Drill Instructor Qualification

Drill Instructor Qualifying Course

The Drill Instructor Qualification Course is a NCOC course designed to teach you how to perform the duties of the Corps Drill Instructor. Successful completion of the Drill Instructor Qualification is recommended for all those who currently hold, or wish to hold this position.

You will be the first point on contact for all new entries in the Corps. How you conduct yourself will give them a first impression of what the Corps is like.

Each lesson below will cover a different topic related to what a Drill Instructor must do in the performance of their duties.

Lesson 1: The Welcome Letter

When a new cadet joins, you will receive a copy of the email they get after submitting their application to join the Corps. This will have all the information they included in their application. Once you get this email, your job as Drill Instructor has begun, and your first step is to send them The Welcome Letter.

The format for this letter is provided to you when appointed as the Drill Instructor.

The Welcome letter will include all the information that a new cadet needs to know and direct them where they need to go to get started. Make sure that you have thoroughly reviewed what the welcome letter includes, so that you know what you are telling the new cadets so that if they have any questions you will be on the same page as them.

The Welcome Letter template includes sections that need to be edited that are in brackets. Copy and paste the template into an email, changing the sections within brackets to include the relevant information and also correcting the paragraphs which naturally look out of place when copying from word documents. This is very important so that the email is easy to read for the new cadet and shows you as being professional. It also makes the email seem like more effort has put into it and doesn’t look like it was just copy and pasted.

Lesson 2: Basic Training

After sending the initial welcome letter, the cadet will begin to go through the basic training segments. It is a pretty straight forward process and explained very well. Make sure to read over the information and make sure you are comfortable with the process and how to help a cadet if any issues should arise. And of course, if it is something that you are unable to help them with then you know where to go for help. 

Lesson 3: The Follow Up

Your job as a Drill Instructor doesn't end with the welcome letter, oh no!. If the cadet hasn’t logged into ROTTWEILER training within 3 days of you sending them the welcome letter, there is a follow up email template available that is provided to you when appointed to the position of Drill Instructor..

This email should be treated in the same manner as the Welcome Letter. Make sure that you change the relevant areas, send it to all the right people and make sure the paragraphs are adjusted after copying it from the word document into the email.

The Follow Up email is just one of the things a Drill Instructor does to follow up with new cadets. If you haven’t heard back from a new cadet, or they aren't progressing, you can attempt to contact them using any contact methods available to you.

Often times when somebody joins and gets confused they get frustrated and give up. As the Drill Instructor, part of your job is to make sure that doesn’t happen. If a cadet isn’t completing the Basic Training process to get promoted and become a full fledged member it’s your job to find out why and help them overcome any obstacles they may have run into.

The possible problems a new cadet could be having could be related to confusion, frustration, glitches online, miscommunication or number of other things. Your job is to attempt all methods possible of contact to find out what is holding them up and help them to get past the issue. Once they have completed their basic training, it is the duty of the Drill Instructor to let the Section Leader of the cadet know that they have completed Basic Training and are moving on to Element Training. This is where you will pass them off to their Section Leader.

Lesson 4: Expectations of Conduct

The Drill Instructor is the first person the majority of new members will have contact with when joining the ROTTWEILER. As such you are an ambassador for the corps, and are responsible for providing a first impression that is positive and informative and do so in a timely manner.

The expectations of a Drill Instructor are as follows:

• Check email on a regular basis. When you receive the copy of their application to ROTTWEILER, you must send them the Welcome Letter as explained in Lesson 1. First contact is expected to happen within 48 hours of their application to ROTTWEILER being submitted. As such you are expected to check your Drill Instructor email account at least once every 48 hours.

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  Be persistently supportive. Your job doesn't end with sending them the Welcome Letter. You are expected to attempt contact and send the follow up email if you do not hear from them or see them advance in rank within 3 days of you initially contacting them.

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  Be professional, friendly and approachable. You must conduct yourself in a professional and friendly manner when in contact with new cadets. Drill Instructor tactics as seen in movies like Full Metal Jacket are not going to be successful or in any way appropriate ROTTWEILER Corps. Also remember that as a Drill Instructor you DO NOT have the authority to issue any form of punishment to a New Entry or Junior Cadet. The objective is to give them a positive impression of what ROTTWEILER is all about. Should there be a situation where you believe a new cadet has acted inappropriately then you are to contact the Executive Officer. All of your contact with a new cadet should be limited to helping them to understand how everything works and meeting their pre-requisites to become a full-fledged member.

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  Follow the rules. All of your actions, emails, messages, and comments must be in complete accordance with all portions of ROTTWEILER Regulations. There can be no sign, no matter how small, of impropriety. The Drill Instructor is responsible for setting the example for new members of how members of ROTTWEILER conduct themselves, so that example must be spotless. The example you set for a new cadet, as the first authority figure they have contact with, will be one that they are likely to follow, think about this at all times when in contact with new cadets. When you look back on ashamed? Think about that when you are dealing with new cadets. All Drill Instructors are provided with Terms of Reference for their position, which they are expected to review and follow completely.

Drill Instructors' performance will be measured by the adherence to these expectations. Expectations are so high for a Drill Instructor because of the integral role they play in the Corps. Drill Instructors are charged with training new members, encouraging them to be active and productive members of the ROTTWEILER Corps community by introducing them to ROTTWEILER and showing them how to do everything and what is expected of them in order to advance. We can get people to sign up all day long, but if we cannot set them up so that they understand how everything works and what is expected of them, then they are going to lose interest, and quickly.