GOKA, Rwanda - Armed with only a passport, a couple of uniforms, and a few basic necessities, Texas Army National Army Guard Staff Sgts. Fabian Alban and Jared Staggs boarded the plane for Rwanda.
The Guard members from Task Force Raptor, 3rd Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment, made their way to the East African country last month for a training seminar with the Rwandan Defense Forces.
The Rwandan Defense Forces invited the Guard members to participate, alongside Rwandan military cadre, as mentors at the live-fire and field training exercise portions of the peace support operations soldier skills training the Rwandans held at their military base near Goka.
Alban regarded the invitation as an honor.
"It feels good to be able to work with their [RDF] instructors to help mentor young soldiers," said Alban. "The students were eager to learn and the instructors - glad to have us there to help."
Alban, an instructor at the Combat Skills Training and Evaluation Battalion, has helped mentor not only these Rwandans, but Chilean and American Soldiers in previous assignments as well.
He's discovered that his experience is the best teaching tool he has.
"No matter what country the soldiers are from, they can tell if you know what you are talking about," Alban said. "They open up to you and are more receptive once they realize all that you do know, and the wealth of knowledge you can share with them."
With their combined knowledge and experience, the Rwandan cadre instructed while Alban and Staggs followed up with practical exercise.
"We got down in the weeds with them, literally and figuratively," Staggs said. "I think that gave them more confidence, not only in what their cadre were teaching, but in themselves as well; that they can actually do what they were taught. Hands-on experience, I believe is the best way to mentor someone."
Staggs added that this also helped with the language barrier which some of the course participants might have had. Working with the cadre, he discovered his deployment to be a common connection with his counterparts.
"They were very interested and asked me a lot of questions about my deployment to Iraq," Staggs said. "They shared their experiences of some of their deployments within Africa. It was good to see that we had something in common, which I felt added to the experience and helped us work better together to mentor their soldiers."
At the end of the month-long course, the Rwandan instructors successfully graduated over a hundred soldiers; and while their U.S. Army counterparts were not able to attend the ceremony, Alban appreciated the opportunity to help mentor.
"I love sharing what I know. It's a good feeling to see soldiers executing tactics that you taught them," Alban said. "And likewise, every time you mentor someone, you're teaching yourself something new. This opportunity is no different. I have lots to take back home with me."