LEAD Complex: Part VII, Reaction Course

LEAD Complex Speed March Reaction Course

Maj Harold Compton

The Marine Military Academy Speed March Reaction Course was one of the first three courses built at the Academy reaction coursein 1999.  The reaction course is a series of team physical problems to solve.  Cadets are divided into groups of 10-12 and assigned one of the problems.  They are then provided an explanation of what their objective is and provided additional items such as ropes, boards and pipes they may use in solving the problem.  They are then given a short time to develop a solution and assign duties.  They then have a specific time to solve the problem.  As an
example, one problem presents the team with a damaged bridge.  The team may only touch the cross members
still standing which are about 3 feet apart.  They are provided a rope and two boards and must get their entire team
and two ammo boxes across the bridge in 10 minutes.  All team members and the ammo cans must reach the far side without touching the side supports or the ground.

reaction course   Once the team reaches the end of their time period they take a few minutes to review their performance, what they did wrong and how they could have improved.  They then move to the next problem on the reaction course and go through the same process.

The purpose of the reaction course is to teach cadets how to work as a team and go through the proper steps in problem solving: identify the problem, determine the outcome expected, analyze your team’s strengths and weaknesses and develop a plan to maximize those strengths and overcome the weaknesses and then supervise the execution.

The goal is to enhance teamwork among the team members and teach the proper problem solving skills that can be applied to any problem or task.   As expected, as cadets move from one problem to the next on the reaction course it becomes apparent that they understand the process, they begin working better as a team and their performance typically shows a marked
improvement.

Learn more about the Reaction course at our website.

To learn more about the Marine Military Academy visit our website at http://www.mma-tx.org or request information at http://www.mma-tx.org/MMA/admissions/admissions_form2.html