of the window of the top level of the bus,
a man who could be an insurgent?
This kind of morally ambiguous
situation is the type being presented to
Sam Houston State University ROTC cadets
as part of a new curriculum tool called the
Platoon Leader forum.
The online forum is a Web community
of more than 8,000 past, present and future
platoon leaders within the U.S. Army who
can share and discuss experiences and present
them to members in a “what would you do”
type of problem.
SHSU’s Bearkat Battalion incorporated
the Web site into the senior MSL 431 class this
past fall to give the cadets an idea of the types
of split-second decisions they may be called
upon to make after receiving commissions as
second lieutenants and joining the Army as
platoon leaders.
“It’s a ‘Facebook’ for military
professionals,” said Lt. Col. David Yebra, head
of the military science department who teaches
the class. “For the first time in history, officer
apprentices like ROTC cadets are able to listen
in to the ongoing conversation of the profession.
“By engaging in the forums, our cadets
learn how ‘to be’ officers in a way that was

10 SHSU Heritage Magazine


not possible before,” he said. “They depart
college further along the learning curve and
better equipped to be exceptional leaders.”
In the “shoot/don’t shoot” dilemma
above, cadets were asked to make a decision
even though information was incomplete and
all courses of action were problematic, with
potential negative effects, according to Yebra.
“The ‘shoot/don't shoot’ leader
challenge leads off with a lieutenant
describing the (true) situation he found
himself in,” Yebra said. “These are split-
second decisions that our leaders have to
make in a very complex environment.”
Herdon’s case is an example of not
shooting and being glad that he did not,
Yebra said, because, as cadets learned, the
camera was actually a boombox-type radio.
The Platoon Leader forum goes beyond
the traditional ROTC curriculum. While the
ROTC emphasizes physical fitness and other
tactical training necessary for the young men
and women in their future Army careers,
the platoon leader site is cutting-edge in
that it offers lessons in emerging topics that
are currently being experienced by soldiers
worldwide. The Army-level topics change
approximately every month.
Not only does the forum connect cadets
to professional soldiers and facilitate classroom
discussion, but it allows cadets to share their
takes on “video vignettes” outside of the
classroom with their peers across the country
in other ROTC programs and at West Point.
“Platoon Leader has made information
available to me that I didn't know even
existed. I am able to find information on
almost anything regarding my specific branch
or even the Army in general,” said senior
cadet Andy Enriquez. “There are numerous
ways to interact with other PLs, who have
actually been downrange and have valuable
experiences to share.”
Yebra, who joined the Bearkat Battalion
last summer and spent three of the last six
years deployed to Iraq, said he knows all
too well how critical it is for future platoon
leaders to think through, in as much detail as
possible, what they will do when faced with
the challenging situations that await them.
“Our team is going to do everything
we possibly can to prepare our cadets for
UNIVERSITY
Fo c u s
the significant leadership roles that await
them in the very near future,” he said. “The
PL forum is one innovative resource that is
helping us to plug in to what young officers
are doing right now.”
Another leader development initiative
the Bearkat Battalion has undertaken is
professional reading, with a focus on the
book, Two Wars, by former Army Ranger
Nate Self.
As a capstone of the program, Self visited
the SHSU campus in December to discuss
his book and devoted extra time afterward
to answer questions the cadets had, according
to Yebra.
“Having Nate Self come to campus drives
home how connected we are to each other as
members of the Army profession,” he said.
“What a privilege it is to be part of a team
like this.”
Note: The PL forum (http://pl.army.mil)
exists to connect platoon leaders with each other
and is laser-beam focused on the practice of
platoon leading. Future platoon leaders (in ROTC,
Officer Candidate School, U.S. Military
Academy) with AKO (Army Knowledge Online)
credentials may join and tap in to the ongoing
conversation. O
Spr ing 2010 11