Camp Shelby, Miss. – The 154th Regional Training Institute (RTI) recently conducted the 11B Infantry Military Occupational Specialty Transition (MOST) course at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center (CSJFTC). The course included basic instruction in small arms and Infantry tactics. In addition, there is a separate course of instruction for Non-Commissioned Officers, called the Infantry Transition Course (ITC), which concentrated on leadership.
The courses are offered several times per year, and attendance ranges from 10 Soldiers per class to nearly 100. “The ITC courses are generally smaller, with about 10-15 students, and this MOST course has about 30 Soldiers,” said Staff Sgt. Brian Hancock, “and this gives us a chance to have more one-on-one instruction with the NCO students.”
“The regular MOST students, the E-4’s and below, need to know the infantry basics, such as how to maintain and fire the weapons we teach here,” said Hancock, “but the ITC students, the NCOs, need to know how and where to site the weapons, their maximum effective ranges, etc., which comes under what we call tactical and technical proficiency.”
The day starts early, and Physical training (PT) is a big part of the experience. “We’re always moving,” said Hancock, “and running shoes are part of what you’ll carry every day. Basically, if you road march in the morning for PT, you’ll run to training, and vice versa. It’s a very demanding course, but if it was easy, everyone would want to do it”
By Sgt. Kenny Hatten
