Applying Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills

Using What You Have Learned

As a student at the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy you will be challenged continuously. The experiences and knowledge that is gained through the periods of instruction will greatly assist you in your future assignments. The knowledge gained from block C100 are important to a future Operations Sergeants Major because the duties of an Operations Sergeants Major greatly affect a large amount of soldiers, without this knowledge soldiers will suffer unnecessarily.

C111A: The Operational Environment

During the period of instruction C111A, The Operational Environment, the student learned; to refine his critical thinking skills to solve problems and make decisions, analyze likely impacts of threats, challenges, and opportunities in the operational environment and the international security environment, how to explain joint force capabilities and limitations, interagency capabilities, multinational and legal considerations in contemporary operations, to explain the leader development process. (Give credit to advance Sheet)

The knowledge gained in critical thinking will greatly assist the future Sergeants Major by allowing him too quickly and accurately define a problem and develop possible solutions. By being able to do this rapidly the Sergeants Major will save time for his subordinates, allowing them maximum opportunity to develop their own solutions to the problems presented at their level. As a younger soldier I could have used this process, when my company received a short notice mission to move from one province in Afghanistan to another province. If I had already had the problem solving skills taught in this period of instruction, the company would have been able to conduct th...

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...ff to come up with alternate solutions by looking at a problem from a different perspective. The group thinking process opens the spectrum of ideas that can be developed. It is common knowledge that no one knows everything. Therefore effective group thinking can greatly assist an element to open their horizons and adequately come to the best possible solution.

C141: Introduction to the Media

The block of instruction for introduction to the media taught the future Sergeants Major to become familiar with the relationship between the media and the military in the current operating environment. The period also informed the student the role of the leader to ensure that his organization understands all the facets of strategic communications requirements. An additional skill that the student learned in this class was how to prepare for a media engagement.