By Melissa Buckley, Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (March 20, 2025) — With the U.S. Army exceeding last year’s recruiting goals, Fort Leonard Wood has added five new basic combat training companies to pave the way for more new Soldiers to be all they can be.

The five new BCT companies were activated between October 2024 and March 2025. According to Col. Aaron Bohrer, MSCoE chief of staff, these new companies will increase the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence’s basic training load by about 4,400 Soldiers, projecting Fort Leonard Wood to send about 18,000 new Soldiers into the Army this fiscal year.

“That will give us about 20 additional graduations throughout the year,” Bohrer said.

According to Bohrer, 16 drill sergeants and 11 other company personnel from the 108th Training Command, a U.S. Army Reserve unit, will lead the new trainees in Company F, 701st Military Police Battalion, which activated March 7 during an activation and assumption-of-command ceremony at the battalion’s headquarters.

“The other four companies we stood up are made up of active-duty drill sergeants diverted from other locations or from the academy,” Bohrer added.

Capt. Natasha Price, the commander of Company F, 701st Military Police Battalion, said she wanted to be a part of Fort Leonard Wood’s BCT expansion due to its critical role in transforming civilians into warfighters.

“Basic training is important to the Army … because we are taking civilians and equipping them with discipline and teamwork, skill development, mental toughness and physical conditioning which are all crucial to the Army way of life,” Price said. “While my role may seem small in the grand scheme of things, the impact we have on these trainees is significant, especially during their foundational training here in basic training.”

Before moving to Fort Leonard Wood, Price served as a military intelligence officer for the Tennessee National Guard Joint Force Headquarters. She said she feels “fortunate” to have the opportunity to be leading an “exceptional team of skilled professionals” at Fort Leonard Wood.

“We are deeply passionate about the work we do, striving to make a lasting impact on our trainees during the transformative 10 weeks we have with them,” Price said.

“We are turning trainees into Soldiers and preparing them for the rigors of military service, ensuring they are fit, capable and ready to serve their country effectively, no matter the mission.”

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About Fort Leonard Wood

Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 80 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains nearly 80,000 military and civilians each year.

Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.

Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.

More information about Fort Leonard Wood is at: https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/about/mission